Tag Archives: church

Well, last weekend at church, we had baby Jedidiah dedicated.  It was a special Sunday to do it, since it was also my first Mother’s Day!

Many of you may be wondering, “what is a baby dedication?”  Well, it’s similar to a baby baptism, except without the water.  I personally was raised in the Catholic church and I was baptized as an infant.  However, since I have grown up in my faith, I have come to believe that the Biblical model for baptism is as a “going public” statement of faith.  Because of this, I also chose to be baptized as an adult.  In fact, my husband and I got baptized together on Easter Sunday 5 years ago.  That was also a very special time for both of us.  Anyways, we decided to dedicate Jedidiah and hope that he too will choose to be baptized later in life.

Revolution Church has four services each weekend, one on Saturday night and three on Sunday morning.  Usually we go to the 10:00 service and then stay to serve the 11:30, but since we wanted our family to be there for this special day, we decided to serve the 11:30 and attend the 1:00 service (they are all late risers).  This turned out to be a blessing for us as we were the only family to choose this service to have our baby dedicated (the other services were packed!).  It allowed Pastor Zak to really make it more personal and special for us as a family.

He introduced us on stage and even told the church that our little Jedidiah was “Made in China” while we were up there (He thinks that is pretty funny).  Then he read Deuteronomy 6 where it talks about the blessings in store for those who love God and who follow his commandments.  “These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.”  This is important because the Shema, which I’ve written about in other posts, was the first passage of scripture the Hebrews would teach their children.  “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one.  Obey the commandments I am giving you today.  Love the Lord your 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 these words upon 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…” 

Then we got to the dedication part.  Really, it should be called a parent dedication rather than a baby dedication as we are the ones promising to raise him up to love God and to obey his commandments (out of love, not out of obligation); to transfer Jedidiah’s dependence on us to a dependence on God.  And by doing this, generations to come can be changed.  We’ve always prayed that God would use Jedidiah’s life for his glory, and who knows what kind of influence he’ll have on his generation and the next?  We made this promise before God, our family and before our church.

Then came the church’s part.  They also dedicated themselves to come alongside us to make this commitment happen, through prayer and support.  We don’t believe that they made that commitment arbitrarily either, as this church really has become our family.  We treasure them and they treasure us, and together, we’re on a mission to start a revolution of grace in one life at a time.

After the church made their commitment, they stretched out their hands and prayed over us.  Pastor Zak prayed for:

Protection in the midst of a dark and hurting world…

Hope for his future…

Security in Christ…

Comfort when he’s hurting or lonely…

Overwhelming grace to flow through his life…

Healing…

Victory in the battle…

Daily provision…

and guidance as he walks through life.

He finished with some prayers from Psalm 23, that Jedidiah would see God as his Good Shepherd.

Finally, we were given a Jesus Storybook Bible as a gift and as a tool to equip our son to go out and bring hope and joy into the world and to grow in the faith and the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Last but not least, I pray that my son’s identity will be deeply rooted in who he is in Christ, and that this creed would be in his mind and on his heart as he grows up.

This was a really special time for us as parents and we are so thankful for our church family.  Oh yeah, after the dedication, Jedidiah got kicked out of service for being too loud… how many people can say that their baby was dedicated and kicked out on the same day?!?  This kid… I’m sure God has great things in store for him.

If you want to watch the video of his dedication, here you go!  Enjoy!  #revyourlife