Team Whitney: Hamilton's Dedication

This past Sunday was a big day for Team Whitney: it was the Sunday when we dedicated Hamilton to the Lord at church. Many of you know what this entails, and the event at Moody Church is very similar to what's done at many other protestant and evangelical churches. Each family with a child to dedicate introduces themselves and the child to the assembled church congregation and then responds to several questions about their intention to raise the child in accordance with scripture and in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. After affirming that intention, the pastor the prays for the family. Here we are prior to the morning service which included the dedication.

Unfortunately, Hamilton was not feeling well, so he looks less than thrilled about his presence at the dedication. Also, our church is very big on the wearing of name tags so we learn the names of those we see on Sunday--you may notice the one I got from the church in the picture.

Despite being called baby dedication, the event is really about what the parents vow to undertake in the raising of the child. Jenny and I cannot determine what Hamilton will embrace in the future or who he will be at our ages, but we can ensure that he is raised with the knowledge of God's truth and seeing that following Jesus made a difference in the lives of his parents. We don't practice baptizing infants at our church as we believe that every person faces a decision about how he or she will bridge the limitless moral gulf that exists between sinful people and a holy God. Hamilton has not faced that moment (he can barely decide if he wants to eat his bananas or drop them on the floor), so we cannot say right now that he is a Christian, and thus ready to be baptized. Jenny and I both faced that gulf and decided we could do nothing in ourselves to build a bridge from our sinfulness to God's holiness. Instead, we stopped trying and took up Jesus' offer that he is uniquely able to serve as the bridge between us and God . . . and that faith is what makes us Christians.

William, Kia, and their children came in for the dedication, and they did their best to grab some pictures in the (somewhat underlit) sanctuary. It was great to have them with our family for a Sunday. Here we are as Pastor Lutzer got the dedication started.