Opportunities to buildup Marriage Covenants

1 * 1 * 1 = 1

Marriage Builders Bible Study & Fellowship

  Fireproof your Marriage Bible Study
The last Saturday of October, November, and December 7:00 - 10:00 PM @ DPC

A three session Bible Study based on the movie Fireproof,
intended to help us work through some burning relationship issues

plus other activities coming this Fall/Winter 2008/2009

Crown Biblical Financial Study Life Group - Place & Time TBD

The Five Love Languages Study - Place & Time TBD

Many books can inform, but only the Bible can transform.

Our Marriage Builders group is open to all couples. Those to-be-married or just-married, which are sometimes referred to as part of the Ideal group. Those from the ORdeal group, couples married long enough to know that a good marriage really takes commitment and effort. And also couples from the NEW-deal group, those that may have been thinking of looking elsewhere in search for that ideal marriage relationship. No matter what kind of marriage "deal" you are currently in, we believe that God's Word has the answers (REAL-deal) to help you improve your marriage relationship.

What the Bible says About Marriage

• Is God's Idea
• All that God created is good, but marriage is seen by God as "very good"
• God created Eve and brought her into Adam's life because Adam was incomplete
• At it's core, is about companionship
• By design, is intended for one husband and one wife, for life
• Involves the establishment of a brand-new household
• Is intended to be an intimate union  (1 * 1 * 1 = 1)
   

We Believe in the Sanctity of Marriage and Family

Maryland High Court Affirms Marriage - dateline September 18, 2007 Maryland’s highest court today upheld a state law that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Today's ruling sends the matter back to the Legislature. Constitutional amendment still needed to protect it from the Legislature.

- See How America Votes to Protect Marriage @ CitizenLink.com

Love God's way -- -- Love is an Action

Be a Marriage Builder

• search the scriptures together to see what the Bible has to say to us about marriage
• work together towards the application of God's Biblical principles within our own marriage
• fellowship with other couples, and learn from one another's experiences

• share nothing with the group about our marriage, which might embarrass our mate
• keep confidences of information which may be shared inside the group
• feel free to participate or pass on any discussion topic or group activity

 

   Remembering our engagements, weddings, and anniversaries

 

For the Guys… In a time of cultural confusion about the husband's role, here is a series for men that clears things up -- with specific guidelines from God's Word. In each of six lessons video presentations Dr. Bruce Wilkinson shows husbands what it means to be a godly leader. By mastering the art of "headship", and learning to love our wives as Christ loved the church.

For the Gals… Dr. Bruce Wilkinson and his wife Darlene will teach women precisely what the role of the wife was designed to be. Not according to our culture, and not according to psychologists, but according to the unchanging truth of God's Word. You'll explore Biblical perspectives on the word "helper", and you'll see why "submission" is not a sentence to be served, but a privilege to delight in.

For the Guys  

We are called to Lead - and Love - Sacrificially

A Husband is to lead in his marriage by example and sacrificially, not by ordering or constantly instructing his wife. He is never, and I mean never, to tell his wife what the Scriptures say she should do. Rather, his only focus is to be on loving his wife as Christ loved the church - that is, sacrificially.
 

For the Gals  

We are called to Help

The wife is called to be the helper and should do her very best to trust her husband to lead and come along side him having faith that God is in his decisions. This does not mean she should do something she knows is scripturally wrong and it does not mean she should remain silent but it does mean that when it comes down to making that final decision she should submit to him.

Marriage Quote  

Churches are not destroyed by differences.

Families are not destroyed by differences.

Marriages are not destroyed by differences.

They are destroyed by the immature, irresponsible,

            and unhealthy ways we choose to respond to those differences.

                                                                       H. Norman Wright & Gary J Oliver 
How to change your spouse
(Without Ruining Your Marriage)

Our Previous Monthly Study  (Jan - June 08)

Meeting in Fellowship Hall the last Saturday of the Month

This new class is for couples & individuals wanting to learn from God's Word, Five Lies That Ruin Relationships: Wrong Beliefs Produce Wrong Behaviors. This is a video Bible study though the book of James chapters four, five, and six led by Chip Ingram of the Walk Thru the Bible.

Visit Five Lies That Ruin Relationship website

This study examines the five most common lies that ruin relationships with those we love. You'll learn the source of quarreling, how our words wound, how not to make decisions, and why better things don't always make things better. For those serious about deep, meaningful relationships. Message titles include:

Why We Fight with Those we Love
Why We Wound Others with Our Words
How Our Jobs Can Destroy Relationships
Why Better Things Don't Always Make Things Better
Why a Change in Scenery Rarely Improves the View

   
  A Growing Marriage Conference May 23-24, 2008

Marriage Builders/Keepers

• Covenant Keepers an outreach ministry of Pastor Steve Carr of Calvary Chapel that believes that God's Word supplies all the answers needed to enable a loving relationship that glorifies God.

• FamilyLife - providing practical, biblical tools to strengthen marriage and family relationships.

• Focus on the Family web site for Husbands & Wives Here you'll find Marriage Articles on matters like, Engagement, Newlyweds, Sex/Romance, Communication, & Finances. There are also links to related news articles and other great marriage resources on the Web!

• GrowthTrac - The Marriage Minute - Daily e-Devotional emails intended to be your online home for Christian marriage resources, spiritual growth, advice and community. Growthtrac offers a variety of Free newsletters and studies available only through e-mail.  Growthtrac Radio ... for your marriage - Think of it... Marriage Radio: Great Christian music and encouragement for your marriage.

• Marriage Alive - Marriage & Family Life Resources from David & Claudia Arp.

• Marriage Partnership - a magazine which speaks directly to the important concerns of your marriage.

• PREP Family and Marriage Resources - The Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) is an approach which teaches couples (premarital or marital) how to...

• Association of Marriage and Family Ministries (AMAM) - The Association of Marriage and Family Ministries (AMFM) and its members are committed to you, the local Church, the pastor and all those called to this vital area of ministry. There has never been a greater time in history to show the love of Christ than today in serving those marriages and families that God has given us. Eric and Jennifer Garcia, Founders

• Marriage Today - Jimmy and Karen Evans, founders of MarriageToday, aim is to provide you with resources to help establish, strengthen, save and restore your marriage.

Marriage Savers

• Marriage Savers - Preparing, Strengthening and Restoring Marriages. Founded in 1996, Marriage Savers® is a ministry that equips local communities, principally through local congregations, to help men and women to: Prepare for lifelong marriages; Strengthen existing marriages, and; Restore troubled marriages.

• National Institute of Marriage - Building, Renewing and Restoring the Promise of a Great Marriage. - It is the vision of the National Institute of Marriage (NIM) to significantly reduce the divorce rate in America, by enriching couples and equipping those who have the ability to impact couples within their care.

• Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage - A comprehensive analysis of the marriage, divorce and remarriage issues.  What is a Biblical marriage? What about divorce and remarriage? What about my situation?

Local Marriage Conferences

• Weekend to Remember - is a FamilyLife weekend marriage conference that teaches God's design for marriage and family. The environment is fun, non-threatening, and sometimes hilarious. And it's a wonderful time for couples to refresh good marriages or heal troubled ones.

• Up coming conference dates:  Dates & Locations      

• Tandem: A  Weekend for Two - A Couples Getaway - Sandy Cove Ministries & Conference Center in North East, MD. has a yearly weekend -- just for couples. The weekend event is designed for couples to spend quality one-on-one time renewing their marriage. The focus is always on marriage according to God’s design.  There's plenty of time to participate in various programmed activities, seminars, a concert & candlelight dinner, and many free activities intended to bring you closer together.

A Growing Marriage

Just ask us how we enjoyed our Growing Marriage Conference!

Our Marriage Conference was Friday, May 23, @ 7:00 - 9:00 PM
and Saturday May 24, @ 9:30 AM - 2:30 PM

We attended A Growing Marriage seminar with Dr Gary Chapman live! on DVD, Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Dr Chapman is the author of the bestselling book The Five Love Languages, The Marriage you've Always Wanted, and several others. These recorded DVD sessions include: Communication 101, Understanding and Experiencing Love, Initiating Positive Change, Making Sex a Mutual Joy, and How To Share the Things That Bug You. This conference targets couples married or not, and singles seeking to know how to prepare for marriage.

Walt & Cheri Brown, Bill & Elaine Eaton, Keith & Marlene Wawrzyniak, Mike & Tina Vest,
Keith & Sylvia Goodson, Chuck & Cindy Marr, Larry & Cindy Steele, Mike & Alice Scanlon,
Kevin & Gabriele Straka, Walt & Julia Anderson, John & Chris Mason, John & John & Carol Bronakoski, Ken & Brittany Driscoll, Tony & Linda Hose, Pete & Angelia Reisler, Pete & Pat Pitas, Rob & Helen Miller, Charlie & Grace Maynard, Herb & Barb Kallman, Philip & Ericha McCullough

Conference Photo Album and Blog

Honored Guests Married 50+ years
Frank & Shirley Straka, Herb & Kate Frye, Bill & Nancy Jones, Carroll & Joan Filliaux

 

Well we loved it so much that we brought this seminar to Dundalk Presbyterian Church on DVD.
Not quite as good as in person, but the next best thing, and best of all this one is Free.

Visit Dr Gary Chapmans website  @  http://www.garychapman.org/

Southern Baptists... You are right!   Thank You for speaking out with your Baptist Faith & Message Article XVIII. - The Family.  At a time when divorce is destroying the fabric of our society, you have taken a bold stand for biblical principles of marriage.

Faith and Message XVIII - The Family

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.

Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.

The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.

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Our First Meeting

Couples ~ Rudolph, Goodson, Smith, Driscoll/Anderson, Barbarino, Anderson, Straka, Mason

One hundred seventy-one years of marriage experience,
...and we still continue to work at making our marriages better!

Just ask us how we enjoyed our Weekend to Remember!

Kevin & Gabriele Straka, Mike & Jackie Rudolph,
John & Chris Mason, or Keith & Marlene Wawrzyniak

This years Weekend to Remember® February 24-26, 2006 was a memorable getaway.
We were among 650 other individuals learning how to improve our marriage covenant.
 

 

Communications - (good) Makes or (bad) Breaks a Marriage