Refpstr - Here's what I did in a service a couple of years ago with a father's profession of faith and baptism followed by his son's baptism.
Baptism of Cody Drew Kirby
Profession of Faith
Cody, do you desire to be baptized?
I do.
Baptism marks us as members of God’s covenant family.
In embracing this covenant, we choose whom we will serve,
by turning from evil and turning to Jesus Christ.
Cody, do you renounce sin and the power of evil in your life and in the world?
Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Savior, trusting in his grace and love?
Do you accept the Bible as the Word of God, revealing Christ and his redemption? Do you accept the confessions of this church as a faithful reflection of that revelation?
Do you promise to be Christ’s faithful disciple, sharing fully in the life of the church, honoring and submitting to its authority; and do you join with the people of God in doing the work of the Lord everywhere?
I do.
Prayer of Consecration
Send your Holy Spirit, we pray, to move over this water
that it may be a fountain of deliverance and rebirth.
Wash away Cody’s sin. Raise him to new life, and graft him into the body of Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon him, we pray,
that he might be have power to do you will,
and continue faithfully in the risen life of Christ,
in whose name we pray - Amen.
The Baptism
Cody Drew,
I baptize you in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Laying on of Hands
O Lord, uphold Cody, by your Holy Spirit.
Establish him in your love, and guide him by your Spirit,
that together with all your people,
he might grow in faith, hope, and love,
and every remain a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ,
in whose name we pray - Amen.
Reception
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the only King and Head of the Church,
I now welcome you to all the privileges
of full communion in the life of the church. Amen.
With joy and thanksgiving,
we now welcome you into Christ's church;
for we are all one in Christ.
We promise to love, encourage, and support you.
Response: Grace Like Rain
The Meaning of Baptism
God graciously includes our children in his covenant,
and all his promises are for them as well as us.
Just as children in the old covenant received the sign
of circumcision, so our children receive the sign of baptism.
We are therefore always to teach our little ones that
they have been set apart by baptism as God’s own children.
Prayer of Consecration
Pour out your Spirit upon us and upon this water, we pray,
that it might truly be a means of your grace this morning.
Work in Cooper all that his baptism signifies;
wash away his sin,
raise him to new life,
and graft himinto the body of Christ.
Empower him by your Spirit to respond to your promises sealed to him this day in a life of faith-filled obedience.
Mark them, we pray, with a faith that can stand the light of day and endure the dark of night. In Jesus’ name we pray - Amen.
Baptism of Cooper Ryder Kirby
Parental Profession of Faith
Cody & Crystal:
As you present Cooper for holy baptism,
you are asked to reaffirm your commitment to Jesus Christ.
Do you profess your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior
and affirm the promises of God made to you and Cooper in his Word?
We do.
The Baptism
Cooper, for you Jesus Christ came into the world;
for you he died and for you he conquered death;
All this he did for you, little one,
though you know nothing of it as yet.
We love because he first loved us.
Cooper Ryder,
I baptize you in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Child of the covenant,
in baptism you are sealed with the Holy Spirit
and marked as Christ's own. Amen.
Reception
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the only King and Head of the Church,
this child of God is now received
into the visible membership of the holy catholic Church,
called to confess the faith of Christ,
and to be God’s faithful servant until life’s end.
I pray, Cooper, that your eyes of your heart might be opened, in order that you would know the hope to which he has called you,
the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for all who believe.
Brothers and sisters,
as we receive Cooper into Christ's church,
I charge you to nurture and love him
and to assist him to be Christ's faithful disciple.
With joy and thanksgiving,
we now welcome you into Christ's church;
for we are all one in Christ.
We promise to love, encourage, and support you
and to help you know and follow Christ.
Parental Promises
Cody & Crystal: Do you promise, in reliance on the Holy Spirit
and with the help of the Christian community, to instruct Cooper by word and example,
in the truth of God's Word, and in the way of salvation through Jesus Christ?
Do you promise to pray for him and teach him to pray?
Do you promise to nurture him within the body of believers,
as a citizen of Christ's kingdom?
We do, God helping us.
Prayer
Gracious God,
We thank you for confirming your promises to Cooper this morning. Work in his heart, we pray, by your Holy Spirit,
that he might respond to his baptism in a life of faith and obedience.
Grant to Cody & Crystal the presence and strength of your Holy Spirit as they raise Cooper to know you and to love you and his neighbors. In Jesus’ name we pray – Amen.
Just a (perhaps) minor correction. The RCA is a bi-national denomination, though it may be much less intentional about its bi-national identity than the CRCNA. Unless there is another Reformed Church in Canada that I'm not aware of, the one you mention in your post is not a denomination, but a regional synod within the RCA.
Posted in: How have you combined profession of faith with baptism?
Refpstr - Here's what I did in a service a couple of years ago with a father's profession of faith and baptism followed by his son's baptism.
Baptism of Cody Drew Kirby
Profession of Faith
Cody, do you desire to be baptized?
I do.
Baptism marks us as members of God’s covenant family.
In embracing this covenant, we choose whom we will serve,
by turning from evil and turning to Jesus Christ.
Cody, do you renounce sin and the power of evil in your life and in the world?
Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Savior, trusting in his grace and love?
Do you accept the Bible as the Word of God, revealing Christ and his redemption? Do you accept the confessions of this church as a faithful reflection of that revelation?
Do you promise to be Christ’s faithful disciple, sharing fully in the life of the church, honoring and submitting to its authority; and do you join with the people of God in doing the work of the Lord everywhere?
I do.
Prayer of Consecration
Send your Holy Spirit, we pray, to move over this water
that it may be a fountain of deliverance and rebirth.
Wash away Cody’s sin.
Raise him to new life, and graft him into the body of Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon him, we pray,
that he might be have power to do you will,
and continue faithfully in the risen life of Christ,
in whose name we pray - Amen.
The Baptism
Cody Drew,
I baptize you in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Laying on of Hands
O Lord, uphold Cody, by your Holy Spirit.
Establish him in your love, and guide him by your Spirit,
that together with all your people,
he might grow in faith, hope, and love,
and every remain a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ,
in whose name we pray - Amen.
Reception
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the only King and Head of the Church,
I now welcome you to all the privileges
of full communion in the life of the church. Amen.
With joy and thanksgiving,
we now welcome you into Christ's church;
for we are all one in Christ.
We promise to love, encourage, and support you.
Response: Grace Like Rain
The Meaning of Baptism
God graciously includes our children in his covenant,
and all his promises are for them as well as us.
Just as children in the old covenant received the sign
of circumcision, so our children receive the sign of baptism.
We are therefore always to teach our little ones that
they have been set apart by baptism as God’s own children.
Prayer of Consecration
Pour out your Spirit upon us and upon this water, we pray,
that it might truly be a means of your grace this morning.
Work in Cooper all that his baptism signifies;
wash away his sin,
raise him to new life,
and graft himinto the body of Christ.
Empower him by your Spirit to respond to your promises sealed to him this day in a life of faith-filled obedience.
Mark them, we pray, with a faith that can stand the light of day and endure the dark of night. In Jesus’ name we pray - Amen.
Baptism of Cooper Ryder Kirby
Parental Profession of Faith
Cody & Crystal:
As you present Cooper for holy baptism,
you are asked to reaffirm your commitment to Jesus Christ.
Do you profess your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior
and affirm the promises of God made to you and Cooper in his Word?
We do.
The Baptism
Cooper, for you Jesus Christ came into the world;
for you he died and for you he conquered death;
All this he did for you, little one,
though you know nothing of it as yet.
We love because he first loved us.
Cooper Ryder,
I baptize you in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Child of the covenant,
in baptism you are sealed with the Holy Spirit
and marked as Christ's own. Amen.
Reception
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the only King and Head of the Church,
this child of God is now received
into the visible membership of the holy catholic Church,
called to confess the faith of Christ,
and to be God’s faithful servant until life’s end.
I pray, Cooper, that your eyes of your heart might be opened, in order that you would know the hope to which he has called you,
the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for all who believe.
Brothers and sisters,
as we receive Cooper into Christ's church,
I charge you to nurture and love him
and to assist him to be Christ's faithful disciple.
With joy and thanksgiving,
we now welcome you into Christ's church;
for we are all one in Christ.
We promise to love, encourage, and support you
and to help you know and follow Christ.
Parental Promises
Cody & Crystal: Do you promise, in reliance on the Holy Spirit
and with the help of the Christian community, to instruct Cooper by word and example,
in the truth of God's Word, and in the way of salvation through Jesus Christ?
Do you promise to pray for him and teach him to pray?
Do you promise to nurture him within the body of believers,
as a citizen of Christ's kingdom?
We do, God helping us.
Prayer
Gracious God,
We thank you for confirming your promises to Cooper this morning. Work in his heart, we pray, by your Holy Spirit,
that he might respond to his baptism in a life of faith and obedience.
Grant to Cody & Crystal the presence and strength of your Holy Spirit as they raise Cooper to know you and to love you and his neighbors. In Jesus’ name we pray – Amen.
Posted in: A Gathering of Two Bi-National Synods?
Keith,
Just a (perhaps) minor correction. The RCA is a bi-national denomination, though it may be much less intentional about its bi-national identity than the CRCNA. Unless there is another Reformed Church in Canada that I'm not aware of, the one you mention in your post is not a denomination, but a regional synod within the RCA.
Ryan