We're turning to the hymn 747. And we're singing just two verses at this time. And so we're going to sing the verses one and two. And after we sing those verses, then we'll have the service of dedication for Ezra Brown. And then we'll come after the end of that service, we'll sing the last two verses of the hymn 747. This has been chosen. by the Brown family, O give us homes built firm upon the Saviour, where Christ is head and counsellor and guide, where every child is taught his love and favour, and gives its heart to Christ the crucified. May that be so. 747, singing just verses 1 and 2 at this time, please. his name, and comes the Lord our God, where every child is ♪ That through its wisdoms we learn ♪ ♪ That with the Lord we're walking by His side ♪ ♪ When all else falls, we're crawling by His side ♪ ♪ When all else falls, we're crawling by His side ♪ I invite Sharon and Alistair and Ezra to come just here to stand before us and before the Lord and before the congregation. I want to begin this service of dedication by turning your attention to some passages within the Word of God. First of all, to Deuteronomy in the chapter number 6. Deuteronomy chapter 6, we're reading from the verses 4 down to the verse number 12. Moses is reminding here the children of Israel of the parents' responsibility. to train up their child in the ways of the Lord and in the things of God. And so, Deuteronomy, in the chapter 6, in the verse number 4, we read these words, Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. I shall love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. And because they are in the heart of the parent, Then it says, thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children. We cannot teach our children really and truly the things of God if these words are not in our hearts, if we don't believe them ourselves, if we haven't received them ourselves. And so we are encouraged here to have them first in our hearts and then to teach them on to thy children diligently and thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house And when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up, thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand. And they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house. And on thy gates, and it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers. to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildest not, and houses full of all good things, which thou fillest not, and wells digged, which thou diggest not, vineyards, and olive trees, which thou plantest not. When thou shalt have eaten and be full, then beware, lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. And then we're turning to 1 Samuel and the chapter number one, and here we find parents, especially Hannah, bringing her child before the Lord to dedicate him onto the Lord, young Samuel. And so 1 Samuel chapter one, the verse number 20, wherefore, it came to pass when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived that she bear a son and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord. And the man, Elkanah, and all his house went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah went not up, for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned. And then I will bring him that he may appear before the Lord and there abide forever. Then Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good, tarry until thou have weaned him. Only the Lord establishes word. So the woman abode and gave her son suck until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her with three bullocks and one ephah flower. a bottle of wine and brought him on to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. The child was young and they slew a bullock and brought the child to Eli and she said, Oh my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here praying on to the Lord. For this child I prayed. The Lord had given me my petition. which I have asked of him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord." And he worshiped the Lord there. And then into the New Testament for a final reading, Mark chapter 10, Mark's gospel chapter 10, the account whenever the parents, the mothers brought their children on to the Savior that he would bless the child. And so, Mark chapter 10, verse number 13. And they brought young children unto him, that he should touch them. And his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, He shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. Amen. May the Lord bless the reading of his holy and precious word. You know, today Alistair and Sharon have brought their little one to the meeting house, their little son Ezra, to dedicate him on to the Lord. As I considered this dedication service, I thought, and I asked myself the question, what exactly, what exactly do Christian parents do as they bring their child before the Lord in such a service of dedication? What are they actually doing? And I came to three answers with regard to that question. Firstly, they are acknowledging something. They're acknowledging God's mercy. and they're acknowledging God's goodness that has been shown to both mother and child throughout the entire pregnancy. As we all know, some from better experience, that pregnancies and birthing are fraught with many dangers. And yet God in his mercy and God in his goodness has brought the mother Sharon through those nine months of pregnancy and through the birthing process and is gifted to them a healthy young boy in the form of young Ezra. And they're here today to acknowledge publicly before God of his goodness towards them. They're not like the nine lepers having been healed by God who forgot to return to give thanks, but like the single leper, they return to God's house to publicly acknowledge God's mercy and God's goodness to them. They are here as parents to admit something. They're here admitting that they need the Lord's help in the training and in the nurturing of Ezra in the things of God. They are coming here like Samson's parents came before the Lord, and they're publicly asking God, how, how shall we order the child, and how shall we do onto him. They're admitting their own insufficiency and yet as they admit their own insufficiency, they're looking to God's sufficiency that God will enable them bringing up and training up the child in the way that he should go. Thirdly, they are affirming something. They are affirming that it will take a miracle of God's grace to save Ezra Brown. You know, Alistair and Sharon are under no illusion here today. They're well-schooled enough in Scripture to realize that a simple service of dedication makes no change whatsoever in the spiritual state of Ezra Brown as a born sinner, all born of Adam's sinful, cursed race. Ezra Brown needs God to work a miracle of grace within his soul, and they're here to admit that. And admitting that before the Lord, they're here also to solicit the prayers of God's people, that they will pray that God will work the work of grace that is so necessary in the life of this young boy. And it is our prayer, and I know the prayer of many, and the prayer of mom and dad, Lord will save Ezra early in life and save him from the misery and the mayhem that sin brings into a life, that God will rescue him early, make him his child, and then, if it be His will, God will raise him up and use him in whatever form of service that will be, whether it be full-time service, although we're all involved in full-time service for the Savior, but we know what we mean, or whether it be in the simple day-to-day living, that God will use him as a witness even for Jesus Christ. This service of dedication makes no spiritual change. Just the same way as a baptism makes no spiritual change upon an individual, but simply there's an acknowledging here that the grace of God must triumph in the life of Ezra Brown. And that's why they're here. They're here to acknowledge God's goodness. They're here, thank God, to admit that they need God's help. And they're here to affirm that a miracle of God's grace must be accomplished in Ezra's life. May the Lord bless you as a family in the days ahead. Let me ask the congregation now to stand. A few questions that I want to ask the parents here today. Let me say that they're not answering simply before the congregation, but they are answering these questions before the Lord. And so we want to remember that as they make these commitments and these vows before the Lord, even in this place of public worship. Alistair and Sharon, do you, the parents of Ezra Brown, profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to be your own and personal Savior? We do. Do you promise, relying on divine grace and the instruction of Holy Scripture, to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, as you are commanded to do in Ephesians, in the chapter number six? We do. And is it your prayer that while young in life, Ezra Brown will come to faith in Jesus Christ and thereafter do the will of God. Following then the example of Scripture and the invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ, I dedicate thee, Ezra William Brown, to the tender care and keeping of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the name of God the Father, God the Son. and God the Holy Spirit. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Peace purchased at tremendous cost at the hill called Calvary. Amen. Let's bow, please, in prayer together. We'll have a prayer of dedication for the family, for Alistair, for Sharon, Isaac, Ethan, and Ezra. Let's seek the Lord together in prayer. Loving Father and gracious God, we rejoice and bless thee for thy mercies and for thy goodness towards the Brown family and the giving of this young one to them. Children are the heritage of the Lord, and thou has been good and gracious to the family, and we come to acknowledge that. Oh, we thank thee for thy mercies and goodness. And Lord, we thank thee for thy grace that has triumphed in the life of many within the family circle. We thank thee for mother and father who know the Savior, and we thank thee for their desire to bring young Ezra, up in the things of God, to train them in the scriptures, to school them in the great doctrines of the faith. Pray thou will bless them as a family. Pray for Alistair and Sharon. Pray for Isaac and Ethan. And now Ezra, bless the family circle together. We thank thee, dear God, for their influence and their testimony. We pray that it will be brighter. And Lord, even in the days that lie ahead, and that each of us O God, we'll now pray that God, in his mercy, will save young Ezra in his life. We pray, Lord, that that will be early. We pray, dear Father, that when he comes to the years of understanding, that he might understand that he's a sinner in need of a Savior, and that Christ is the only Savior of sinners. Bless the entire family circle, the wider family circle, those within it who know not yet Christ as Savior. We pray that on that great and final day, when the family of God unite around the throne, that, Father, the circle will not be broken, but, Lord, each one will be there, found in the Father's house, and, Lord, joined as part of the family of the redeemed and members of the household of faith. And so may thy blessing now be upon this home and upon this family and grant, dear God, answers to prayer and the workings of God. Within every heart and soul, we offer prayer in and through our Savior's precious name. Amen and amen. The congregation may be seated. Just before we sing the final two verses off the hymn, we're going to just present at this time a copy of the scriptures. You would know that this is the authorized version. I trust you would know that. No other Bible will be handed out with regard And so it is a larger copy of scripture because I know that maybe children, they often get small Bibles just at the time of birth. And so this will be a little time for him to use in the future. It's inscribed just with the date and who it's from. And so I trust that the Lord will bless even as you read the scriptures to young Ezra. Let's turn there then to the last two verses of 747. And we'll sing the verses three and four will give us homes where Christ is Lord and Master. The Bible read, the precious hymns still sung. The verses three and four of 747. ♪ O give us homes where Christ is Lord and Master ♪ ♪ Where gracious hymns they'll sound ♪ ♪ Where prayer comes first ♪ ♪ In peace or in disaster ♪ ♪ And praise is found ♪ ♪ Truth springs to every tongue ♪ ♪ Where point is found ♪ ♪ Before a faith that's mastered ♪ ♪ Our salvation is far off and young ♪ ♪ O Lord our God, our hopes are thine forever ♪ ♪ Reach us near thee, where prophets born and gave birth ♪ ♪ Hearts and bones to share ♪