Marriage …
Marriage is Important
We look at the Importance of Marriage primarily from the perspective of Scripture.
God’s Creation
“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27 NKJV)
Right from the start God made men and women equal, in “the image of God” but with complimentary differences as men and women.
On the creation of man God placed him in the garden and gave him His vision for life in the world that He, God had created. God then saw that something was incomplete and said “Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” (Genesis 2:18 NLT). God had seen that it was not good for the first man, and for most of us, to be left by himself.
God then created/crafted woman out of the rib of that first man ( Genesis 2:21-22). Then, God presented and entrusted this remarkable gift to the man.
What we know as marriage had been instituted by God. A man and a woman becoming one new entity and, as we are told later being “one flesh”. That entity of one man and one woman being the fundamental human relationship in God’s created world. This human relationship being the basis for family — a relationship that is there ahead of the parent-child relationship.
Genesis 2:24 tells
EMAIL ALERT
Following Optusnet, TPG, Westnet, iiNet, internode closing their email service and passing their accounts to The Messaging Co (TMC) we have found that during the latter part of 2024 our emails to these addresses are ‘bounced’ with the message “Rejected – Content Policy”. This is despite our mailings being compliant with Australian and international standards and deemed to be “non-spam” and we stay clear of any blacklist. We are also aware of some difficulties some email account holders are experiencing with the new service provider.
An appropriate support request to TMC for our position to be resolved has been lodged.
Please advise us if you changed your address giving us your old and new address together with your name/church name.
26 November 2024
Prayer for marriage [Government & Military] ~ March
Lift up all the Australian Defence Personnel to God. Pray especially for all the fathers and mothers that they ensure, where ever possible that they maintain contact with their children. Pray especially for those who are in a ‘God’s design’ marriage relationship – that the Lord may preserve them from all harm. Ps 91:11. Pray that even in war zones, they may keep clearly before them the defence of all human rights and be people of integrity not given to any form of abuse.
- Pray especially at this time for all who are going through grief journey’s, especially those in the protection services, and all who have been affected by drought, flood, fire, and pray for their families. (Ps 147:3)
- Pray that governments would provide appropriate funding for the Defence Force and that they receive sound guidance to enable them to do so and such funding includes not only equipment
Facing the ongoing challenge
Across the nation, some churches are experiencing a revival as well-known prophets foretold. Whilst this is happening, some churches are face declining numbers.
Facing the ongoing challenge of the “world” is a universal experience, irrespective of whether your church is experiencing revival, decline, or simply remaining unchanged.
From the census data, Christianity dropped from 67.3% to 43.9% between census years, while other religions like Buddhism (1.9% to 2.4%), Hinduism (0.5% to 2.7%), and Islam (1.5% to 3.2%) increased. Most of the growth is due to immigration intake.
We are all engaged in a major battle against the continuous undermining of marriage and family. Sadly, the ABS discontinued the publication of some statistics in their annual national marriage and divorce report. The last figure published for co-habitation before marriage was at 81.3% in 2021 against 72% in 2000. Annual birth statistics reveal a rise in non-marital births, increasing from 29.2% in 2000 to 39.9%
