Child dedication

 

Tim Porter

Staff Contact

Tim Porter

Contact the Tim Porter to sign up for a seminar regarding dedication. At that time you may sign up for your choice of weekend and worship service.

email Tim

Weekends Set aside in 2008 for Child dedication are:

  • January 19-20

  • April 19-20

  • July 19-20

  • October 19-20

What is it?

There are a select number of events in life when significant commitments are made.

Because of the nature of these commitments (or covenants), they are made in a public setting in the presence of God. Marriage is one such example: a covenant is made between husband and wife to love and cherish each other until death parts them. Membership in a local group of believers is another example: a covenant is made between each of the members of the congregation to love each other, care for each other, and seek to edify their faith in Jesus Christ. So it is with child dedication: covenants are made between the parents and church body and God.

We are all making a public statement in the presence of God that we have a stake in the outcome of this child’s life.

Prayer

Each one of us bear part of the responsibility for seeing that this child is given every opportunity to come to love and esteem Christ the Lord. Child dedication may be con- fusing to some. As we bring this child to be dedicated to God, we are not equating this action with salvation or baptism.

Our sole intention in all that we do is to please God by living according to His revealed Word. We believe that Scripture clearly teaches that both salvation and baptism are to be initiated by the individual. Personal faith in Jesus Christ can only spring from the heart of the individual. No one can make that commitment for him. Baptism, in the Bible, always signifies evidence of that personal faith. That is why Peter calls baptism, “the pledge of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21). Therefore, we do not baptize infants at Faith Community Church, nor is a child dedication meant to be a substitute for baptism.

While we do not see any instances of babies being baptized in the Scripture, we do see parents dedicating their children to the Lord while they are still young. Samuel is dedicated by Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:28. And Jesus is dedicated by Joseph and Mary and in Luke 2:22.

Other important passages include:

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 where we are commanded to love God and diligently teach our children how to love God (that is, instructing them in His Word).

Mark 10:13-16 shows us that Jesus had a special affection for children and “took them in his arms and blessed them, laying His hands upon them.”

Ephesians 6:4 where we read, “Provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture (fear) and admonition of the Lord.”

In dedicating children to the Lord, we are acknowledging God’s ownership of them.

Parenthood is not possession, but stewardship. The child that is placed in our care as parents is placed as a trust (see Luke 19:11-27). Dedication is a very intentional act of surrendering back to God, that which was His in the first place (Romans 11:36). Because of its sacred nature, it is an act, which is done publicly and in the presence of God. Joyous celebration and sober commitment come together to form an act of worship to our King.