Pulpit Talk

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border-top:1px solid #393939; clear:both; display:none; width:100%!important; position:relative; z-index:999999!important; height:90px!important"> <div class="adCenterClass" style="display:block!important; overflow:hidden; width:916px;"> <div id="footerAd_container" style="display:block!important; float:left; width:728px"> <iframe id="lycosFooterAdiFrame" style="border:0; display:block; float:left; height:96px; overflow:hidden; padding:0; width:750px"></iframe> </div> </div> </div> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#9999FF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="09676ba3.gif"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Weekend Prayer List"><U>Weekend Prayer List</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Worldwide Prayer Vigil"><U>Worldwide Prayer Vigil</U></A></div> <div> <B>Pulpit Talk</b></div> <div> <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pulpit Talk Outline"><U>Pulpit Talk Outline</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#99CCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="09776bc1egdyqn.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Brieske Family</b></FONT><B>   |   </b><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Brieske Family"><U><B>home</b></U></A></div> <div> back to <B> </b><A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marriage Encounter Information"><U><B>Marriage Encounter Information</b></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#99CCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="09776ba3.gif"> <div> Pulpit Talk</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="626" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 44 WIDTH="622"><div> Below is a copy of a Pulpit talk Mike & I gave recently. Feel free to use it and change it.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="622"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="622" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <U>Laura</U>: Good morning, my name is Laura Brieske and this</div> <div> is my husband Mike. We thought today would be the </div> <div> perfect day to share with you an extraordinary</div> <div> experience which has changed us..., our family, our lives ....and the lives of over 2 million people around the world. The Marriage Encounter Weekend. We realize that not all of you are married, but we hope that as you listen, you may think of someone who could benefit by hearing about Marriage Encounter from you. We think we found something worth passing on. We knew we loved each other before we made our weekend, and we knew our marriage was a lifetime commitment. But we realized as time had gone by, other</div> <div> priorities and responsibilities had entered our lives - children... the</div> <div> demands of maintaining a home..going to work every</div> <div> day... etc. Our marriage relationship began to drop in</div> <div> priority, and we were becoming more like roommates than soulmates.</div> <div> We were not maintaining our Marriage.</div> <bR> <div> <U>Mike</U>: You maintain your car by changing the oil every 3000 miles or so, and you clean your home and mow your lawn. But how often do you think about taking the time to maintain, and care for your marriage?</div> <div> Most of us when we got married, didn't realize how much work a marriage is. We think it will just take care of itself, because we are so much in love. As time goes by, we learn this isn't the case. </div> <div> Studies show that less than TEN percent of married couples ever</div> <div> experience true intimacy. You wonder - how can you live with</div> <div> a person - sleep in the same bed, eat hundreds of meals together, go through the hundreds of decisions we make every day that affect each other - and never experience true intimacy? I really wanted to be closer to Laura - to feel the excitement and enthusiasm we had when we first fell in love. Does this sound familiar to any of you?</div> <bR> <div> <U>Laura</U>: All married couples struggle in different ways to be in an intimate relationship and unity in different areas and times of our lives - it could be how we communicate with each other. How we spend our time together. How we manage the money or discipline the</div> <div> children. Our relationship with in-laws... the atmosphere in our</div> <div> home...dealing with prolonged illness...adjusting to an empty nest....our appreciation of each other. Or maybe you want to celebrate the wonderful marriage you already have, and spend some intimate time together away from life's every day distractions. All married couples can benefit from this fantastic weekend!</div> <bR> <div> <U>Mike</U>: On our weekend I learned a new way to help me love through the tough times, and to accept love and forgiveness. I learned a healthy and productive way to communicate in these difficult areas. Our weekend rekindled the fire in our marriage, and the tools we learned on our weekend have continued to bring more out of our marriage than I ever thought was possible. I not only loved Laura - I was IN love again. And it was better than ever before! And that has</div> <div> endured through the five years since we made our weekend.</div> <bR> <div> <U>Laura</U>: We want to give you this opportunity to make your marriage the best it can be - we invite you to attend a Marriage Encounter weekend as soon as possible. When you are the best couple you can be, you touch others' lives and your love overflows to everyone around you. </div> <bR> <div> <U>Mike</U>: Some questions that you may have are:</div> <bR> <div> <U>Laura</U>--- First----What happens on a Marriage Encounter Weekend?</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Mike</U>----The weekend is a series of presentations given by a team of three Lutheran couples and a Clergy couple. Each presentation allows you and your spouse a rare opportunity to look and understand yourselves as individuals, and then to look at your marriage and your relationship, and finally to look at your relationship with God, the Church, and the world. It is NOT a gripe session with your spouse, NOR is it a chance to lay out all the things that you don't like about each other and try to change each other. The weekend focuses on positive, loving communication, without the everyday distractions like the phone, TV, or the kids interupting.</div> <bR> <div> <U>Mike</U>---Does the Weekend Respect the Couple's privacy or will I have to talk about our marriage in front of other couples?</div> <bR> <div> <U>Laura</U>---The weekend is designed for you to concentrate on your spouse to such an extent that you are hardly aware of the other couples present. After each talk you will be given a question that will apply to your relationship. You will not answer it out loud or in front of the group, nor will you be discussing your relationship with other couples. You'll be given time to discuss your answer with your spouse in the privacy of your own room. </div> <bR> <div> <U>Laura</U>---Who is it For---is it for people with problem marriages?</div> <bR> <div> <U>Mike</U>---Quite the opposite is true---Marriage Encounter is for good marriages to make them even better. Stronger marriages make stronger families. And stronger families make a stronger church. That in turn strengthens our society, something that is greatly needed in our world today.</div> <bR> <div> <U>Mike</U>---So what Does Marriage Encounter Cost?</div> <bR> <div> <U>Laura</U>---The registration fee for a weekend is $45. It costs Marriage Encounter about $275 per couple to put on a weekend, which is covered through donations by couples who have attended a Marriage Encounter weekend. This allows any couple, regardless of their financial situation, to attend and strengthen their sacrament of marriage. During the weekend, You will have the opportunity to make a confidential donation, if you desire, to sponsor another couple. No one is ever refused the opportunity to make a Weekend because of their financial condition in life.</div> <bR> <div> <U>Mike</U>: Your weekend begins on a Friday evening and ends late afternoon on Sunday. And while this is a Lutheran weekend, it is not necessary that you be Lutheran to attend. The weekend is a rewarding experience for couples of all ages, no matter how long you have been married - with a unique approach aimed at making committed marriages BETTER! If you have already been on a weekend, we</div> <div> want to let you know the weekend has been updated in the last year, and we encourage you to go again! I have to be honest - when we were offered this opportunity I did NOT want to go. But Laura really wanted to make a weekend, and so I agreed to go to satisfy her. Guys, this Weekend was the single greatest gift I could have given to Laura, and to us. We know it is difficult these days to arrange for a whole weekend away together, but I'm telling you it is worth the effort. Give your marriage 48 hours - it will pay dividends for years</div> <div> to come. I urge you to give your wife and your marriage the gift of a</div> <div> Weekend.</div> <bR> <div> <U>Laura</U>: This would be the perfect gift to give yourselves. We listed the next weekends, registration information, and included a brochure on a handout you should have received when you entered the santuary. We are happy to answer any questions you may have after the service.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#6633CC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>