Baby Dedication

Giving back to God!

Scripture I Sam. 1:28

Question: Have you ever given your children back to God?

Some of you might be thinking, “I’d like to give them back—but I didn’t think God would take them back.

• The truth is, there are Lots of parents who have had a few moments or days when they would have liked to package up that kid and take them back….

Take them back to God’s customer service counter and demand a refund!”

I thought they had a ‘no return’ policy on kids without a receipt!”

• Well, , I’m not suggesting you return your kids to God and try to get your money back,

When I ask you if you have ever given your children back to God.

• What I am asking is, have you ever really recognized God gave them to us…

Recognized your children are a precious gift from the Lord…

They belong ultimately and always to God first—not to you?

Releasing ownership of your children to Him—

We need to understand that God is responsible for the way in which they were designed

God already knows the plan and purpose for their future!

I’m hoping we will Realize God has left it up to us to show them His way?

Let us Prayer

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God has been asking us to put many things on His altar recently.

today, He is asking every one of us who are parents to “BRING OUR CHILDREN AND PUT THEM ON THE ALTAR!”

There are many BIBLICAL examples Lets Look @ some of parents in the Bible who brought their children to God and gave them back to Him:

Of course, you remember Joseph and Mary brought there infant (baby)Jesus to the temple following his circumcision at 8 days. they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (Lk. 2:22).

But we are going to look @ another example of a parent surrendering his child to.. God …the Life I want us to read about today is that of Abraham offering his son Isaac on Mt. Moriah.

Let’s see what the Scrpiture would have to say to us today about “Giving Your Children Back To God.”

in TEXT GENESIS 22vs1-13

…Suddenly proposes the greatest test that could come to a human being… offering up a child..

Man that had to be hard and painful for Abraham…

After all:• Abraham loved Isaac. V.2 God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love, and sacrifice him …”

.I don’t know if I would do that

In the supreme test of a long, eventful life Abraham obeyed without raising a single question, without objection without seeking human counsel

• Oh yes, just try to put yourself in Abraham’s place.

• Isaac had been a MIRACLE baby. He was born when Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100 years of age.

I’m sue It was very painful for Abraham to strap his dear son on an altar and a stack of wood,… raise a knife to slash open that boy’s chest and throat,… cremate the body and sit by as he smelled the stench of the burning flesh of his boy—and then watch that boy literally disintegrate into a pile of ashes!

…no he didn’t do it…. but ….he was going to

In GENESIS 22vs 5 he said to his young men that went with them, that we will come back… Its was Only by Faith was it possible NOT to expect to return alone
..,.He believed that even if God would have to raise Isaac from the dead(heb11:19)
Gods promised him for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Gen.21

• Whew! I don’t know if I would do that…even if God asked!

But in a very real sense, I know I MUST DO THAT every day with my children

Do you know—the best thing Abraham ever did for Isaac was to tie him to that altar and to surrender him back to God?

1) Had Abraham refused to give Isaac back to God, he would have forfeited all God’s promises and plans for Isaac.

Isaac would have lived and died in darkness, a nobody.

2) Because Abraham obeyed and gave Isaac back to God,
Isaac received the fullness of God’s best plan and promise for his life:
• Isaac became a wealthy man.
• Isaac became the forefather of God’s own Son, the Lord J.C.
• Isaac’s life is still having an impact on and blessing millions of people worldwide through his offspring—Jesus Christ.

And so, you and I need to learn from Abraham today. If we refuse and fail to give our children back to God—we may very well be forfeiting God’s best plan and purpose for their lives. And when we entrust our children back to God—we secure for them the covenant of God’s best purpose and plan for their lives.

Lets take a look @ FOUR ELEMENTS OF GIVING YOUR CHILD BACK TO GOD:

• What does it mean?

1) Giving your child to God is a CONFIRMATION of your love for God.

• The first thing you are saying when you give that child back to the Lord is simply this…that you love God even more than you love that child. (Your child is a most prized possession…but don’t allow them to take the place of God!) [I love you,(child), so much, that I want the very best for you. If that means giving you to God, correcting you, giving you limitations (holding the line), changing my life for your benefit…I’ll do whatever it takes!]

• This is exactly what Abraham proved by his willingness to offer Isaac. He was demonstrating that his love and fear of God were supreme in his life above all else.

Matthew 10:37-38

• Abraham loved God above the most prized treasure of his life…his only son Isaac.

Not only a Confirmation…also a CLARIFICATION
2) Giving your children to God is a CLARIFICATION of ownership.

–When you give your child back to God, you are openly declaring that:
• This child is a gift from God.
• This child does not really belong to you.
• This child belongs to God.
(You have the privilege to love and train this child.
But this child is not yours—but God’s!)

• Was this not what had to be on Abraham’s mind when he lay Isaac on the altar? Was he not saying, “Lord, this young man belongs to you—not me?” He was saying, “You do with him as you please. He’s yours!”

• Hey listen! These little children do not really belong to us—they belong to God! They are a precious gift from God, on loan to us.

Ps. 127:3 “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” (KJV).

Note: We’d better be careful how we treat and care for God’s property!

Not only Confirmation and Clarification…also a COMMITMENT
3) Giving Your Children To God Is A COMMITMENT to Raise Your Children God’s Way!

Eph. 6:4 says we are to bring our children up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

• LISTEN…To give your child to God is not just a CEREMONY…It is a COMMITMENT. It is a commitment that you are going to:

Be a Godly parent. (Parent dedication…requires getting right w/ God)

It is a commitment that you are going to:• Pray for this child & Teach this child of Christ. (they will need to be saved)

It is a commitment that you are going to:• Keep this child in church.

It is a commitment that you are going to:• Love this child. (even if loving them means disciplining them & letting God discipline you!)

It is a commitment that you are going to:• Train this child.

It is a commitment that you are going to:• Stay married for this child. (there are other reasons for this too, but that is a great one!)

It is a commitment that you are going to:• Make your home a holy place.

It is a commitment that you are going to:• Put away worldliness
and Live a righteous life.

• I think some people see baby dedication as a magical ceremony. Let me tell you if you are not making a sincere commitment to raise this child God’s way! this little ceremony means nothing….

: I like what Joshua told the children of Israel as they settled into their new home, the Promised Land.
Joshua 24:14-15
14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served…and serve ye the LORD.
15 , choose you this day whom ye will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord

“I want my family to turn out right, and so, as a parent, I’m going to begin to lead them right!”

• Man, that’s the kind of commitment God is looking for in parents today!

Not only a Confirmation, Clarification, Commitment…also a CLAIMING
4) Giving Your Children To God is a CLAIMING of God’s plan and promises for that child’s life.

• Isaac inherited God’s blessings, protection and promises because his dad, Abraham, gave him back to God.

(read) Genesis 22:15-18

• Your children are blessed by your obedience to God AND cursed by your disobedience to God.
What I mean by that is they have a free will, but you stack the odds in their favor or against them by the way YOU live!

• As you obey God with your life, and as you give that child back to God, you are allowing that child to receive God’s very best for his/her life.

Read Proverd22vs6

…So, this is what it means to give your children back to God:
1) It is a CONFIRMATION of your supreme love for Christ.
2) It is a CLARIFICATION of ownership (God owns that child).
3) It is a COMMITMENT to raise that child under the Lordship of J. C.
4) It is a CLAIMING of God’s best plan and promises for that child’s life.

• This is exactly what transpired when Abraham took Isaac up Mt. Moriah and laid him on the altar to give him to God.

1) Abraham was CONFIRMING his love and fear of Jehovah.
2) Abraham was CLARIFYING that Isaac really belonged to God.
3) Abraham was COMMITTING to be a Godly parent.
4) Abraham was CLAIMING God’s plan and promises for Isaac.

1 more very short example of a parent in the Bible who brought their children to God and gave them back to Him…

the classic example of Hannah bringing her son Samuel to God…

I Sam. 1 26,she prayed to the lord for some thing lets see what she prayed for our scripture of today vs 27…now lets continue to see what happens next, what will she do with the child ,28…She Gave him back to the Lord…

Closing Song

Lord help us entrust our children back to God —we need to secure for them the covenant of your goal, best purpose & plan for their lives. Help us not forfeit that in their lives… Its only through Christ can God make them & us the way he wants you to be…

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