Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Clinton and I'm really pleased that you've joined me for our lesson today.

We're going to have fun learning some new things and finding out about people.

Today's lesson is, Christians dedicate a child to God, and it's part of the unit New Life: How is a new child welcomed? Our learning outcome for today is I can describe how some people choose to dedicate their child in a church.

We've got some key words to help us with our understanding today, and we are going to do, I say, you say.

Are you ready? I say dedication, you say.

I say dedication, you say.

Dedication is a special service, giving a baby's life back to God.

I say promise, you say.

I say promise, you say.

Promise, an agreement to do or not do something.

I say church family, you say.

I say church family, you say.

Church family, a group of people connected through their beliefs about Jesus.

In our lesson, Christians dedicate a child to God, we've got two learning cycles.

Number one, how do some Christians welcome a name a baby? And number two, what happens at a dedication service? We're gonna start with number one.

How do some Christians welcome and name a baby? Esther and Charles have brought their new baby to their church for a dedication service.

Here they are at the front of the church.

Can you see them? They're holding a baby.

And around them are lots of people.

So some Christians have a dedication service where they thank God for the arrival of a new child.

The service also dedicates the baby's life back to God.

And that's where the name dedication service comes from.

Dedicating the child's life back to God.

I wonder if you can point out who Esther and Charles might be in that picture? Who do you think they are? Let's see if we can find if you've pointed to the right people.

Here they are.

Here's Esther and Charles, and we're gonna listen to them and they're going to tell us why they wanted to dedicate their baby.

Let's listen to what they have to say.

<v Esther>Well, Kezia is our gift from God.

</v> She is a gift, a blessing.

So we definitely wanted to dedicate back, give her back to God and welcome her into the church family.

<v Charles>Yeah, yeah, yeah.

</v> <v ->Esther and Charles, we heard, wanted a dedication service</v> to give thanks to God for their baby and to give their baby's life back to God.

Can you see their baby in the picture? She's sitting in her daddy's arms, as he is talking to the church.

Esther and Charles have invited their family and friends to come and be with their church family at the dedication service, and we could see lots of those people at the front of the church in the picture.

For Esther and Charles, having their family and friends there at the dedication service is important.

This is because they want their friends and family to support them and to celebrate the new life of their baby.

They're very excited that they've got their new baby and they want everyone there to enjoy the joy of this news.

Let's check our understanding.

Why did Esther and Charles want to dedicate their baby to God? Was it A, so they could have a party, B, to see people they haven't seen for a long time, or C, to give their babies life back to God? Talk to the person next to you.

Is it A, B or C? Shall we have a look for the answer? It's C.

Well done if you got that right, great.

It's Esther and Charles want to dedicate their baby to God, so that they give their baby's life back to God.

They dedicate it back to God.

So at a dedication service, parents and the church family make promises to God about how they will bring the baby up.

We are going to have a listen now to those promises.

Esther and Charles are going to tell us about the promises they made to God on the day of their baby's dedication.

<v Esther>The church, they made two promises.

</v> First promise was to help us as parents to teach her, to guide her in the way of the Lord.

And they also made a promise to Kezia, to make sure to keep her in her faith, to teach her the knowledge of God.

<v ->And the faith of God.

</v> <v ->And the faith.

</v> <v ->So we heard Esther and Charles</v> telling us about the promises that they made along with the church family.

And the church family, they told us, made two promises at the dedication service.

One, to help the parents bring up their child in the Christian religion.

And two, to help the baby grow up knowing about God and Jesus.

The parents also give thanks to God for the gift of this new baby.

Let's check what you understand.

Is this statement true or false? Is it true or false? Charles and Esther wanted their family and friends at the dedication service to have a party.

Talk to the person next to you.

Do you think it's true or false? Shall we have a look for the answer? It's false.

Charles and Esther wanted their family and friends at the dedication service to support them.

Here are Charles and Esther with their baby at the dedication service.

Some Christians pray about what name to give their baby at a dedication service.

Often the name given to a baby has a special meaning.

Charles and Esther have named their baby Kezia, which means strong in God.

I say Kezia, you say.

I say Kezia, you say.

And what does Kezia mean? That's right.

Strong in God.

Well done.

Alex is wondering why some Christians choose to dedicate their new baby.

Izzy tells him it's because the parents want to give thanks for the life of the baby.

Can you give Alex another two reasons? So talk to the person next to you, and then you might want to tell those reasons to each other, but also you might want to write them down.

But let's do some good thinking.

Why do some Christians choose to dedicate their new baby? Let's have a look for some answers.

Possible reasons why some Christians choose to dedicate their new baby: To dedicate the child's life to God, to ask for help to bring the child up from their church family, to make promises to God about how they're going to bring the child up, to welcome the child into the church family.

Did you think of any more possible reasons? If you got one of these four, brilliant job.

Well done, fantastic thinking.

But maybe you had another idea that was also really good for answering that question.

Now we've thought about how does some Christians welcome and name a baby.

We are going to go on to the second part of our lesson today in Christians Dedicate a Child to God.

And this time we're going to be thinking about what happens at a dedication service? Here are Vicky and Matt, and they want their baby to be dedicated.

Can you point towards who you think Vicky and Matt might be in this picture? If you've pointed to the lady with the flowery dress, that's right, she's Vicky.

And the man holding the microphone, with a beard and glasses, his name is Matt.

On the day of a dedication service family and friends are brought to the front of the church and welcomed along with the baby by the church leader or church pastor.

There's often a Bible passage read and explained by the church pastor, the baby's parents then make their promises to God.

Shall we have a listen and a watch at what Vicky and Matt promise at their special service? <v ->Entrustment, from the Lord to you,</v> that you might nurture her, guide her in the ways of God and bring her to maturity.

<v ->Yes, we do.

</v> <v ->Let's listen to that again.

</v> <v ->Entrustment, from the Lord to you,</v> that you might nurture her, guide her in the ways of God and bring her to maturity.

<v ->Yes, we do.

</v> <v ->Vicky and Matt promise at the dedication service</v> to look after their baby, guide her in the ways of God, help her grow up well, learning the stories about Jesus.

Can you answer this question? At a dedication service, the only person up the front is the baby.

Is that true or false? What do you think? Talk to the person next to you.

Shall we look and find the answer? It's false.

The parents, the friends, the family, can all go to the front of the church when a baby is being dedicated.

The life of a baby is blessed by the church pastor and the church family through prayers, and sometimes this blessing can be sung.

We're gonna listen to some words from the Christian holy book, The Bible, being sung over the baby at her dedication service.

♪ Keep you ♪ ♪ Make His face shine upon you ♪ ♪ And be gracious to you ♪ ♪ The Lord turn His face towards you ♪ ♪ And give you peace ♪ ♪ The Lord bless you ♪ ♪ And keep you ♪ ♪ Make His face shine upon you ♪ ♪ And be gracious to you ♪ ♪ The Lord turn His ♪ ♪ Face towards you ♪ ♪ And give you peace ♪ <v ->That was some lovely singing, wasn't it?</v> I wonder if you could hear any of the words that were being sung? The words that Vicky and Matt's church sing together over the new baby are: "The Lord bless you and keep you." So they're asking for God to be good to you and to keep the baby safe.

"Make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you." So that you have happy, good days, and that you'll know grace.

Grace is an idea where people are kind to you, that they forgive you for things that you've done wrong.

"The Lord turn his face towards you." The idea that they're asking for God always to be watching the child.

And for the child to have that peace in their heart, so that whatever the circumstances are they know that God is with them.

This is called a blessing, and as I said earlier, it's based on some words from the Bible.

The church family ask God to look after the baby as they sing or pray these words over a child when they're dedicated.

Let's check your understanding.

Who do most Christians ask to bless the child at a dedication? Is it the Lord or God? B, the family? Or C, their friends.

So who do most Christians ask to bless the child, A, B, or C? Talk to the person next to you.

Shall we have a look and see what the right answer is? It's the Lord or God.

Yes, most Christians will ask God to bless the child at a dedication service.

Well done if you got that right.

I'm so proud of you, that's really good.

Now I have a special task for you to do.

On the screen you can see three words, dedication, promise, church family.

Shall we practise saying those out loud? I say dedication, you say.

I say promise, you say.

I say church family, you say.

And then on the other part of the screen you can see there are three descriptions.

Can you match the word with the right meaning? You might like to work with somebody to do this task and you might like to draw arrows to which are the correct descriptions on the worksheets that you are given.

Let's have a look at the answers.

So, dedication.

It's a special service giving a baby's life back to God.

Well done if you've got that right.

What about promise? It's an agreement to do or not to do something.

Really well done if you've got that one right as well.

And the third one, church family.

That's a group of people connected through their beliefs about Jesus.

Well done if you got all those three correct.

That's fantastic learning.

I'm so proud of you.

So in today's lesson about Christians dedicate a child to God, we've learned the following things.

A dedication service takes place in a church.

Parents and the church family make promises to God about how they'll support the child as they grow up.

And children are welcomed into the church family in a dedication service.

Thank you for thinking and learning with me today.

I'm really proud of all your answers and all the tasks that we've done together.

Very well done.

I'm going to say goodbye now, and hopefully I'll see you again for our next lesson.

Goodbye everyone, take care.