Anonymous Part 3 Series

Anonymous - Part 3, by Pastor Rob Ketterling

All right. I am going to date myself right now, but I want to let you know that when I was younger I grew up watching a show called Romper Room. How many want to identify and say you saw that show? All right, all right. 1953, roughly, to 1994, Romper Room was on TV, so that's why half the church didn't even know about it right there. But I grew up with that. And if you didn't know about Romper Room, it was like preschool back on PBS or something like that. We only had about four channels back then. You'd watch this preschool program, and the teacher in Romper Room at the end would take out her

Little mirror with just a frame, and she would say, "I see David," and you would be waiting for your name. How many know what I'm talking about? She'd say, "I see Susie and David," and so you're thinking she saw a boy and a girl. And then she'd say, "I see Pat," and you're like that could be a boy or a girl, we're not sure. Then she'd say, "I see this one and this," and you'd be waiting for your name. And then she was like, "I see Ron," and I was like, oh, so close. How many know?

And then if she ever said your name, right, if she ever said your name it was like this endorphin rush, like, "She sees me!" I mean we just weren't that technologically advanced, you know. Didn't realize she couldn't see me through the TV. But there is just something about the lady on Romper Room saying your name. And there is something about it when somebody says your name. There is something about it when they move past "Hey, buddy, champ, friend, pal," you know, "you." And there is something about it when they say your name when you realize you are not anonymous.

Sometimes it can surprise you when somebody says your name. You're like, "Wow, they knew my name. I didn't even know they knew my name. I better learn their name. I didn't know their name." There is something special about that.

I want to let you know in this series you're not anonymous. You have a name.

God knows it. I hope you're realizing this, that God loves you, he knows you by name.

And, of course, he gives you special names. Last week Pastor Darin talked about that. Preached a wonderful sermon about God having special names for you, and he described them to you and he gave those to you. Some of the names are so amazing and the meaning just really shows how much God loves you with those endearing names. It really has to do with the fact that God forgives you of your sins. God has changed you, and he wants you to know how much you are loved, and God changes our names. He takes us from sinner to saint. How many know that's a good name change? That's a really good name change.

It’s interesting, how many know that Hollywood people, they change their names? They change their names because they want to be cool. Like if your name is Alexander Leach, you don't want to be known by that. You'd rather be known by Cary Grant. How many know that's way cooler than Alexander Leach. Or Demetria Guynes. How many know that Demi Moore just sounds way cooler than that one. Or Reginald Dwight; Elton John. How many know his name is Reginald? He looks like a Reginald anyways. But Caryn Johnson. Caryn Johnson, you know who that is? Anybody know who that is? Whoopi Goldberg. Caryn Johnson. She went from Norwegian to Jewish. You know, Johnson to Goldberg. Then here's one; Paul Hewson. I think I said his name right. Paul Hewson, but you know him as Bono. How many know Bono is way cooler? That's just way cooler.

So anyway, there is name changes that happen to change from cool, but God changes you not because you're cool; he changes your name because you are changed.

You are changed. You're different. When God changes your name, he changes you and he says there is something different. There is a trajectory that's different about you. It is not stardom. It's actually, "You are a child of God. You're a saint now. You're with me and

I'm your God and we are in a relationship."

We are going to look at some of those name changes. And I just think of Abram being change to Abraham. I think of Sarai being changed to Sarah. I think of Jacob being changed to Israel. I think of Saul being changed to Paul. And there is all sorts of name changes in there. There is all sorts of name changes in the Bible.