Megachurch pastor Josh Howerton did something a little unorthodox to achieve an orthodox result.
Last month, Mr. Howerton, who leads Lake Point Church in Dallas, gave a sermon called “Three Things That Will Ruin Your Marriage,” at the end of which he encouraged unmarried couples living together to get married.
“If you are living with a non-spouse, sleeping with a non-spouse, or in fact already have a family and have children with a non-spouse, you are now coming under the loving conviction of the Holy Spirit that you must honor God and bend the knee to Jesus,” he said from the pulpit.
Howerton added: “Put on a ring and sign a contract with someone who is acting like they already have a contract.”
After giving a sermon last week that he said took a lot of time to prepare, the pastor revealed that 52 couples came forward and all were married on Friday in a mass ceremony and celebration.
“These 52 couples heard a marriage sermon two weeks ago and were convicted,” he wrote on social media. “They wanted to get married in honor of God, so they met with the pastors for a council meeting and got married tonight.”
Mr. Howerton praised the newlyweds from the pulpit last Sunday, inviting churchgoers to attend the service to give them a standing ovation for their decision to repent and get on the right foot before God.
Estimates released in December by the U.S. Census Bureau show that fewer than half (47%) of U.S. households include married couples, a significant change from 50 years ago, when nearly two-thirds (66%) were married couples. The median age at first marriage for men is now nearly 31 and for women nearly 28, both up from 24 and 21, respectively, in 1975.
In the comments section of Howerton’s post, the pastor said more than 1,000 people showed up for Sunday’s service “to cheer.”
“We never want to look down on anyone unless we reach out to them,” he said Sunday. “We called people who realized they were living outside of God’s plan, and they said, ‘We want to repent and honor God with our lives and come forward and put on a ring and get married and honor God.’
James Moore was one of those married at Lake Point Church after Howerton’s sermon.
He commented on the pastor’s post, saying, “My fiancé and I have decided to get married after listening. We’ve been procrastinating and making excuses for a long time, but this message lit a fire in our hearts and we’re finally able to do it. I’m so grateful for your message.”
Pray for new marriages to be formed in response to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
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