Summary
Preparing for Marriage, along with the accompanying Leaderrs"s Guide, were developed to help engaged couples prepare for the important task of building a Christian marriage. This resource provides engaged couples opportunities to develop good communication skills and deal with issues of personal expectations, family histories, role responsibilities, communication, finances and the traits of a biblical marriage. It encourages the development of a mentoring relationship with an older married couple. Each session includes informative Bible study, discussion questions and special projects to be completed by the couple to reinforce the topic of the session. The study can be used by counselors, groups or individual couples. Has 6 sessions
Author Biography
DENNIS RAINEY is the President and the cofounder of FamilyLife, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. He is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary. He holds an honorary doctorate from Trinity Evangelical University and Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Since 1976, he has overseen the rapid growth of FamilyLife, which is the family division of Campus Crusade for Christ, and holds conferences on marriage, parenting and Rekindling the Romance (the one day conference on the marriage covenant). He is the senior editor of the HomeBuilders Couples Series\u00ae and the daily host of the nationally syndicated radio program \u201cFamilyLife Today.\u201d Dennis was the recipient of the National Religious Broadcasters Radio Program of the Year Award for both 1995 and 2003. He was also presented the Distinguished Alumnus award from Crowder Community College. Dennis has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
Dennis and Barbara have spoken at FamilyLife Conferences across the United States and around the world. Dennis continues to be a speaker for Promise Keepers. In addition, he has testified on family issues before Congress and appeared on numerous radio and television programs.
Dennis and Barbara co-authored Staying Close. It was selected in 1990 as the outstanding book on marriage and family and was presented the Gold Medallion Book Award by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Dennis received a second Gold Medallion Award in 2002 for Ministering to the Twenty-First Century Families (The Swindoll Leadership Library). Dennis and Barbara also wrote Two Hearts Praying As One, Growing A Spiritually Strong Family, The New Building Your Mate\u2019s Self-Esteem, Moments Together for Couples, Parenting Today\u2019s Adolescent, Two Hearts Are Better Than One, Starting Your Marriage Right and the recent Moments with You. Barbara and oldest daughter Ashley compiled and wrote A Mother\u2019s Legacy – Wisdom from Mothers to Daughters. Her most recent writing project is Barbara and Susan\u2019s Guide to the Empty Nest, co-authored with Susan Yates.
Dennis has also written:
--The Tribute
--Building Your Marriage (of the HomeBuilders Couples Series)
--Building Your Mate's Self-Esteem ( HomeBuilders Couples Series, coauthored with Barbara
--A Call to Family Reformation
--One Home at a Time
--So You Want to be a Teenager (with his wife Barbara and children Samuel and Rebecca)
-Interviewing Your Daughter\u2019s Dates
Dennis has been on the staff of Campus Crusade since 1970, and Barbara since 1971. Dennis and Barbara were married in 1972. Their proudest achievement has been six children (5 more grafted in by marriage- three sons, two daughters), and fourteen grandchildren. They are both graduates of the University of Arkansas and live near Little Rock, Arkansas.
Table of Contents
Introduction |
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5 | (6) |
How to Use This Workbook |
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11 | (8) |
Part One: Preparing the Groundwork |
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Personal History Worksheet |
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19 | (18) |
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37 | (24) |
Part Two: Laying the Foundation |
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61 | (28) |
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Discover that marriage is God's idea and how that fact affects the relationship between a husband and wife |
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Bonus: Parental Wisdom Project |
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80 | (9) |
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God's Equation for Marriage: When One Plus One Equals One |
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89 | (50) |
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God's plan for marriage involves receiving your mate as His provision, leaving behind your dependence and allegiance to parents, cleaving solely to your mate and becoming one flesh |
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Evaluating Your Relationship |
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111 | (12) |
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A Decision-Making Guide: Helping You Move from ``Do I?'' to ``I Do!'' or ``I Don't'' |
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123 | (16) |
Part Three: Building Oneness |
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Authentic Communication: Avoiding the Post-Wedding Letdown |
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139 | (24) |
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Learn the important aspects of listening, expressing yourselves and resolving conflicts in order to enhance communication and encourage intimacy in your marriage |
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Bonus: Couple's Interview Project |
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157 | (6) |
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Roles and Responsibilities Moving Beyond the Cultural Stereotypes |
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163 | (24) |
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Learn the biblical roles for husbands and wives and how to implement them in your marriage |
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Bonus: Roles Position Statement |
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183 | (4) |
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187 | (24) |
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Discover how to base your financial goals and decisions on the fact that God owns everything and we are all only stewards of His resources |
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203 | (8) |
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Intimacy: Sexual Communication in Marriage |
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211 | (19) |
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Learn that sex is part of God's plan to develop complete physical, emotional and spiritual intimacy between a husband and a wife |
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Bonus: The Past: How Much Do I Share? |
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226 | (4) |
A Final Project |
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230 | (3) |
Appendix A Special Project 5 Purity Covenant |
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233 | (7) |
Appendix B The Four Spiritual Laws |
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240 | (5) |
Appendix C Have You Made the Wonderful Discovery of the Spirit-Filled Life? |
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245 | (7) |
About the Writers |
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252 | |