Family Dedication - 8/18/2019

Good morning & Welcome to New Hope

My name is Shane… If you are visiting with us this morning we want to extend a warm welcome. We’re glad you’re here.

What a fantastic day to be at New Hope! We have a great day of celebration planned. To get that started I’d like to invite ____________ forward for our family dedication time.

As they are making their way forward, not only do we get to celebrate with families this morning, we also are privileged to have with us Malachi Jaggers to lead us in worship. Here’s what’ cool, not only is Malachi a singer, songwriter, & accomplished musician from Delphi, Indiana… But He’s family! He’s related to the Gottschalks & if he’s part of their family then he’s part of our family. We are happy to have him with us this morning.

But most of all, we are so very blessed to be able to gather like this in God’s presence. We’re so blessed that He chose us; that He loves us; that He’s merciful, kind, & gracious towards us. And we’re so blessed to be able to worship Him this morning.

And that’s what Family Dedication is …

First and foremost it’s an act of worship, where Christian parents offer their lives, parenting, and family back to God. Parents are making a commitment before God and the church to disciple their families according to the truth of God’s Word with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The practice of child dedication is first modeled in the Bible in , where a godly woman named Hannah prayed year after year for God to give her a child. He answered her prayer and she gave birth to a son, whom she named Samuel. When Samuel was born, Hannah prayed these words:

“I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life."

In Luke chapter 2, following the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph took baby Jesus to the temple and dedicated Him. In both Scripture passages, the parents entrusted their child completely to God.

(Parents) When I think about our responsibility as leaders in the home, I love the passage in where Moses stands before an audience of Israelite families and tells them the most important thing that they need to do. He says:

“Love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up”.

Our children will learn to love what we love, and love who we love. We can’t pass on what is not in our own hearts first.

That’s why in it says, “These commandments that I give you are to be upon YOUR HEARTS” before it says “Impress them on your children.”

Moses clearly communicates that parents are in the best possible position to help their kids learn what it looks like to love God and to introduce children into a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father.

Moms and Dads, Husbands and Wives – Discipleship begins and is sustained in the home. May we dedicate our lives to family discipleship.

Therefore I ask you:

Will you love, obey and serve the Lord with all your heart, soul and strength, setting the example your family needs in speech and in life to be a follower of Jesus?

If so, please say, We will with God’s help

Do you commit yourselves to train up your child in the “way that he/she should go” according to his/her God given gifts and personality. And are you willing to dedicate them back to the Lord and to the Lord’s calling and purpose for his/her life?

If so, please say, We will with God’s help

We will with God’s help

(Church) The challenge to us as this faith community, is to...

· be Great Role Models to these families / children as they grow

· to Rightly Represent Jesus – live out His values

· to Be a Consistent Voice reinforcing to these kids what’s being taught at home

If you agree, Church, please indicate so by saying, We will with God’s help

We will with God’s help

Let’s Pray Parents - Wisdom; Children - Courage; Church - Unity

· Wisdom

Pray for family

Would you please stand and as you are standing, give Malachi a warm New Hope welcome!

· Unity

Pray for children

Courage