Names

February 24, 2015

Opening Hymns:
73 O Worship the King http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh073.sht

Scripture Reading:
Genesis 17:1-16

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty^[a]; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. ² Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

³ Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ⁴ “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. ⁵ No longer will you be called Abram^[b]; your name will be Abraham,^[c] for I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

⁹ Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. ¹⁰ This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. ¹³ Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

¹⁵ God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Message:
I’m really bad at remembering names… no, I mean really bad! I’ve often been too embarrassed to admit it from time to time, and find myself avoiding using names frequently, just in case I get a name wrong. It becomes so confusing when people get married, and their name is now completely different.

Whether you are good or bad at remembering names, there are occasions when names will change. Names can have great meaning. When people get married often times the bride changes her last name to her husband’s name. This symbolizes their joining as one family.

In the scripture today we read of a different kind of name change, and a different kind of commitment. God has made a covenant with Abram, and has promised to make him the father of many nations. Abram’s name is changed to Abraham which means “father of many.” Though Abraham doubts at first, he puts his faith in God, and follows His commands. God keeps His promise through the covenant He made.

God has made a promise with us too. God has promised us forgiveness of all our sins, through Jesus’ love and sacrifice. We needn’t change our names in this covenant. However, other things in our life change. When we truly love and seek God, and follow Jesus we will find ourselves acting as servants to others. We can find ourselves caring and seeking to do good for others in our world, and sharing God’s love.    

Time of Prayer
Lord, thank you for changing our lives and our hearts so that we can go out in the world serving You. Thank You for the love you have shown us. Please, let us always remember to share this love with all those we meet. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.


The Lord’s Prayer


Closing Hymn
672 God Be with You till We Meet Again http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh672.sht

May the Lord bless you and keep you: May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you: May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Amen.

Go in peace, serve the Lord
Thanks be to God