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哈拿和撒母耳的故事可以帮助我们理解洗礼中身份的转变。哈拿一直未能生育，但她祷告说，如果神赐给她一个孩子，她就将他“终身”（参撒上 1:11）归于耶和华。神应允了她的祷告，她最终把孩子带到祭司以利那里，开始训练他侍奉神。撒母耳毕生忠心侍奉神许多年。

在某种程度上，就像哈拿所做的那样，她把自己心爱的孩子交给了神，在洗礼中，我们作为父母把孩子交给了基督的教会和国度，我们被呼召在抚育其成长中侍奉主。孩子的主要身份转变为教会——即神的大家庭的一员。在洗礼中，我们认识到是主接纳并将孩子分别出来，作祂的儿女。孩子被介绍给他们新的教会家庭（包括跨越历史和地域的普世教会）。然后，父母或监护人受托在教会（地方教会）的帮助下以基督信仰抚养孩子。

因此，带孩子来受洗是一种表达深刻信心的行动，因为孩子可能会被呼召以勇敢甚至冒险的生活方式在今世侍奉神和基督的国。即便如此，圣灵仍向我们保证，每个人的命运轨迹始终掌握在神的手中。（参约 10:27-30）

The story of Hannah and Samuel can help us understand the transition of identity that takes place in baptism. Hannah had not been able to bear a child, but she prayed, asking that if God would give her a child, she would give him to the Lord "for all the days of his life" (1 Samuel 1:11). God answered her prayer, and she eventually brought her little boy to Eli the priest to begin his training in the service of the Lord. And Samuel served God faithfully for many years.

In a way like what Hannah did, giving up her beloved child to God's service, in baptism we give children to be a part of Christ's church and kingdom, in which we are called to serve the Lord. The child's primary identity shifts to become part of the church, the family of God. In baptism, we recognize that the Lord claims and sets the child apart as his own. And the child is introduced to their new church family (which extends across history and geography). The parents or caregivers are then entrusted to raise the child in the Christian faith, with the church's help.

Bringing a child for baptism is therefore a profound act of faith, because the child may be called to serve God in radical or even dangerous ways for Christ's kingdom. Even so, the Spirit assures us that each one's destiny is always in God's hand (John 10:27-30).