1. Our Baby Dedication brings to mind a practical question: Parents, have you considered returning your children to God?
a. A Frustrated dad says, “I didn’t know that was possible. I thought He had a no return policy.”
b. Bill Cosby’s routine in which he told his kids – “I brought you into the world and I can take you out.”
c. I told our daughter that I saved the receipt from the hospital – just in case we needed to make a return.
d. One man said that when he and his wife married, they had 3 theories about raising children; today they have three children and no theories
e. One of those children asked his mother what she wanted for her birthday; she replied, “Three well-behaved children.” To which the child replied, “But that would make 6 of us!”
2. The Real Point – Children are a gift from God and to be received as such but they belong first and ultimately to him – Psalm 127.3
a. He designed children with purpose –
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1.5
b. It is up to Parents to show them the way to go – Proverbs 22.6
c. Parents receive children from God but are to return them to him after a few days
3. Examples:
a. Abraham and Isaac (the Akedah) – Genesis 22
1) Because Abraham gave Isaac back to God HE blessed both of them
2) Isaac became wealthy/powerful/in the ancestry of Messiah
b. Joseph and Mary dedicating Yeshua (Jesus) in the temple – Luke 2.22
c. Hannah and Samuel – 1 Samuel 1.27-28
4. What does it mean to dedicate/give our children to God?
I. We Affirm Our Trust in God (1.11)
A. The Challenge
1. It is one thing to receive the gift of the child (or any gift) from God
2. It is another to return that gift to God
B. The Choice – to Believe (FAITH)
The Bay of Fundy is at the head of the St. John River where the river empties into the bay. It is a spectacle to see the currents of the mighty St. John rushing to meet the tides of the Atlantic Ocean. You would think there could never be anything that could stop the raging flow of the St. John. But every evening at the changing of the tide the flow of the St. John can be seen slowing. The Atlantic tide comes in little by little at 29, 30 and 40 feet until it reaches a height of 70 feet. The tide pushes and pushes until suddenly it reverses the river and flows towards its source. It is at this time that huge ships can enter the St. John River to gain access to the interior of Canada and Maine.
I submit to you that it is time for the spiritual tides of God’s blessings to come in. If you have had faith, whatever Satan does that seems so indomitable, remember God’s power is greater and His tides always come in.
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith [OR TRUSTING] conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Hebrews 11.32-35
1. Parents can control very little
2. Trust God
II. We Affirm Our Love for God
A. We recognize God’s love for us by his gifts – John 3.16
B. We Express Love to Him by OUR Gifts!
I heard recently about a 90-year-old lady who one Christmas found buying presents a bit much, so she wrote out checks for all of her family and friends, and decided she would put them in with her Christmas cards. She wrote out her Christmas cards and put "Buy your own present" after her name, then sent them off.
But after the Christmas festivities were over, she found the checks in her desk! Everyone had got a Christmas card from her with "Buy your own present" written inside but without the checks!
We all like gifts. We like to receive them from those that we love. And we also enjoy giving them. What Jesus said is certainly true: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35). I used to think that the greatest joy of giving gifts belonged to children because they get to experience the excitement of opening their presents. But I’ve learned that the real excitement comes in being able to give to those who mean so much to you.
1. We can give God: Money; Time; Selves; and The most precious gifts he has given to us
2. God Blesses what we give – And the LORD visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD. 1 Samuel 2.21
3. Hannah “Loaned” Samuel to God (Lend is from a root that means to request/ask for)
a. She asked for a son with a promise to return him (1 Samuel 1.11)
b. God asked for Samuel back – by granting her request
C. What Is Most Important to You? Can you return it to God?
III. We Affirm Our Stewardship for God
A. Parents are Stewards (caretakers) of Children – Psalm 127.3
1. Short-term Oversight
2. Raise them according to the standards of the real owner
B. Stewardship Involves a Commitment
1. To Godly Parenting in Example –
The father says, "You better get ready. The bus will be here in a minute to pick you up and take you to Sunday School."
The Boy asked, "Did you go to Sunday School when you were a boy?" The father replied, "Yes I did."
The boy said as he was getting dressed, "It probably won’t do me any good either!"
18 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 And you shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 20 And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. Deuteronomy 11.18-21
26 “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day, 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which you have not known. 11.26-28
2. To Teaching and Training – Ephesians 6.4 (nurture and admonition of the LORD)
ACU researchers, Dr. David Lewis and Dr. Carley Dodd have recently concluded a cross-generational study (six different tests) to measure fathers’ positive and negative influences upon teens’ spirituality.
They found that "every time" dad’s role "as teacher came out be the most important predictor." Among other top predictors of adolescent spiritual maturity, as related to dad, were his: commitment to Christ, spiritual well-being, prayer life, boldness in discussing issues of faith, genuineness and emotional closeness.
Of those teens whose fathers expressed their love well, 84% had a high spiritual maturity, but among teens whose fathers had difficulty doing so, only 39% had a high spiritual maturity.
Lewis said, "If a father will take his child on his lap and look her in the eye and say ’I love you,’ he will double her chances of being spiritually mature."
3. Love and Affirmation
4. Prayer
5. Home as a Holy Place (Jews call it their “Little Temple”)
1. Hannah was blessed with the gift of Samuel – cared for him briefly – 1 Samuel 1.22-28
2. She and Elkanah made offerings to God – on behalf of the child and of the child
3. Samuel became a GREAT prophet in Israel
a. Anointed Kings
b. Confronted Saul
c. Taught young prophets
d. Judged the people
4. What can happen if we dedicate our children to God? More Samuels? More Hannahs? More Jeremiahs? More Marys?
5. What can happen if we dedicate OURSELVES to God? This is the beginning place –
• There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8.1
• I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12.1
• I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, Ephesians 4.1
