Sowing Seeds of Faith: The Heart of Child Dedication

Good morning, and welcome to The Gathering Place West.

We have many visitors this morning, and we are blessed to have you worshiping with us today!

We also have a few that are joining us virtually, and we are happy to have you.

There are outlines in the back.

If you would like one, just raise your hand.

We will have one brought to you.

If you have your bible with you, go ahead and open to Deuteronomy chapter four.

We will spend the bulk of our time on this passage today.

Today, we are going to spend this time diving a bit deeper into this idea of child dedication.

The title of today’s message is “Sowing Seeds of Faith: The Heart of Child Dedication.”

Our goal today is not only to feel the weight of the commitment that we have all entered but also to see that God has ordained this responsibility.

Big Idea: Child dedication is not only an expression of parental commitment but a communal responsibility to pass down the faith.

Today, when we all joined Joey and Marie in dedicating Mia’Sarah, we were making a covenant with God.

A covenant is an agreement that many today are not familiar with.

We typically live by contracts.

In a contract, when one party breaks their part, the contract is null and void.

In a covenant, even when one party breaks their part, the covenant still stands.

And the other party fulfills their part regardless of the actions of the other party.

God made a number of covenants with Israel and, with Jesus, made the final covenant with all people.

Covenants are relationships God establishes with people on the basis of His promises.

God establishes these covenants because He wants all people to know Him.

The covenants that God makes are all part of God’s redeeming work.

He is fulfilling the promise to bring humanity back to himself.

In particular today, we will be looking at the Mosaic Covenant.

The covenant that God established with the Israelites.

Exodus 19:3–6 CSB

3 Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, 6 and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”

When they were at this mountain, God gave Israel the law.

This law was how God would make them a “holy nation.”

One of the primary ways that God taught Israel to know Him was by giving them the law.

God gave them the law to guide them to Himself and to set his people apart from the world.

But knowing the law is not enough.

God expects that we keep the law.

I want to remind you that we spent our time learning about God’s grace last week.

God’s grace doesn’t change His expectations; it shows His great love for us when we fall short.

God desires our obedience because that is how we come to know Him.

1. Obedience leads to abundant life in God.

Look with me at the first four verses of Deut. 4.

God gives Isreal specific instructions about what we are to do regarding His law and children.

Deuteronomy 4:1–4 CSB

1 “Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed every one of you who followed Baal of Peor. 4 But you who have remained faithful to the Lord your God are all alive today.

As we can see, God is serious about us keeping His law.

Those who disobeyed God at Baal-peor were destroyed by God.

But those who remained faithful were kept alive.

This expectation that we keep God’s commands is not only an Old Testament teaching.

Jesus taught the same thing, and one of the disciples, John, shares that in his first epistle.

1 John 5:1–4 CSB

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him. 2 This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. 3 For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden, 4 because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.

God wants to bless us and wants us to know Him.

This is why He gave the law.

So that we could know God!

Hearing, understanding, and obeying the law sets us apart and prepares us for God’s blessings.

Without the law, we would not see, much less acknowledge, our need for God.

But the law points out our failings.

It makes way for us to become better and more like God.

Paul makes this point when discussing the law in relation to Jesus’ sacrifice.

Romans 7:7a–8 (CSB)

7...I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.

8 And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead.

The law plays a vital role in us living in the right relationship with God.

It shows us the perfection of God!

If we add to or change the Law in any way, it distorts people’s view of God.

A few months ago one of you made the comment to me and Carey that I never seem to say anything positive about the religious leaders of Jesus’ day.

The reality is that my words reflect the words of Jesus.

These “leaders” stood in opposition to what God was doing.

Their primary tools for doing so were to point out people’s flaws and to add additional requirements of them that God did not!

They were adding to the law!

The result was that many were misinformed entirely about what God required.

This is why Jesus was such a breath of fresh air!

Rather than teaching people things they could never hope to do in their own power, Jesus role-modeled a relationship with God grounded in love.

It is only through a growing relationship with Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit that we can fulfill our half of the covenant we made today!

In the passage we read today from Duet 4, we learn that the people have seen with their own eyes the results of disobeying God.

Moses reminded them of their moral failure to encourage them to obedience.

We have all experienced the consequences of disobedience, but God wants our children to experience the fruit of our obedience.

It is the hope of every loving parent that their children have a better life than they did.

Our commitment to God today is to provide Mia’Sarah with the opportunity to know God.

We did this because we want her to grow up in faith, knowing God loves her!

We pray and strive to guide her to avoid the pitfalls many of us have experienced.

We want her life to be better than our own.

We are committing to living in obedience to God before her and, therefore, teaching her and role modeling for her a life of obedience.

2. Teach others with your testimony.

Our lives of obedience become a testimony of God’s love and faithfulness.

It is not just the words we say but the things we do that will guide those around us.

Let’s continue in our passage in Duet four by picking up on verse five because Moses had more to say on this topic.

Deuteronomy 4:5–9 (CSB)

5 Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess.

6 Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’

7 For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him?

8 And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

9 “Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don’t forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don’t slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.

God prepares us to be a light in the darkness by sharing the law with us.

These laws set us apart by how we live in the world and how we treat others.

The sum of our lives will be found in how we live.

All of your life experiences are a living testimony to the world of God’s love.

As we live in an abiding relationship with God, we benefit.

But so do those close to us, especially the children in our charge.

I told someone this week that when you think children aren’t paying attention, they are.

The kids in this room, the nieces, nephews, grandkids, etc., all watch how you treat others.

They relate to God how you do.

They are learning to value what you value.

They speak and treat others the way you do.

Their value system will be defined by your values!

God gave us the law to guide us.

To show us how we ought to love one another.

The manner in which you live and God’s work in your life draw people closer to Jesus.

This is why, when asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus pointed to only one.

Matthew 22:37–40 CSB

37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

“All the law and the prophets depend on these two commands.”

In other words, if we can love God and one another as Jesus did, the law will be fulfilled!

Now, we know we are not able to do that.

We have experienced it, and Paul testifies to it.

That is why we must rely on Holy Spirit to lead us.

It is God’s work in our lives, changing our hearts and minds into His likeness, that draws people to Him.

Do not hide God’s work in your life!

God’s work in your life is the best and most important part of who you are.

If you keep that to yourself, you are keeping the best version of yourself locked away.

3. God’s work in your life molds other people's lives.

An authentic love for God will result in a love for people.

That love of God will flow from your heart and change the lives of the people around you!

Deuteronomy 4:10–14 CSB

10 The day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people before me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth and may instruct their children.’ 11 You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire into the heavens and enveloped in a totally black cloud. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn’t see a form; there was only a voice. 13 He declared his covenant to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two stone tablets. 14 At that time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess.

Moses is reminding the people of yet another time when they disobeyed God.

But God, full of compassion and grace, forgave them.

Not only did He forgive them, but He gave them the law.

The law was the blessing that set them apart.

It proved God’s love for them.

As we share stories of God’s work in our lives with children, they learn many things.

My kids love hearing stories from my childhood.

One of the things they learn is that their dad was never a perfect child.

Far from it in fact.

Yet, God, full of compassion and grace, did not abandon me.

He has worked on me from the day I was born, and there is a lot left to accomplish.

But those stories show hope.

They show forgiveness.

They show growth.

They show maturity.

All of which are the results of a loving God not giving up on me.

And if God didn’t give up on their dad, then God won’t give up on them either.

Tell others your war stories, but point to God’s work in your life.

Sharing our stories illustrates God’s never-ending, relentless love.

Sharing your stories helps others to realize that God wants to work in their lives, too.

Your testimony sparks to life a longing and desire to know God in the way that you do.

Your worship inspires them to love God in the same way.

When our children see our mistakes but see us seek God’s forgiveness and respond to His guidance, it teaches them how to do the same.

Living authentically gives them the permission to make mistakes and know that God will not stop loving them.

Moses didn’t tell Israel to cover up their mistake so that no one would know.

Moses tells them to remember what happened when they disobeyed.

He tells them to tell their children what they have done.

God doesn’t want the future generations to fall into the same sin.

Our job as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and church members is to do the same.

To remember our mistakes and at the appropriate time, share how God redeemed those mistakes.

Tell them how God responded by giving you another chance.

A heart and soul perpetually moving towards God inspires them to seek God for themselves.

Joey and Marie, as Mia’Sarah grows up it is your responsibility to teach her God’s word.

You are also responsible for showing her how God’s love works in your life.

This is no small task.

You cannot do it alone.

Most importantly, you can only hope to accomplish this task by growing in faith for yourselves.

Then, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you every day.

And praying for Mia’Sarah to come to know God for herself.

Godparents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, church members, we have committed to helping them in this task.

The same goes for all of us.

We must daily pursue the Lord, grow in faith, and live it out before Mia’Sarah.

If you are here today and have children in your life or people who don’t have a relationship with Jesus, this is your call from God.

God expects all of us to share the love and forgiveness that God has poured out for all mankind.

This is the heart of child dedication.

As our faith grows, sow seeds of faith in the people that God has put in your life.

Let’s pray.

Life Group Questions:

How can the stories of God’s work in your life inspire others to seek Him?

What steps can you take to ensure that God's love is evident in your life and the lives of those around you?

In what ways can you actively pass down your faith to the next generation?

Reflect on your own childhood; how did the faith of those around you shape who you are today?

What are some practical ways you can create an environment of faith at home or in your community?