Scripture 1 Samuel 1:9-11
Once when they had finished eating and
drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair
by the doorpost of the Lord's temple. 10
In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord. 11
And she made a vow, saying, "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon
your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her
a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no
razor will ever be used on his head."
Husband = Elkanah
Wives = Peninnah and Hannah
Yearly Elkanah went to Shiloh to worship and offer sacrifice
and would give the sacrificial meat Peninnah and ALL her sons and daughters and
a double portion to Hannah whom he loved and who could not bear children.
Peninnah made
fun of Hannah, even when she would go to worship so much so that it brought Hannah
to tears and was so upset she wouldn’t even eat.
Elkanah would
say “Why are you weeping, not eating and sad? I
know you have not produced children but I love you and that should be enough.”
(He meant well)
Once
after worship and eating (Eli the priest was near the temple door) and Hannah
stood, wept and prayed, (1 Sam 1:11) "O Lord
Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and
not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord
for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."
She
was moving her mouth but no sounds were coming out and Eli accused her of being
drunk to which she replied – “I am desperate to
have a child – I am deep in grief for what I do not have and what I cannot do.
I am despised by the wife of my husband’s children. Please know that I am not
drunk, I am only praying to God out of my anguish from being barren.” Eli
answered. (1 Sam 1:17) "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you
have asked of him."
Hannah felt better and in the
morning; they worshipped and went home.
Shortly
after this, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son and named him Samuel = “Because I asked
the Lord for him.”
The next time
Elkanah went to worship Hannah did not go and said, “I
will go after Samuel has been weaned and I will then give him to the Lord.”
1 Sam 1:24-28
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. 25
When they had slaughtered the bull, they
brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood
here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what
I asked of him. 1 Sam 1:28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will
be given over to the Lord." And he worshiped the Lord there.
Accomplishments of Samuel in the Bible
Samuel was an honest
and fair judge. As a prophet, he exhorted Israel to turn from worshipping idols and
serve God alone. Despite his personal misgivings, he led Israel from the system
of judges to its first monarchy. Samuel anointed King Saul and King David.
Samuel's Strengths
Samuel loved God
and obeyed without question. His integrity prevented him from taking advantage
of his authority. His first loyalty was to God, regardless of what the people
or king thought of him.
Being
a pastor and married to a school teacher, you discover many things about
families and how they view their children. Some people do an ok job raising
their children and hoping they will be happy in whatever they do in life. Some are
horrific parents, from being abusive to being neglectful. Some are amazing and
believe the greatest good they can do is lead their children into an authentic
personal relationship with Jesus Christ – and even more so – lead their
children to serve the King of kings.
FIRST – BEING BORN AGAIN SHOULD
NOT BE LEFT UP TO – I HOPE SO
Born again/Nicodemus
- Our purpose is to see more people be born again.
John 3:1-17
Nicodemus said, Jesus, we know you are from God.
Jesus replied, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again
"How can a man be born when he is old?"
Nicodemus asked.
Jesus answered, You must be born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth
to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. For God so loved the world that
he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life.
SECOND – SERVING JESUS IS A PART
OF EVERY CHRISTIAN’S LIFE
We
take seriously teaching our children how to walk, talk, eat, read, do math,
drive a car, etc. What about teaching them how they are to serve Christ with
their whole life?
The
church needs to raise up a generation of parents who understand their role as
their children’s spiritual teacher and guide. That begins with dedicating
ourselves and our children to the Lord. After we have taken care of those in
our household then we move to our friends, neighbors, coworkers and classmates whose
parents have failed them spiritually.
A child at birth has the capacity
to become original. Or you can put him in a mold so that he will come out like
everybody else.
As people we should invest out
money – time – heart into our children and youth??? Yes but as well to our
young adults who are having children. We love doing things for young people,
but what age group is most absent from the church today? Who will teach them to teach their children?
All parents need the support of the church to assure that their children have
every possibility to be born again then to serve Jesus. Are you a Peninnah or a
Hannah? Are you praying for parents and kids or do you wish they wouldn’t mess
up the church building? To minister to them costs time, money and passion.
Hannah means favor or
grace.THE MESSAGE CONCLUDED WITH THE BABY DEDICATION OF GIDEON MEYER INGLE
Parent &
Child
Dedication
October 9, 2016
Ashland Church
Oregon, Ohio
Dr. Jeff Cooper, Senior Pastor
(Parents and child
come down front)
(Addressing the
congregation)
We welcome in the name of the
Lord Gary and Gretchen Ingle and their son, Gideon Meyer Ingle.
In this service of dedication, we
are first to give thanks to God, the maker of all things, the giver of all
life, for the creation and birth of this child.
Secondly, we are to make a solemn
promise as parents and as a church that, relying on God’s help and working in
partnership together, we will endeavor to bring up this child in the discipline
and instruction of the Lord.
Thirdly, we are to pray that
God’s blessing may descend and rest upon this child, remembering how the Lord
Jesus took little children in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands upon
them.
Would Gideon’s
Grandparents, Jeff & Kim Cooper, and Mike & Sue Ingle, please come
forward. Would Gideon’s great-grandparents join us? Larry & Shirley Gamble,
Ron & Noreen Ingle, Bob & Bernice Pettifor. Also, we would like
Gideon’s Uncle Nathan to join us.
Let us now hear the word of God!
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God
is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you
this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your
children, and shall talk to them when you sit in your house, and when you walk
by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deuteronomy
6:4-7)
The steadfast love of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear Him; and His righteousness
to children’s children, to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His
commandments. (Psalm 103:17-18)
And they were bringing children
to Him, that He might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. But when
Jesus saw it He was indignant, and said to them “Let the children come to me,
do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God kingdom of God
(Mark 10:13-16)
(Addressing the
parents)
In presenting this child to the
Lord, do you promise in dependence on divine grace, and in partnership with the
church, to teach him the truths and duties of the Christian faith; and by
prayer, precept, and example, to bring him up in the discipline and instruction
of the Lord?
(Parents reply “We do”)
(Addressing
Grandparents & other relatives)
Standing here, do you promise to
aid and support these parents in their life long endeavor to raise Gideon
in the discipline and instruction of the Lord?
(Grandparents respond
“We do”)
(Addressing the
Congregation)
Do you, as members of this church
and guests who believe in Jesus as Lord, acknowledge and accept the
responsibility, together with the parents, of teaching and training this child,
that being brought up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, he may be
led in due time to trust Christ as Saviour, and confessing Him as Lord in
baptism, be made a member of His church? If so, will you signify your response
by standing?
(The mother takes the baby’s
hand, the father takes both of their hands and the pastor takes all three of
their hands. –The pastor prays a prayer of dedication!)
Naming our son:
We had always joked about needing to name our
kids “G” names since our names both start with the letter. Right after we found
out I was pregnant, we went away for a weekend to celebrate our fifth
anniversary. Sitting at a Mexican restaurant one afternoon, we downloaded a
baby names app. It’s a little overwhelming, so we figured why not use “G” names
as just a starting point. We began brainstorming and scribed a list on the back
of the paper placemats.
Gary had noted the name Gideon, which at first
didn’t stand out to me, especially since I was looking at meaning, and
“warrior” or “tree-feller” didn’t seem to fit. Then, I had him remind me of the
story of Gideon. As he began telling me about God’s signs and provision for
Gideon, it struck me. It was exactly parallel to our journey of having this
little guy.
We had decided to give God control of our
family, and let everything happen according to his plan and timing. We had no
clue how school and work and building a family would all work together; plus,
we had some concerns due to some health issues I had. We thought it could be a
long process. Sure enough, the health issues were getting in the way and my
doctor kept suggesting some minor medical assistance. I had some reservations
about that, and thankfully, each time she mentioned it, God answered by solving
the current issue naturally—every time, immediately, perfectly—just as he did
by answering Gideon’s prayers for signs and providing exactly what he needed.
Thinking through all of that, the name kept resonating with me more and more
over time. When we found out the gender, it was in the front of our minds.
I tried going back through our lists or looking at other options, and I
couldn’t even say other names out loud. God gave us Gideon.
The moment I took the test and discovered it
was positive, my immediate prayer was singing God’s praises and giving the
deepest thanks. I followed this with “Use this baby to change the world…for
your glory.” Before prayers for health or happiness, this was my desire for
this child. I continued to pray for this daily. One night, my prayer naturally
transitioned to praying for our child to shine God’s light—so strongly that the
darkest of hearts could see God’s light shining from his eyes. I don’t totally
know where that came from, but the image stuck with me from there on out.
When we had looked at “G” names, we decided to
look at using “M” middle names for boys and “R” middle names for girls, fitting
with our initials. There were already lots of options I liked along those
lines, so again, it was just a good starting place. Scrolling through the app,
I came across Meyer. It sounded cute, so I checked the meaning. My heart
swelled and tears came to my eyes when I saw “light-giver.” After the prayer
and image I had of our little one, I knew this was to be part of his name.
Later, I had a dream where I had just given birth and Gary brought our son to
me. The baby had the biggest smile in the world and it just wouldn’t go away.
This confirmed the choice of “light-giver.”
We cannot wait for our sweet boy to be used by
God to bring His light to the world and spread His glory. This is still our prayer
for our dear Gideon Meyer.
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