Written by Elizabeth Shamblin Hannah
A recap of the highlights from Tomi Homonnay and Laura Gormsen’s Wedding on May 26, 2012…
Anyone who has ever walked through the doors of the Remnant Fellowship Church has surely seen God’s true beauty extended from the Heavens from the external walls of the Church to the inner walls of the members’ hearts.
Recently, on May 26, 2012, all of our lives were touched by the Covenant Ceremony between two of our Church’s most adored youth group members, Tomi Homonnay and Laura Gormsen. It was not merely the exquisite decorations that moved your heart- which extended from the picturesque boxwood topiaries to the striking hanging white, wispy flowers to the entertaining black and white checkerboard dance floor… but, indeed, if you were present, it was a fountain of surroundings that touched you.
The family’s sincere and deep gratitude was recently expressed by the bride’s mother, Sara Gormsen, who said…
“Words cannot describe the joy, love, and fun from our wonderful God that we had during this wedding! I am in awe and am completely humbled by everything that was done for us by Gwen, the Leaders, and all of the service teams! What a beautiful church- where God reigns in our hearts and there is truly inexpressible joy… I can’t imagine Heaven! I am so grateful and I praise God that we and our children have found this City of Peace!!”
Laura Gormsen Homonnay, the bride, said…
“I am in TOTAL awe of God and even more in love with Him after watching Him work through every detail of our wedding. It was a beautiful time of getting to seek God’s lead in everything. There was nothing but sweet, selfless love & joy from all of the Spirit-led Saints who poured out their time and effort to help us. To have a pure marriage, pure guidance from pure leaders, pure parents and pure friends is absolutely the most amazing thing on this earth. We will never take this life for granted, and we pray our union is used only for God’s glory.”
The wedding adornments, harmonious music, and handsome bridal party were beyond lovely, but most would say that a major climax of the evening was found inside the wisdom of the sermon- “Earthly Connections Part 3”- by Gwen Shamblin. Some of the highlighted points from the talk included the following…
1.) “If God’s presence is REALLY near- there will be deep unity. Be aware of Satan’s purpose to separate you from this Holy Spirit and create divisiveness and therefore disunity in relationships; and sow discord. And you know you have been visited by satan and his demons when you wind up alone- cut off from God, and you feel cut off from everybody… True religion creates unity… and it increases geometrically year after year after year.”
2.) “God wants to build a community that binds man to man- a unified Kingdom that is walking hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder in step with the Spirit of God. Unity to God and man results in a community that experiences the absence of backbiting, the evaporation of malice and hate, the disappearance of anger and rudeness, the vanishing of discord and disunity- with all that being superseded with sacrificial activities of charity, generosity and support, where no one is in need. It is beautiful- never whispering a bad word about a brother, for love would not allow it out of the mouth. It is a spiritual Jerusalem- it is the City of Peace.”
3.) “This correct Connection to God ends the insecurities that you have in life so that you are then capable of reaching out and loving others as yourself- almost a childlike love. Godless human interactions are greedy, they are selfish, and they are repulsive and will drive people away, resulting in eventual isolation and loneliness. Those with a genuine, heartfelt relationship with God will not lack for earthly relationships. It is magnetic…”
Gwen also wisely and profoundly condensed and summarized the 10 commandments into something that made extraordinary sense… She showed us that the 1st 4 Commandments were all about GOD—and how to show our love for Him… and the last 6 Commandments were all about MAN—how to put him 2nd behind God, but also how to love him as yourself. She ingeniously called it, “The 2 top priorities in the world.”
Well, understanding the top 2 priorities in the world is wisdom beyond wisdom, and something we can all continue to focus and work on daily.
As this wedding processional began, you could sense the audience’s anticipation- a heartfelt, genuine joy- they couldn’t wait to applaud the union of these two precious young adults, and an eagerness was upon the crowd to watch Tomi and Laura’s joy be complete with one another in marriage. As you know and can see from these pictures, these Saints’ deep affection for God and man abounds, and it is evident in their daily lives.
But indeed, we would not have had this harmony amongst our Church if we had not been taught these priceless jewels of truth… Gwen concluded the evening with a most mind-blowing thought…
“There was unity in this place ten years ago, but it is 100 times greater now than it was then. What will it be in 10 more years? How unified can we get? Who knows- for the longer I live, the more I see that this Godly emotion and action that is growing in my heart is infinite… It started before there was time, and we have only touched the hem of the garment…”
