Baby Dedication

Good morning dear church. Happy Mother’s day to our dear mothers.

Well, I am here today for a very joyous occasion, to do a baby dedication for the son of my dear friends and members of our church family, Anthony and Natalie Cook. Would you two and your children please come up to the pulpit?

On May 12, 2019 the Lord blessed Natalie and Anthony with a son, Dominic Anthony Cook. We are here today to recognize that Dominic is a gift from God. We are also here at the request of Anthony and Natalie to join them in dedicating themselves as parents and their son to the Lord.

King Solomon wrote in psalm 127:3 “3 Behold, children are a heritage from YHWH, the fruit of the womb a reward.” Each of our children are a blessing and a gift from God and we as parents are given the privilege and responsibility to bring them up in the ways of the Lord. Such a thing was command of God’s people in Deuteronomy 6, where the Israelite parents were instructed to diligently teach their children the greatest commandment of loving the Lord with all their heart, with all their soul and with all their might.

We have examples of such faithful parenting in scripture. In the OT we think of Hannah who dedicated the son whom she prayed for, saying, 1 Samuel 2:28, “I have dedicated him to YHWH, as long as he lives he is dedicated YHWH.” Or we can think of Solomon, who instructed his son in the ways and wisdom of God’s law in the book of Proverbs. In the NT we have the sweet example of Timothy who was taught God’s word by his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois and who was led to sincere faith in Christ by their instruction and the example of their own faith.

These examples are what Anthony and Natalie desire to follow. And so, I will ask them to make the following commitments before God and before the church.

Do you, Anthony and Natalie, commit yourselves before God and these witnesses, to dedicate Dominic to the Lord, to diligently instruct him in the Holy Word of God, and to be examples to him of sincere faith in the gospel of Christ? We do

Now I turn to you dear church. The responsibility to carry out these commitments is Anthony and Natalie’s. And yet, we as their church family, share in this responsibility. So I will you here today, as members of Heritage Christian fellowship, do we commit ourselves to assist Natalie and Anthony in instructing Dominic in the Holy Word of God and in being examples to him of sincere faith in the Gospel of Christ? If so, please join me in affirming this commitment by saying Amen,

Let us now pray for this dear gift that God has blessed Anthony and Natalie with. Dear Heavenly Father we praise you for you are the Giver of Life and you have graced Anthony and Natalie with their son, Dominic. We thank you today for your loving gift. We pray, Lord that you would call Dominic to yourself through the outward calling that he hears from the teaching of his parents and from the teaching of this church. We pray that you would give him the gift of the Holy Spirit to regenerate his heart and transform him into the image of your son. We pray that his thoughts and his heart would remain pure and that he would be guarded and protected from the sinful influences of the wicked world around him. We pray that you would fill him with a desire to obey his parents, to heed their instruction and to pursue your wisdom. And lastly, Lord we pray that you would equip Anthony and Natalie with wisdom and strength and might to carry out this responsibility of training up Dominic in your ways. We pray this in the name of Jesus, Amen