Welcome to Setting Captives Free, 'Marriage and the Gospel' course. We are so excited that you have decided to join us. In this course, we will be studying biblical marriage between husband and wife and sharing how the cross is the "stake in the ground" that anchors and binds the two of you together. In other words, "How the Cross Unites You as One."
Dear friend, my name is Erick Hurt, and my wife’s name is Sylvia. We are so grateful to be able to share our marriage and testimony with you throughout this course.
We have seen too many marriages around us "hanging in the balance," with spouses "falling out of love," "throwing in the towel" and exhausted from "fighting the good fight" while trying to hold their marriage together.
To be taken as husband and wife (divorced or remarried) reading and answering the questions together while being honest with yourselves and each other. This is a time to deepen your love for one another as you deepen your relationship with the Lord, the One who designed your marriage to reflect "Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:32).
To be taken as a pre-marital study/counsel for those dating or engaged.
To be taken as a single male or female to understand the depth to which Jesus Christ went to love and purchase you as part of the church (the bride of Christ) and the importance of your intimacy with Him.
Are you at the end of your rope in your marriage? Is your marriage lacking the love you had in the beginning? Are you losing ground in your marriage to sin, impurity, anger, disrespect, etc? Or maybe you’ve come to the conclusion Sylvia and I had, that there was simply no hope that our marriage could ever change.
If your answer to any of these questions was yes, then you’re in good company. We are excited that you are here with us! Come with us as we begin, but may we encourage you to pray (whether with your spouse or alone) before starting each lesson so that the Lord may clear your mind of all distractions from the day's busyness and fill you to overflowing with His truth, wisdom, and transformation of the beautiful gospel message.