THERE WILL BE A SHORT GUIDE POSTED FOR EACH LOCATION NEXT WEEK, MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND WEEK, HOWEVER FEEL FREE TO DO SOMETHING FUN OR AN OUTREACH ACTIVITY WITH OUR GROUP INSTEAD.  ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY!

FIRST TUESDAY IS JUNE 4TH – NO GUIDE THAT WEEK

For this week’s Announcements please visit: (waterschurch.org/events):

Abundant Hope Baby Clothes Collection:  Collection for Abundant Hope Pregnancy Resources Center: We’re partnering with Abundant Hope Pregnancy Resource Center to collect toddler clothing sizes 12m to 3T. They provide critical support for local families, from unplanned pregnancy counseling to parenting aid, all free of charge. Due to an unprecedented demand, the Center is in emergent need for new baby and toddler clothing. Let’s show our community the love of Christ. Please drop your new clothes donations in the giving boxes at all New England locations beginning this Sunday.

REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE FOR THE FOLLOWING EVENTS:

(CLICK HERE: WATERS CHURCH EVENTS)

June 1 All Around the World Scavenger Hunt 2024 9-12 (All ages)  – New England Locations Only

June 1 Women’s Breakfast 10-12 – Apollo Beach Only (16 +)

July 13 Women’s Breakfast 10-12 – New England Only (16+)

NEW BOOK BY PASTOR TIM: “ENDING EMPTINESS” now available in our Lobbies, Kindle, and Nook endingemptiness.com

*************

Reminders:

✳ Please regularly check your Planning Center profiles for requests to join your life groups, remove members from the list that no longer attend, or add members not listed. Please ensure that you have added no-reply@churchcenter.com to your email contacts so that you do not miss an email from Planning Center and encourage your members to do so as well.  This will ensure you do not miss a member request or any emails that come from the Planning Center site. Thank you!

Waters Class Schedule:

• 1st Sunday: Discover Waters – after 1st service
• 2nd Sunday: NO CLASSES
• 3rd Sunday: Connect Class – after 1st service
• 4th Sunday: Baptism Class – after 1st service

Waters Help: Need marriage and family care  or have a group member in need of marriage and family care?   Click here:  help resources page  or visit waterschurch.org/help

Location Text Alerts:

THERE WILL BE A SHORT GUIDE POSTED FOR EACH LOCATION NEXT WEEK, MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND WEEK, HOWEVER FEEL FREE TO DO SOMETHING FUN OR AN OUTREACH ACTIVITY WITH OUR GROUP INSTEAD.  ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY!

FIRST TUESDAY IS JUNE 4TH – NO GUIDE THAT WEEK

Key Verse: Genesis 1 and 2

Ice breaker

Q. What is the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in high school?

How To – Part 3

Be Married

Genesis 1-2

There are two options when it comes to men and women, God’s option or the world’s option.  We have problems in marriage because we do not go to the blueprint.

God created marriage so we need to go to him to see how it is supposed to work.

Four PROBLEMS facing Marriage:

1. The Pursuit of PLEASURE.

You can be whatever you want to be. Pursue your dreams and chase your passions. It is all about you. You are the central character. What is this marriage going to do for me? Do they understand me? This is all a lie.

Newsflash: Your marriage does not exist to make you happy.

Q. The text states that marriage does not exist to make one happy. Discuss how this perspective might shift expectations within a marriage. What should be the primary purpose of marriage and how does it differ from the common societal narrative?

2. Misconception of LOVE.

All you need is love is a lie.  You have got to feel something –  lie.

In marriage, you grow to love each other.  There will be times when you will not feel like loving your spouse.

Love is not an emotion because love comes from God.  When you want to know how to operate something, go to Him.

Romans 5:8

God did not die on the cross because he felt an emotional love for you. The cross is a demonstration of physical action representing love.

Love your spouse when they are still your enemy. Love them when they least deserve it.

Q.  What are the challenges and benefits to loving your spouse even when they feel like the enemy or least deserve it? How can couples practically apply this principle during times of conflict?

3. Tolerance of SIN.

Our culture celebrates homosexuality and transgenderism.  They are fruits of confusion from the devil.  He has taken a beautiful thing and distorted it for many minds and many generations.

Their sin is their unbelief in God who loves them.  Turn sinners into saints through the blood of Jesus not try to change them.

Kids need a mom and a dad.  There is no more potent force on the planet for good and evil than a mom and a dad!  Change begins in a home with a father and a mother who stick it out, love each other, and raise their children.

4. Idolatry of SELF.

We are obsessed with self.   Everything is about the individual.  If a child comes before we want them, we abort them.

Matthew 16:24 (ESV)

Jesus says to deny yourself.  Self must die with Christ.

Q. In a world that often promotes individual fulfillment and self-expression as the highest goods, how can Christians practice and promote self-denial?

Genesis 1:27–28 (ESV)

This is God’s blueprint of marriage.

God has given Man and Wife the bond of marriage and has given them great province to rule on this earth.  We are created to have authority over everything.

In God, MARRIAGE has a world-shaping MANDATE.

The world is counting on us.  The world will rise and fall with us.

How to be married:

1. Consider it BLESSED.

The Hebrew word for blessed means to endow someone with power for success, longevity, and prosperity.

God blessed Adam and Eve and empowered them.

Those who are married remain healthier longer than those who are not.  Married men are smarter, healthier, fitter, better looking, and they make more money than their unmarried counterparts.

Proverbs 18:22 (ESV)

It is good to be married. It is not ‘just a piece of paper.’

The reason the government came up with the marriage license to protect women from men that set out to find a younger version of their wives.  This gives women a legal recourse so their spouse can leave without taking everything with them.

Q. The text suggests that married individuals, particularly men, experience various benefits such as better health, increased intelligence, and greater financial success. How do these observations align with your personal or observed experiences?

2. Understand its PURPOSE.

A. Marriage is for PROCREATION.

Genesis 1:28 (ESV)

If you are not interested in having children, don’t get married.  Even if you get married with this, kids could still result.

Genesis 9:1; 9:7

B. Marriage is for COOPERATION.

Genesis 1:28 (ESV)

Husband and wife are supposed to work together.  Adam needed a helper. Start a business, and build a business together if possible.  It is a blessing to build something together with your wife.

C. Marriage is for CO-HABITATION.

Genesis 2:18 (ESV)

Adam needed a partner, not a friend.

Husband and wife live together, they are companions together. They are partners to share life and bless each other.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (ESV)

D. Marriage is for SANCTIFICATION.

Genesis 2:24 (ESV)

Marriage is not to make us happy it is to make us holy.

The greatest problem in your marriage is your sin.  He or she is not the problem, you are.  Becoming one is a process, it is a journey.  You become one flesh.  It is a process of transformation.

Don’t give up.  Don’t think you married the wrong person, everyone marries the wrong person, a sinner.  We are sinners by nature therefore that is why we are wrong.  Work it out.

Q.  How does the idea that marriage is a tool for spiritual growth resonate with your understanding of marriage? Discuss how couples can support each other’s growth and handle the inevitable challenges that come with recognizing one’s own shortcomings in a relationship.

3. EXPECT serious RESISTANCE.

Genesis 3:16 (ESV)

The word for desiring your husband means to control your husband.  Because of sin, women naturally want to control their husbands.

In every single culture, men have dominated women.  That is not how God wanted it.  This is the problem we were born with, we are sinners.  We need help stronger than us.

Ephesians 5:22–25 (ESV)

There is an order, a dynamic of order and authority.  Men are not to dominate their wives, they are to sacrifice for them.

You cannot successfully be married without Jesus.

Q. How can couples address and overcome these tendencies to control or dominate within their relationship? Discuss ways in which mutual respect and understanding can be fostered in place of control.

4. Serve the ULTIMATE IMAGE.

To those who are married to someone who is not a Christian: your being saved sanctifies the marriage.  You have a holy influence on that marriage but you still have to do your part because God has changed you.

Wives, you are still required to submit to your husband.  Husband, you must give up your time with buddies because you have a responsibility to your wife even if she is not saved.

Marriage makes us sanctified, it makes us useful to God.

Genesis 2:24 (ESV)

Every groom has a bride.  The bride is the Church.  We go to be with Jesus forever in perfect harmony and glory.

Ephesians 5:31–33 (ESV)

The world is seeing a picture of what Jesus and the Church look like!  It is way bigger than you.

Sermon in a Sentence:

Marriage is not about ME but rather how WE glorify God in CREATION, surrendering our WILL to God’s PURPOSE and representing CHRIST on the EARTH.

Challenge: Whether your spouse is a believer or not, identify and carry out at least three deliberate acts of kindness or service that go beyond your usual routine. These acts should reflect the sacrificial love Christ shows for the Church, aiming to foster a sense of love, respect, and unity.