The Covenant of Marriage Study Guide


Book Description

This twelve week study shows how the historic understanding of Covenant helps us build a love-for-a-lifetime Marriage. Marriage is not what our culture—or we— say it is. What is the one flesh relationship that was designed by God?

When two enter a Covenant, the identity of each party enters the other. This produces a bond of shared identity between the two and alters the nature of each—“what God has joined together.” God’s instructions are logical consequences of these realities. We love the other as we love ourselves because the other is now part of us. Our hearts want to love, but we do not love consistently. Why? Because our guidance systemour old sense of self-interest—pulls in other directions.

Covenant is not just a tie that binds. It is also a plan that teaches us what to do, why we do these things, and how we become able to do them. Our married self is a new self. Obedience does not oppose our nature; it authentically expresses our new self and new bond. Shifting our guidance system to follow God’s plan and building this new life is the path to the best Marriage.




The Meaning of Marriage Study Guide


Book Description

Timothy and Kathy Keller will show you a portrait of marriage as it's meant to be according to the Bible...by first throwing out most of what we've been taught about love. Modern culture would have you believe that everyone has a soul mate; that romance is the most important part of a successful marriage; that marriage does not mean 'til death do us part, but merely for as long as my needs are being met; and that when serious differences arise, divorce is the best solution. But all of these modern-day assumptions miss what marriage is really about. In this six-session video-based Bible study (DVD/digital video sold separately), Timothy Keller, along with Kathy, his wife of forty years, draws a profound portrait of marriage from the pages of Scripture that neither idealizes nor rejects the institution but points us back to the relationship between God and man. The result is a vision for marriage that is refreshingly frank and unsentimental, yet hopeful and beautiful. This study is for anyone from singles to couples considering marriage to those who have been married for any length of time. Sessions include: Service: Marriage Isn't about You Covenant: Created to Make Promises Roles: Loving through Mutual Submission Singleness: Strengthening the Spiritual Family Sex: The Act of Covenant Renewal Hope: Seeing the Great Horizon Designed for use with The Meaning of Marriage Video Study (sold separately).




The Meaning of Marriage


Book Description

Describes what marriage should be according to the Bible, arguing that marriage is a tool to bring individuals closer to God, and provides meaningful instruction on how to have a successful marriage.




The Covenant of Marriage


Book Description

God's plan for Marriage is built upon the defining reality of Covenant relationships--the sharing and merger of identity; God's plan to build the deepest love and strongest relationships is explored.




The Meaning of Marriage: A Couple's Devotional


Book Description

From New York Times bestselling authors Timothy Keller and Kathy Keller comes a gorgeously packaged daily devotional that takes us on year-long journey into discovering the meaning of marriage Marriage is the most profound human relationship there is. Coming to know and love your spouse is one of the most rewarding and wondrous things we can experience in life. But it is also one of the most difficult and painful. In this 365-day devotional, Timothy Keller and his wife of forty-three years, Kathy Keller, share powerful instructions on how to have a successful marriage. The Kellers draw from and expand upon lessons they first introduced in their book The Meaning of Marriage, offering stories, daily scriptures, and prayer prompts that will inspire anyone who wants to know God and love more deeply in this life.




Grounds for Marriage, Book and Study Guide


Book Description

Your marriage is in crisis, and you've read countless books on how to make it work, but to no avail. You haven't seen sustainable change in your relationship, and you're ready to give up hope that counseling will be effective. You're weary of striving, and you may have even considered having an affair, doing violence to yourself or to your partner, or indulging in an addiction. Perhaps you already have. You cannot stomach another false promise or simplistic solution to the complex problems in your marriage, and you wonder, is there any other way? Grounds for Marriage speaks into the wreckage of broken covenants with a fresh perspective on relationship, refusing to apply flimsy bandages to fractured relationships and insisting that the core brokenness be addressed and genuinely repaired. This material helps couples and their counselors to honestly evaluate troubled marriages, providing a much-needed compassionate, sensible, hopeful, sound, and sometimes unexpected understanding of the scriptures and of relationship. Synchronizing personal story, anecdotes from her work as a Licensed Professional Counselor, and a review of literature in psychology and theology, Jade G. Stone helps couples in crisis to: --study the scriptures to determine what they say constitutes a marriage covenant --recognize how both partners contribute to failure in their marriage --heal from old wounds so they can be in covenantal relationship with God and with a covenant companion With no-nonsense directness and high-definition clarity, Stone helps you envision how human covenantal commitments must function in order to mirror intimacy with God. She presents the criteria of wholehearted covenant as a measuring stick for relational intimacy (grounds for marriage), without which you cannot determine what comprises broken intimacy (grounds for divorce). From a covenantal/relational perspective, you can maintain scriptural integrity, understanding, and wisdom as you evaluate a marriage in crisis. Grounds for Marriage includes a study guide to help readers personalize the concepts presented.




This Momentary Marriage


Book Description

Reflecting on forty years of matrimony, John Piper exalts the biblical meaning of marriage over its emotion, exhorting couples to keep their covenant for all the best reasons. Even in the days when people commonly stayed married "'til death do us part," there has never been a generation whose view of marriage was high enough, says Pastor John Piper. That is all the more true in our casual times. Though personal selfishness and cultural bondage obstruct the wonder of God's purpose, it is found in God's Word, where his design can awaken a glorious vision capable of freeing every person from small, Christ-ignoring, romance-intoxicated views. As Piper explains in reflecting on forty years of matrimony: "Most foundationally, marriage is the doing of God. And ultimately, marriage is the display of God. It displays the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his people to the world in a way that no other event or institution does. Marriage, therefore, is not mainly about being in love. It's mainly about telling the truth with our lives. And staying married is not about staying in love. It is about keeping covenant and putting the glory of Christ's covenant-keeping love on display." This Momentary Marriage unpacks the biblical vision, its unexpected contours, and its weighty implications for married, single, divorced, and remarried alike.




Covenant Marriage


Book Description

In this new book, the bestselling author of "The Five Love Languages" shows how communication and intimacy are two of the most important aspects in developing a successful Covenant Marriage.




The 4 Seasons of Marriage


Book Description

Compares the transitional cycles of marriage to those of nature, describes the attitudes and emotions of each season, and offers seven strategies that enable couples to enhance and improve their marital relationship.




Your Marriage God's Way Workbook


Book Description

Apply God’s Wisdom to Your Marriage God designed the unique covenant between a man and a woman to be a lifelong partnership that brings joy, support, and stability to both their lives. You can experience this fulfillment for yourself when you follow His plan as the foundation for the relationship between you and your loved one. This companion to Your Marriage God’s Way invites you to work together with your spouse to take a closer look at the biblical principles for this precious contract and make them an active part of your own marriage. You will build a stronger relationship and deeper faith as you understand the unique roles God has given each of you identify ways you can better help, encourage, and support each other make serving God the focal point of your marriage No matter how long you’ve been married, there is always room to grow in your relationship by placing Christ at its center. With the help of the Your Marriage God’s Way Workbook, bring your hearts closer together and experience the fullness God has in store for both of you.