Why Are We Dedicating Our New Church Building This Sunday?

Why are we dedicating our new church building this Sunday?

The most common word used for dedication in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word qadash, which is the same word that we translate to mean “holy”, or set apart. Holiness is an incredibly important attribute of God, but it also can be applied to people (priests) and things (such as the temple). We can think of it this way: God is holy or set apart and things such as the temple or priests are set apart for a specific purpose. These things are said to be dedicated in Scripture. 

This is precisely how we should be thinking about dedication Sunday. It is a day in which we are saying that we want to set apart our new building, which God has provided, for a specific purpose. What, exactly, is that specific purpose? We are setting apart our new building to be used for God’s purposes and His plans and not our own.

How easy it has always been for God’s people to take the good things He has given us -- which should be set apart for His purposes -- and use them for ourselves! This is why dedication has always been important to God’s people. This is why dedication is so important for us at Pathway. We need this day to look back to in order to be reminded that this building that we are in has been given to us by our Father in heaven, and we have committed to using it for His glory, His mission, and His purposes. Church, come this Sunday, September 22 as we dedicate this space and ourselves to the wonderful purposes of our great God.