Covenant Marriage Ministry – May 2009

     This is the first in a series of monthly newsletters that will be shared to encourage, uplift and inform couples of ALL AGES and varying lengths of marriage. Our goal is to strengthen and build upon every marriage that God allows us to touch through group meetings or individually.

     This year we celebrated our 41st Wedding anniversary! How time fly’s when you are having fun!!! We have seen many mountaintop and valley experiences in those years: physical, mental, financial, and relational. But God!……I must repeat that, But God! through his Word and Spirit has been with us through them all!

   We believe in Covenants not contracts in marriages. Contracts can and will be broken, however covenants are lifetime agreements. This is why we chose Covenant Marriage Ministry for our name.

Covenant Marriage Ministry equates to:

    Covenant – is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action. A binding agreement. The first instance in scripture that the word covenant is found is Gen. 6:18. In this account of scripture, God informs Noah, “But with thee will I establish my covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark (the safe place). So the safest place to put our marriage is in God!

     Marriage – the uniting, in the presence of each other and God, of a man and woman: “to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, therefore I pledge thee my faith”. This is what we said when we established the “Covenant”.

     Ministry – to minister to the needs and welfare of others. This is to care for and assist those who can’t or don’t have the ability to aide themselves.

So in essence, we are aiding and ministering to those who have united together in marriage, as a Covenant, with and in front of God!

   When we first accept Christ as our savior and Lord, we enter into Covenant with Him and God. We promise to serve and obey Him in all that we say, think or do. So if, as a married individual, we break our individual covenant with God, it can cause us to break our Covenant with our spouse. The second most important relationship we have is our marriage, and that only being second to our relationship with God. So, just as our walk with Him requires time and daily maintenance, if you will, so too does our marriage require time and daily maintenance. If not, our marriage will respond just as a car does without routine maintenance, it breaks down! Then we must take it to the shop for extensive and expensive repairs. All of which would have been unnecessary, if we had only changed the oil. So in your marriage, keep the oil changed and the other fluids topped off, which are communication, commitment, compassion, and consideration.

Be Encouraged!!! Even if you have to encourage yourself!

Rev’s Theo and Linda Hobbs

Covenant Marriage Ministry

Lighthouse Church of God

443-880-8945

410-641-0561