Dedications are available during our Sunday morning services

If you are interested in having a child dedicated to the Lord and would like to receive an information packet, please contact us at 858-277-4991 EXT 1266 or send us a message using the form below..

Dedications are available during our Sunday morning services.  As a ministry, we desire to be of service to your family in any way that we can.

Things to know before moving forward with having your child dedicated at Horizon Christian Fellowship:

• Though it is a practice of some denominational churches to baptize infants as an expression of faith, Horizon Christian Fellowship does not participate in this tradition.

• We believe that baptism is an outward expression of one’s surrender and commitment to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. We will baptize children, but they must be old enough to have a clear understanding of what baptism is, and it must be their choice to be baptized.

• Having a child dedicated is not a means of salvation for the child. Through dedication, we are thanking God for His blessing. We are also declaring as parents our desire to raise our children in the ways of the Lord. We also are asking for God’s blessing, protection, love, and His plan for our children.

• Must be attending and plugged in at Horizon! Having your child dedicated at a service is also an opportunity for the church to know you as a family. Our heart is for others at Horizon to then be able to walk with you in prayer and support. Having a child dedicated is just as important for the parents as it is for the child. It tells the church that you desire this support and accountability as parents. Raising children is tough work and being plugged into the church is a crucial support system.

• We would love the opportunity to come alongside you as a church and to be a part of this biblical and important act. Please, make sure to complete the short online form. Once received we will reach out to answer any questions and move forward in selecting a date for your baby’s dedication.

Biblical Information on Baby Dedications:

The Bible makes a number of references to the importance of dedicating people and other items to the Lord.  To dedicate is simply to set something apart for the Lord’s glory.  Another way to put it is that the person or object is to be totally devoted to the Lord for His divine purposes.  It is a commitment to fully submit one’s responsibility for the dedicated person or object, under the Lordship and sovereign guidance of Jesus Christ.  In several passages in the Old Testament, items used for worship and even the Temple were dedicated to the Lord (see 2 Chronicles 5 & 6).  At other times, certain people were dedicated to the Lord (Exodus 28:1-3, 2 Chronicles 29:1-5).  Of significance to a child’s dedication to God, there are a couple of specific biblical instances to make note of.  The first occurrence is when young Samuel was devoted to the Lord.

When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, Hannah did not go.  She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him down, present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”  “Do what seems best to you,” Elkanah her husband told her.  “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good his word.”  So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.  After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh.  When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him,  “As surely as you live, my lord, I an the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord.  I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.  So now I give him to the Lord.  For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” and he worshipped the Lord there.  I Samuel 1:21-28

The baby Jesus was also presented to the Lord.

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”  So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.  On the eight day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.  When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord—Exodus 13:2,12), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord:  “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”  Luke 2:13-24

It is important to note that for Christian parents to dedicate a child to the Lord, they are making a commitment to be accountable before God for the rearing of their child.  Children are directly impacted by the faith of a parent.

For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband.  Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy.   I Corinthians 7:14

The Bible instructs parents to train and nurture their children in the Lord.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.   Deuteronomy 6:4-6

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.  Proverbs 22:6

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.  Ephesians 6:4

All your sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children’s peace.  Isaiah 54:13

“See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.  He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”  Malachi 4:5-6

Contact:
Robin Page rpage@hcf.org
858.277.4991 x1266