What's In A Name - Part 1 Series

What’s in a Name?

In the Name of Jesus there is Giving (Acts 3:1-10)

In the Name of Jesus there is Humility (Acts 3:11-16)

In the Name of Jesus there is Refreshing (Acts 3:17-20)

In the Name of Jesus there is Hope (Acts 3:21-26)

In the Name of Jesus there is Power (Acts 4:1-7)

In the Name of Jesus there is Courage (Acts 4:8-22)

Slide 1

What’s in a name?

In our culture today, we may not think that names carry much meaning or are that important.

Why then do

Expecting Parents

When expecting parents are considering names for their children, they buy books of names to see what names mean.

They get input from relatives.

They think of people they know and don’t want to give their baby a name of someone they did not like very much.

They write out the name to see how it goes with their last name.

Women

Women often do the same thing with potential last names.

They write out their first name along with the potential last name to see how it sounds.

We care about what our name is.

Reputation

As we grow up, it is

not so much how our name sounds,

but how our name gets affected by our actions, or our reputation that is evoked by our name.

When people are looking for a job, it is more helpful to know someone that has a good reputation with the prospective employer than a bad reputation.

Hi, Joe So and So sent me and told me you might need someone.

If Joe So and so is known to be a good worker and a person of integrity, then his name would carry some weight.

If Joe so and so was a thief who stole from the company, then using his name would say something negative to the prospective employer about you.

Commander in Chief

As Commander in Chief, the name of the President of the U.S carries with it power and authority and responsibility.

If he gives a command, things happen, versus

if Scott Kircher gave a command to our military.

That would mean nothing.

So, like it or not names matter.

The name that we carry around with us will speak something to those who know us or know someone closely related to us.

The Name of Christ

The same is true for us as a Christian. As a Christian we carry around with us the name of Jesus.

And there are benefits and responsibilities to claiming the name of Christ.

Unfortunately, there are some who don’t take their responsibility seriously.

Each of us probably have examples of seeing or hearing about a Christian or at least a person calling themselves a Christian, doing something or acting in some way that brings dishonor to the name of Christ and thus to all Christians.

That is not the way it should be or that it has to be. When we put our trust in and receive Jesus as Savior we have available to us the power of the Holy Spirit to change us and make us more like Christ.

Plugging into the Power

We talked last week about how to plug into that power as Christians. As we

Pray together and

Study the Bible together and

Have fellowship together,

God works to draw us into deeper relationship with Him and the church becomes more effective at reaching people with the gospel and raising them up to be mature followers of Christ and the name of Jesus is exalted.

So what does a mature follower of Christ look like?

What does taking on the name of Jesus Christ do in our lives?

For those who are Christians, what are areas of our life that might need more attention from Jesus as we follow and become more like Him?

Over these next 2 weeks we are going to be talking about what is in a name, specifically, What is in the name of Jesus?

What are the responsibilities and benefits of claiming the name of Christ and what that looks like in our life?

We are going to be looking in Acts 3 and 4 (p. 772) at the story of a man who

Slide 2

has been crippled since birth and how Peter and John exemplified for those who claim the name of Jesus,

what we should doing and

how we should be living.

Let’s begin reading in Acts chapter 3.

Acts 3:1-10

1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer-at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.