I Try to Be Relevant!

A couple of weeks ago I addressed the topic of marriage in a sermon. The sermon was the second in a series on "Beginnings" from the book of Genesis. The sermon took place on January 14th and that morning I did what I do so many Sunday mornings--I flipped through the morning paper's Sunday magazine, USA WEEKEND. There, at the back of the magazine was a column on relationship issues by Dennie Hughes.

Well, remarkably enough, that day's column was entitled "Marrying right." As I scanned it briefly, I decided to introduce my sermon with it. (The column is archived at http://www.usaweekend.com/07_issues/070114/070114relationtips.html.) It began by asserting that Americans love the idea of marriage--more than half of adults in America are legally married. Further, Ms. Hughes said that three fourths of Americans believe in "one true love"(whatever that means).

At any rate, she gave five really good questions for people to contemplate before getting married this year:
1. Have you spent lots of time together?
2. Have you spent time with each other's friends?
3. Do you know each other's goals, dreams, ambitions, and beliefs?
4. Are the people closest to you happy about your relationship?
5. Have you had premarital counseling?

I like to know that my sermons hit on topics that people are thinking about. And I like to be able to provide insights from the Bible for those same people. Of course, sometimes I am more relevant than others.