“Divorce Granted” 2.2 million marriages each year in the U.S. Nearly 1 million divorces/yr. Every 13 seconds Or about 6,646 times per day Or about 46,523 per week in the U.S. Multiple marriages don’t work either: 41% of first marriages end in divorce 60% of second marriages end in divorce 73% of third marriages end in divorce

Marriage Disonored Zsa Zsa Gabor holds record for most celebrity marriages: 9 Britney Spears holds the record for the shortest celebrity marriage to Jason Alexander – 55 hrs. before it was annulled

Alarming Divorce Statistics Avg. age of marriage that ends in divorce: 8 yrs. Avg. person waits 3 yrs. to remarry (if they remarry at all) Avg. age of couples going through their first divorce: Age 30

Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife

Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife Requires a Christ-Centered Home Psalm 127:1 (NKJV) 1 Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.

Centered around the Bible (Eph. 5:23-6:4; Dt. 6:4-9; Prov. 31:10-31) Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife Requires a Christ-Centered Home Centered around the Bible (Eph. 5:23-6:4; Dt. 6:4-9; Prov. 31:10-31)

Centered around the Bible Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife Requires a Christ-Centered Home Centered around the Bible 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (NKJV) 4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

Centered around the Bible Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife Requires a Christ-Centered Home Centered around the Bible Ephesians 5:22–23 (NKJV) 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body

Centered around the Bible Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife Requires a Christ-Centered Home Centered around the Bible 2 Peter 1:5–7 (NKJV) 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self- control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife Requires a Christ-Centered Home Centered around prayer 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV) 17 pray without ceasing,

Centered around prayer Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife Requires a Christ-Centered Home Centered around prayer James 5:16 (NKJV) 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Centered around prayer Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife Requires a Christ-Centered Home Centered around prayer 1 Peter 3:7 (NKJV) 7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

Centered around regular worship Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife Requires a Christ-Centered Home Centered around regular worship Hebrews 10:23–25 (NKJV) 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife Each must see the marriage as a lifelong commitment Matthew 19:6 (NKJV) 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife They must build a deep and abiding trust in one another 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NKJV) 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NIV) 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife They must build a deep and abiding trust in one another By What we Say: Ephesians 4:29 (NIV) 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife They must build a deep and abiding trust in one another By What we do: Ephesians 5:15 (NIV) 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,

Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife They must have a willingness to communicate 7 Key elements of Communication: Do it. Make purposeful efforts to speak kindly to one another. Colossians 4:6 (NKJV) 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife They must have a willingness to communicate 7 Key elements of Communication: Do it. Make purposeful efforts to speak kindly to one another. Always tell the truth. Avoid words of blame. Avoid overstatements. Be a good listener. James 1:19 (NKJV) 19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife They must have a willingness to communicate 7. Remember the awesome power of your words. Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV) 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Matthew 12:36–37 (NKJV) 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Building the Bond Between Husband & Wife Understand & Practice Romance Song of Solomon 5:4 (NKJV) 4 My beloved put his hand By the latch of the door, And my heart yearned for him. Song of Solomon 2:5 (NKJV) 5 Sustain me with cakes of raisins, Refresh me with apples, For I am lovesick. Song of Solomon 4:1 (NKJV) 1 Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, Going down from Mount Gilead.