The image of the church as the "Bride of Christ" speaks to us of the depth, goal, and strategy of Christ's love for His church.

1. Ephesians 5:21-24
Submit to one another out of reverence for
Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the
Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as
Christ is the head of the church, his body, of
which he is the Savior. Now as the church
submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to
their husbands in everything.
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2. Ephesians 5:25-27
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved
the church and gave himself up for her to make
her holy, cleansing her by the washing with
water through the word, and to present her to
himself as a radiant church, without stain or
wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and
blameless.
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3. Ephesians 5:28-30
In this same way, husbands ought to love their
wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife
loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his
own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as
Christ does for the church—for we are members
of his body.
www.networkchristian.org

4. Ephesians 5:31-33
‘For this reason a man will leave his father and
mother and be united to his wife, and the two
will become one flesh.’ This is a profound
mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the
church. However, each one of you also must
love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife
must respect her husband.
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5. As the bride of Christ I pray you catch
a glimpse of the DEPTH of Christ’s love
for you.
Love is more than an expression of words, it is
a desire and COMMITMENT to what is best
for another.
The nails did not hold Him to the cross, but
His LOVE.

6. The image of bride gives a glimpse
of the depth of His love and the
GOAL of His love.
He gave Himself for the CHURCH even though it did not
yet exist.
Jesus not only DESIRES the best, He KNOWS what is for
our best.
Make holy begins with CLEANSING from sin in order to be
DEDICATED to God.
Jesus has done everything NECESSARY to make you holy.

7. The depth of love, the goal of His
love, and the STRATEGY of His love.
Jesus not only died for the church
but CONTINUES to feed and care for
her.
He has given us all we need to MATURE in the faith.
The strategy of His love is not to control but to
INVITE.
We are called to VOLUNTARY submission in
recognition of who He is and what he has done.

8. Please take a moment to fill out your
Communication Card
My Next Step Today is to:
( ) Do the home life help (in bulletin)
( ) Reflect on how deeply I am loved
( ) Spend time in confession to God for cleansing
( ) Evaluate if I am truly living dedicated to God.
( ) Identify where I am not submitted to Christ’s
headship.
( ) Other________________________