🎧 Podcast Notes – The Day After Church Podcast
Series: Family: Covenant Relationships
Episode: Week 1 – Husbands and Wives: The Covenant of Harmony
Episode Summary
In this episode of The Day After Church Podcast, Pastor Craig unpacks the launch of our new series, Family: Covenant Relationships. Week 1 focused on Husbands and Wives – The Covenant of Harmony.
We explored what it really means to live in covenant—not contract—and why intimacy is at the heart of every covenant relationship. Marriage isn’t just a legal agreement; it’s a God-designed reflection of Christ and His church.
Listener Question: What is Covenant?
Definition: Covenant (n.): a binding and enduring agreement, sealed with promise, that creates relationship and responsibility.
- A contract is based on performance: “If you do your part, I’ll do mine.”
- A covenant is based on promise: “Even if you don’t, I will.”
Key Scriptures (NLT)
- John 17:3 – “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one You sent to earth.”
- Genesis 4:1 – “Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant.” (Older translations: “Adam knew Eve.”)
- Genesis 2:24 – “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”
- Luke 22:20 – “This cup is the new covenant between God and His people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.”
- Ephesians 5:25, 31–32 – “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up His life for her… This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.”
Main Points
- Intimacy is God’s language of life. (John 17:3)
- Intimacy is inherent to covenant, but it requires intentionality.
- Marriage was God’s idea, not man’s invention. (Genesis 2:24)
- Contracts are built on performance; covenants are built on promise. (Luke 22:20)
- Marriage is God’s sermon to the world. (Ephesians 5:25, 31–32)
- Harmony isn’t sameness—it’s difference working together.
- Marriage is the daily classroom of covenant love. (Hebrews 13:4)
Power Phrases
- “Intimacy is God’s language of life.”
- “Covenant without intimacy is just a contract dressed up.”
- “Contracts are built on performance. Covenants are built on promise.”
- “Your marriage is God’s sermon to the world.”
- “Harmony isn’t sameness—it’s difference working together.”
- “Intimacy isn’t automatic—it’s intentional.”
Reflection Questions
- How would you describe your current intimacy with God? How does that affect your other relationships?
- Where do you need to be more intentional in your marriage (or future marriage)?
- In what ways have you slipped into “contract thinking” in relationships—and how can you shift back to “covenant thinking”?
- If your marriage is a sermon, what is it preaching right now?
- How can you embrace differences in your relationships as part of God’s design for harmony?
Takeaway Thought
Marriage is not a contract—it’s a covenant. When anchored in God, covenant intimacy produces life and reflects Christ’s love to the world.
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