What is a Baby Dedication?
When you dedicate your baby or child to Jesus, you are declaring that you want to raise a child who will follow Jesus with all of their heart. Just like the mother of Samuel did in the Old Testament, Jesus’ parents brought him to the temple and dedicated him to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:11, 24-28, Luke 2:22). A baby dedication is a commitment to your family in the local church and to God that you will do all that you can to raise your child to follow Jesus. In a baby dedication, the local church will unite their prayers with yours with a prayer that you will be godly parents who will raise children who will follow Jesus with all of their heart.
What a Baby Dedication isn’t?
It isn’t a magical formula to make everything easy from the baby dedication forward. A baby dedication is a great step in raising a Christ-following child, but it is not enough by itself. It doesn’t make your baby right with God. A baby is already loved by God (Matthew 19:13-15). It doesn’t make them grow into a Christian. That will happen as a result of training your child in the ways of the Lord (Proverbs 22:6).
When you dedicate your baby or child to Jesus, you are declaring that you want to raise a child who will follow Jesus with all of their heart. Just like the mother of Samuel did in the Old Testament, Jesus’ parents brought him to the temple and dedicated him to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:11, 24-28, Luke 2:22). A baby dedication is a commitment to your family in the local church and to God that you will do all that you can to raise your child to follow Jesus. In a baby dedication, the local church will unite their prayers with yours with a prayer that you will be godly parents who will raise children who will follow Jesus with all of their heart.
What a Baby Dedication isn’t?
It isn’t a magical formula to make everything easy from the baby dedication forward. A baby dedication is a great step in raising a Christ-following child, but it is not enough by itself. It doesn’t make your baby right with God. A baby is already loved by God (Matthew 19:13-15). It doesn’t make them grow into a Christian. That will happen as a result of training your child in the ways of the Lord (Proverbs 22:6).
Why we do baby dedications rather than infant baptism.
At SRCC, we believe in believers’ baptism. This means that baptism is a choice made by an individual old enough to decide for themselves to be baptized. Like a marriage ceremony, the ceremony of baptism should be remembered by the participants. Once a child is old enough and ready to surrender their life to Jesus and His ways, baptism is a great step. A baby dedication is saying that we will do our best to raise this child to follow Jesus. Baptism, as the Apostle Paul explained in his letter to the church in Rome, is joining with Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection. It is the symbolic act associated with the decision to die to ourselves and live for Jesus (Romans 6:1-4).
Tips to raising godly children.
Once you have made the decision to dedicate your baby to Jesus and yourself to raising a follower of Jesus, your job has just begun. We encourage you to place training your child to follow Jesus a priority in your family life, above and beyond the important jobs of giving them a good education, participating in extracurricular activities and sports, and teaching them to have good hygiene. Passing down a love for Jesus is the most important thing you can do for your child. So pray with and for them, study the Bible with them, and model a life committed to Jesus and His local church. Always remember that God and SRCC is alongside you during this magnificent journey.
