ACT OF BLESSING AND THANKSGIVING

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One of the strongest feelings that we may have with the birth of our children is that of thankfulness. We may have been looking forward to having children for some time, and now that deep-felt desire has been fulfilled. We feel a sense of gratitude towards everyone who has helped us to this point, for the support of family and friends, for the care of midwives and doctors. We also feel wonder and joy at the gift of new life that has been entrusted to us, and so we want to say “thank you” to God.

We also want to be assured of God’s love and care for our child, and to seek his blessing. There is a beautiful story in the Bible of young parents who brought their children to Jesus, and he responded by taking them into his arms and blessing them. Jesus then said to everyone, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”

Recognising the importance and strength of these two feelings, the second stage in our baptism preparation is an act of thankfulness, and prayer for God’s blessing which forms part of our monthly Family Service.

In this part of the service I will invite you and your family to the front and, having introduced you to the Church Family, I will say a prayer of blessing for your child with these words:

Heavenly Father, we praise you for his/her birth;
surround him/her with your blessing
that he/she may know your love,
be protected from evil
and know your goodness all his/her days.

Then the whole Church Family will pray for your child using this prayer:

May he/she learn to love all that is true,
grow in wisdom and strength
and, in due time, come through faith and baptism
to the fullness of your grace;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

To finish this short act of thanksgiving and blessing, I will give you a copy of St. Luke’s Gospel so that you can read about the good news of God’s love shown to us through Jesus.

On the basis that baptism involves a desire to follow Jesus and his teachings, I encourage you to read this Gospel (it won’t take you that long!) in the days between the act of thanksgiving and the baptism service.

You may also want to discuss with others in the baptism preparation classes some of the things you discover through reading the Gospel