child dedication
At Heartland Church we don’t baptize infant children, we dedicate them to God. We believe the decision to receive and follow Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is individual and personal; each child must reach that decision when he (she) is older and able to fully understand.
why dedicate
my child?
Parents throughout the Bible dedicated their children, and even Jesus’ parents chose to present and dedicate him shortly after his birth (Luke 2). While we do not teach this as an essential part of your child’s journey into salvation in Jesus, we are happy to honor the desire of parents who feel this is an important step in publicly setting direction early in life.
Dedication involves both presenting your child and making public promises regarding the environment you will provide for your child to come to know Jesus personally.
Presenting ‘before God’ is first a confession of your own personal faith in Jesus and second of your desire to see the same faith take root and grow in your child.
Promising ‘before God’ is a deep commitment as a parent, as you affirm your desire to truly fulfill your responsibility as a ‘care-taker’ of what God has given you for a time—your child.
Presenting and promising ‘before your church’ is a way of confessing that you know you won’t be able to do all this on your own ... that you’ll need the support of other followers of Jesus to teach and pray with and lead your child one day to Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Since we see dedication as publicly presenting and promising you will be in front of other people, but much like a wedding we will walk you through the statements of promise and simply ask for you to publicly state “we do” in response. And we will also publicly pray for you and your child.