{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Hope Community Church","title":"Is Marriage Still Important? | Ben Foote","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2156,"description":"Start to Finish Week 1 - Is Marriage Still Important? Ben Foote (Teaching Pastor - Flatirons Community Church)Description:These days it's easy to wonder if marriage still is (or ever was) all that important. In week one of the series, Ben Foote (Teaching Pastor of Flatirons Community Church) takes a look at what Jesus has to say about marriage and brings back the why for those of us who may have forgotten.—Message Notes:  Life is not a sprint. We need to focus on living a godly life From Start to Finish. Christianity helps us for the long haul in youth, singleness, marriage, parenting and aging.    Why is marriage so important?  Jesus directly addresses marriage and divorce.Matthew 19:1-2 (NIV)Matthew 19:3 (NIV)In Jesus’ time, there were basically two sides of the divorce debate. 1. God only allows divorce in the case of infidelity. 2. God allows divorce for any and every reason.The culture in Jesus’ time sounded something like this about marriage:Marriage is a contract that can be easily broken whenever men don’t feel served or pleased by it anymore.Jesus responds to the Pharisees trying to trap Him on the issue of divorce.Matthew 19:4-6 (NIV)Jesus’ answer points to two different Scriptures on why marriage is important.Genesis 1:27 (ESV)Genesis 2:24 (BSB)God unites the man and woman into ONE FLESH, one spiritually inseparable unit, to reflect God’s goodness to the world around us.Why is marriage so important? Jesus says marriage is NOT a contract but a COVENANT.Covenant: A spiritually-binding oath between God and His people.The common view of marriage in Jesus time:Marriage is a contract that can be easily broken whenever men don’t feel served or pleased by it anymore.Jesus’ view of marriage:Marriage is a covenant that cannot be broken without doing a lot of damage because marriage is a covenant designed to show the world what God looks like.Marriage is uniquely designed to show the world what God’s never-ending, never-quitting love and commitment look...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/uIknl95K8nsizSpDgj3alnQLSEl2Cb8_jelQ0immGpA/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8yZDA4/ODBiZWNiMzBmOWEz/Mzc0Y2RjMWVlMDBj/NGI2NS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}