Parent-Child Dedication
10.26.2017
This week, Pastor John hands over the TAGD keyboard to Scott Williams, Northpoint’s Pastor of Adults and Families.
Parent-Child Dedication
On November 5, we will have our next Parent-Child Dedication service here at Northpoint. For many families, this is an important time, as parents commit before the Lord to raise their children in a godly home.
I remember when Kim and I dedicated our first child. As we stood in front of our church family, we were trying to hide how overwhelmed we felt as new parents. However, that time of dedicating ourselves as parents before the Lord became so reassuring to the both of us because we were reminded that God cares so much more for our little child than we could possibly imagine and that we, as parents, were (and still are!) mere stewards of the great gift that he had entrusted to us. God cares deeply for our children and wants to see each one of them experience his love and grace. It is our job as parents to not only help them grow up but to also grow in faith all the while acknowledging that it is God who saves.
Parent-Child dedication is significant because as parents, we are not only committing to raise our children in a godly home, but we are committing to be the type of gospel-saturated, grace-loving, faith-empowered Christians we want our children to grow into. Parents trusting in Christ and not their own works for salvation will be the example their kids see most readily. On dedication day, then, we are acknowledging our need to intervene in the salvation of our children, but we are also acknowledging our constant need for our savior.
Given this fact, we emphasize the following to all parents who are seeking to have their kids dedicated here at Northpoint. This is what we believe to be an articulation of what the commitment is they are making and seven important truths they are embracing.
The Commitment:
Parent-Child dedication is a commitment parents make in their heart and before the church to raise their children in an environment that embraces the grace, redemption, and knowledge of God that is rooted in the Scripture and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Seven Things to Understand About Dedicating Children:
1. The practice of Parent-Child dedication is based on scriptural precedent, rooted in the Old Testament, seen in Hannah’s dedication of Samuel and Jesus being presented to the Lord in the Temple as an infant (Luke 2:22–35, 1 Samuel 1: 22,24).
2. Parent-Child dedication is also based on and acknowledges God’s blessing, concern, and care for children. (Isa. 54:13; Matt 18:1–5, 10; 19:13–15; Luke 18:15–17; Acts 2:39; 1 John 2:12–13).
3. While this is a significant moment for parents and their children, we do not believe that this act of dedication either saves them now or guarantees their salvation at a later date. (Eph. 2:8-9, Rom. 10:9)
4. It is you, parents, who are doing the dedicating. The ceremony performed during a church service is simply a public acknowledgment of that commitment.
5. In this act, you acknowledge that your child has been created by our heavenly Father and belongs to Him, who entrusts them to you as a steward to raise for the purpose pointing them to faith in Christ (Eph. 6:4, Deut 6:7).
6. You commit to live your lives as parents, by the grace of God, in such a way as to be a positive example as followers of Jesus Christ. Praying that your children follow your example of a faith that rests on God’s grace, not your works.
7. Your church leadership and community (elders, and members) commit to support and encourage you by the grace of God to fulfill your responsibility, and likewise to be good examples to your children.
If you are interested in participating in our Parent-Child dedication, please join us for a brief meeting in the Family Room, just off the Church foyer this Sunday, October 29, after each service. Or you can contact Michele Balga at mbalga@northpointcorona.org.
In him,
Pastor Scott