Baby Dedication Service
HOPE KUALA LUMPUR (English Service)
6th May 2012
As you move forward into this new journey of life, we wish you abundant joy and fulfilment! May God’s guidance and protection rest upon His precious young lives.
We want to celebrate your new beginning with a Baby Dedication Service that will be held during our church service on 6th May 2012. For the participating families, please submit the application form and a picture of your baby by 29th April 2012 to Sis Ai Ping or email ([email protected]).
We wish to make this an important and special day in the young life of your family.
This special service is for parents to realize that children are a gift of grace from God. Hence parenthood shall not be looked at as a law of nature, but as a covenant of grace with God to nurse and love the child after the biblical manner. And in the witness of the family of God, to pledge before God to carry out this divine responsibility.
It is a simple but symbolic act of dedicating the parents and child to the Lord to signify their commitment to obey God and build a Godly family. In this service the parents pledge before God to raise the child in a Christian environment, the child is dedicated to God and be prayed over, and the church pledges its support to the child and the parents.
The main aims are: -
1) To acknowledge in the witness of the church’s leaders and members the commitment to raise and train the child/children according to God’s ways as stated in the Bible
2) To commit the child/children to the Lord for blessings, covering, protection and guidance on the child/children
3) To commit the parents to the Lord for wisdom, strength and guidance to lead, teach and bring up the child/children in a biblical way
NOTE:
This is not a children or baby baptism service. The baby dedication service should not be taken as the guarantee of salvation for the child/children. We believe that everyone needs to make his/her own decision to receive Christ and should not be done by the parents on behalf of the child/children.
DUTIES OF PARENTS
1) To teach – The principles of God’s Word, the love for God’s Word and to live them out
(Deut 6:7) 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
2) To train – Instil good moral values and the fear of God in the children
(Prov 22:6) Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
3) To provide – Supply the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of the child and provide for holistic growth
(2 Cor 12:14) …. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.
4) To nurture – To care for, encourage, carefully instruct, give the best and bring out the best in them.
5) To discipline – To correct wrong behaviour, direct their paths and train them to be respectful, obedient and submissive.
(Prov 13:24) He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.
6) To love – To give unconditional love, be patient with them, be quick to forgive and keep close communication.
7) To set a good example – Be a mentor to them, setting a good example for them to follow and keeping close watch over our lives.
Preparations for Parents:
- Understand the significance and procedure of the Baby/Children Dedication Service.
- Invite relatives and friends to witness and share in this special baby dedication.
- Parents and child to be ready before the church leader invites them out.
- Feed the child appropriately (not too much/little) or ahead of time
- Dress smartly
- Sufficient rest for the child (arrange appropriately so the child won’t be too tired or grouchy)
Download Application Form
