I spent the last couple of days work on a baby dedication service. It's interesting doing stuff like this because, 1. the church I belong to hasn't really had a hard and fast way of doing stuff like this, and 2. This is the first time I've done something like this. I'm honored to be asked to be part of the service, and have been praying that the service will be a blessing to the parents, their guests, and the church as well.
Here is a rough out line of how it will go. I just cut and pasted it from Word.
Intro: The Parent's Make their Commitment.
Why do we do a dedication? Dedication is a practice taken primarily from texts like:
Lk. 2:22: When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
A Baby Dedication is a ceremony in which believing parents, and sometimes entire families, make a committment before the Lord to submit a child to God's will and to raise that child according to God's Word and God's ways.
Christian parents who dedicate a child are making a promise to the Lord to do everything within their power to raise the child in a godly way, prayerfully until he can make a decision on his own to follow God. Parents who make this vow of commitment are committing to raise their child in the ways of God, and not according to their own ways. Some of the responsibilities include teaching and training the child in God's Word, demonstrating an example of godliness, disciplining according to God's ways, and praying earnestly for the child.
Parents come up front and share testimonies, scripture…
Introduce Child to the body...
Invite Grandparents Up
Duet:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Dedication of Child
“In the spirit of Gen 22, we are giving back to God the gift he has given us”
Anoint with oil-why
Consecration: To set apart for Gods purposes. Webster's definition of consecrate is “To devote irrevocably to the worship of God."
Exodus 40:9-15 9 "Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. 10 Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it will be most holy. 11 Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them.
12 "Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. 13 Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest. 14 Bring his sons and dress them in tunics. 15 Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue for all generations to come."
As they anointed the temple to consecrate to God…
1 Corinthians 6:19 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
…We also anoint the child to consecrate him in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Prayer: Pull up chairs for the family, ask people to pray as they feel led, please wait for the microphone.
