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Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Wedding ceremony for Mike and JoAnna Gardner
March 12, 2005
Listen to this message on your
audio player.
"Teach Them Diligently"
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise" (Deuteronomy 6:5-7).
On Sunday morning two couples gathered at the front of our church to dedicate their babies, the third child for both. It was a blessing to observe these two young couples who are raising their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
One set of parents is a couple who celebrated their 8th wedding anniversary yesterday (photo featured above). I had the privilege of conducting their wedding ceremony and I'm so pleased to see them taking seriously the Biblical instructions Brooksyne and I shared around our dining room table in the premarital counseling sessions.
Baby
dedications are a special time when parents make a commitment to the
Lord to bring their children to church and to teach them about Jesus in
their home. These are tender moments in a church service when parents
publicly declare their intent to raise their children in the ways of
the Lord.
Of course, you can't script babies or small children so there's always a possibility of something unpredictable happening. Consider the preacher who was holding a rather agitated little fella, arms flailing about, who knocked the preacher's eye glasses off while he was praying over him.
Sometimes the pastor gets it wrong. My brother Pat, who is a pastor in eastern Pennsylvania, recalls a time when he was dedicating a little boy named Joshua but kept referring to him as Caleb throughout the ceremony. At least he had the Bible associations correct since Joshua and Caleb were associated with one another!
Children can also have a potential for misunderstanding such as a little four-year-old who, after witnessing his baby brother's dedication, sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His mom and dad asked him three times what was wrong but got no reply, only more sobbing. Finally, the boy cried out, "The pastor said he wanted us to be brought up in a Christian home, but I want to stay with you guys!"
In the wonderful hymn by Barbara Hart titled "A Christian Home" we have these words of guidance and conviction:
As we witnessed the dedications this last Sunday I rejoiced at my association with a remnant staying faithful to the Lord. But my heart was grieved as I consider the increasingly hostile world these little ones will be growing up in. May the Lord richly bless and encourage all young families today and grant prevailing grace upon each home committed to faithfully serving the Lord and building a Christian home.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer:
Father,
we pray for our children, that they may grow in faith as they grows in
years. May they walk in the ways of Christ, and not in the ways of the
world. Keep their steps safe, but should they stumble, we know You will
uphold them with Your right hand. When tempted by the devil we pray
that You will deliver them and remind them of the Biblical principles
they learned from their earliest memories. We commit them to Your
loving care and watchful eye. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
A baby dedication is…
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
* "A Christian Home" Audio A sincere family quartet. This is the song in which we share the first stanza in our message. We haven't heard it in many years and miss singing it. It's hard to find this hymn anymore and it's not in most hymnals. Sung to the tune of Finlandia (Be Still My Soul) by Jean Sibelius it's very singable. The rest of the stanzas are here.
"Find Your Wings" Video Mark Harris
"He Gave Me You" Video Singer not specified
"I Want To Be Just Like You" Video Phillips, Craig & Dean
"Legacy" Video Nichole Nordeman
"Let Them Be Little" Video Lonestar I first heard this song at the wedding of the oldest daughter of Pat and Charlotte Mallery, the very first couple I married.
A cute baby dedication with Pastor Chuck Smith illustrating why some baby dedications are funny. Good thing Pastor Chuck doesn't wear glasses! Video
Today's photo: Mike and JoAnna requested a very special feature in their wedding service, washing each other's feet. I had never seen it before or since but it was a very touching moment. A search on YouTube reveals it is not unique. See here.
To receive the "Daily
Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this
page
to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed
or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily
Encouragement Net so that we can continue to prepare and provide this
daily resource which is accessed by believers and seekers all
over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and
podcast listeners. See here
for more information on
supporting this ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.
Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
© Copyright 2013 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
<Previous Message Next Message>
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Wedding ceremony for Mike and JoAnna Gardner
March 12, 2005
Listen to this message on your
audio player."Teach Them Diligently"
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise" (Deuteronomy 6:5-7).
On Sunday morning two couples gathered at the front of our church to dedicate their babies, the third child for both. It was a blessing to observe these two young couples who are raising their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
One set of parents is a couple who celebrated their 8th wedding anniversary yesterday (photo featured above). I had the privilege of conducting their wedding ceremony and I'm so pleased to see them taking seriously the Biblical instructions Brooksyne and I shared around our dining room table in the premarital counseling sessions.
Baby
dedications are a special time when parents make a commitment to the
Lord to bring their children to church and to teach them about Jesus in
their home. These are tender moments in a church service when parents
publicly declare their intent to raise their children in the ways of
the Lord. Of course, you can't script babies or small children so there's always a possibility of something unpredictable happening. Consider the preacher who was holding a rather agitated little fella, arms flailing about, who knocked the preacher's eye glasses off while he was praying over him.
Sometimes the pastor gets it wrong. My brother Pat, who is a pastor in eastern Pennsylvania, recalls a time when he was dedicating a little boy named Joshua but kept referring to him as Caleb throughout the ceremony. At least he had the Bible associations correct since Joshua and Caleb were associated with one another!
Children can also have a potential for misunderstanding such as a little four-year-old who, after witnessing his baby brother's dedication, sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His mom and dad asked him three times what was wrong but got no reply, only more sobbing. Finally, the boy cried out, "The pastor said he wanted us to be brought up in a Christian home, but I want to stay with you guys!"
In the wonderful hymn by Barbara Hart titled "A Christian Home" we have these words of guidance and conviction:
O give us homes built firm upon the Savior,
Where Christ is Head and Counselor and Guide;
Where every child is taught His love and favor
And gives his heart to Christ, the crucified:
How sweet to know that tho his footsteps waver
His faithful Lord is walking by his side! *
Maybe
Moses was holding a massive baby dedication service when he issued the
following challenge to parents recorded in Deuteronomy 6. It presents a
timeless responsibility for godly parents: "You
shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them
when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you
lie down, and when you rise." This speaks of a home permeated with God's truth day in and day out.Where Christ is Head and Counselor and Guide;
Where every child is taught His love and favor
And gives his heart to Christ, the crucified:
How sweet to know that tho his footsteps waver
His faithful Lord is walking by his side! *
As we witnessed the dedications this last Sunday I rejoiced at my association with a remnant staying faithful to the Lord. But my heart was grieved as I consider the increasingly hostile world these little ones will be growing up in. May the Lord richly bless and encourage all young families today and grant prevailing grace upon each home committed to faithfully serving the Lord and building a Christian home.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer:
Father,
we pray for our children, that they may grow in faith as they grows in
years. May they walk in the ways of Christ, and not in the ways of the
world. Keep their steps safe, but should they stumble, we know You will
uphold them with Your right hand. When tempted by the devil we pray
that You will deliver them and remind them of the Biblical principles
they learned from their earliest memories. We commit them to Your
loving care and watchful eye. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.A baby dedication is…
- An opportunity to thank God for the precious gift of a child.
- An opportunity to publicly declare, as parents, your commitment to abide by Biblical principles and to raise your children according to God's standards.
- A benchmark you can return to time and time again.
- A public expression of the cooperative role the church will have in raising your child.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
* "A Christian Home" Audio A sincere family quartet. This is the song in which we share the first stanza in our message. We haven't heard it in many years and miss singing it. It's hard to find this hymn anymore and it's not in most hymnals. Sung to the tune of Finlandia (Be Still My Soul) by Jean Sibelius it's very singable. The rest of the stanzas are here.
"Find Your Wings" Video Mark Harris
"He Gave Me You" Video Singer not specified
"I Want To Be Just Like You" Video Phillips, Craig & Dean
"Legacy" Video Nichole Nordeman
"Let Them Be Little" Video Lonestar I first heard this song at the wedding of the oldest daughter of Pat and Charlotte Mallery, the very first couple I married.
A cute baby dedication with Pastor Chuck Smith illustrating why some baby dedications are funny. Good thing Pastor Chuck doesn't wear glasses! Video
Today's photo: Mike and JoAnna requested a very special feature in their wedding service, washing each other's feet. I had never seen it before or since but it was a very touching moment. A search on YouTube reveals it is not unique. See here.
Send
a message
to Stephen &
Brooksyne
To receive the "Daily
Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this
page
to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed
or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily
Encouragement Net so that we can continue to prepare and provide this
daily resource which is accessed by believers and seekers all
over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and
podcast listeners. See here
for more information on
supporting this ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
© Copyright 2013 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA