Power of a Name

Have you ever had a nickname?  Maybe it was something your teammates called you, or your parents, or a significant other.  I used to have a number of nicknames.  I bet you didn’t know one of my nicknames was Booey.  When y younger brothers were growing up and learning to articulate, Bill was just too hard, so what came out was Booey.  Even to this day, my younger brothers will call me Booey.  It has come to be a term of endearment they have for me.  Think for a moment about all the names you call your best friends, your spouse, or family members, or nicknames you have had. 

 

There is something significant in our names, even our nicknames.  Our names and nicknames reflect something about our relationship with the person you are talking with.  I can tell in a moment when a telemarketer is calling because they always ask for Mr. William Flavin.  Let’s be clear, no one ever calls me that, so if you are calling me that, you must not know me very well or at all.  If you know me you might call me Pastor Bill, or if you know me better you might call me Bill.

 

Names play an important role throughout Scripture.  God changes people’s names on occasion to make significant changes, to redefine their future.  Abram becomes Abraham, Sarai becomes Sarah, Saul becomes Paul, and Jacob becomes Israel.  Their names defined something about them.

 

Take a minute to think about the names you use when you talk with God or talk about God.  The way you talk about God begins to reveal a bit about your relationship and understanding of God.  If you primarily talk about God as judge, you might struggle to think of God as anyone but a stickler to rules, a cosmic bully who is watching to see if you do right or wrong.  It then might be hard to envision God as healer and miracle worker.  If you talk about Jesus as a teddy bear, your best buddy, you might struggle to see God as just and powerful.

 

God is not just a judge or a teddy bear though. We hear in Scripture that God is our strong tower (Proverbs 18:10), the great physician (Mark 2:17, Jeremiah 33:6), peace (Romans 16:20a), powerful (Matthew 6:13), King (Psalm 10:16), and River of Life (Revelation 22:1) just to name a few.  This lengthy list of names for God reveals the depth and richness of who God is. 

 

Does the way we talk about God reflect what we believe about God?  Does it reflect our relationship with him?  Are the names we use to label God just that or are they true terms of endearment?

 

Discussion Questions

1. What names do you most often use for God?  What does that say about how you think about God?
2. Take time to pray using different scriptural names of God.  What was it like?
3. Are there some names of God that are hard for you to use and pray?

Count the Cost Pt.2

Each of us has had opportunities that we’ve passed up.  For some, you may even wonder, what could have been?  What would skydiving have been like?  Would I have flourished at that job, did I miss out on a great relationship?  Since we chose no, we never found out what could have been.  There are times that we get the feeling we passed up something good.

Would you believe that each day God presents each of us with opportunities to bless us, and use us to change our own life as well as others lives?  Opportunities to encourage someone, start a conversation, invite someone to church, or see miracle happen.  Often we don’t think of the opportunities God has placed before us as something we missed out on, it’s just something we chose not to do, or didn’t see.

Scripture is clear though that God is at work all around us, and ready to do amazing things, but we have to be ready, and sometimes we have to ask.  Jesus says it this way to his followers, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7, TNIV)  Jesus is not suggesting God is an ATM who just gives you all that you want on demand.  Jesus is reminding the disciples of something important, if you want something ask for it, if you want to experience something, you have to engage.  We also hear from 1 John, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15, TNIV)

Do you want to see transformation in your brother who struggles with self-confidence, and hasn’t been to church in 20 years?  Pray and ask God to transform his life in a way only God could.  Pray that God would connect your brother with people who would share their faith with him in a meaningful and relevant way.  Pray daily, and pray with confidence, that God will hear your prayer.

Do you want to grow in knowledge of God’s word, to know the bible better to help you in your life?  This may sound silly, but get out the bible and start reading it.  Talk with other Christians about passage that challenge you, or leave you with questions.

Maybe you have a passion and heart to see people come to know God who has never met him before, but you have never done a evangelism class.  Great!!!  Invite them to come with you to church.  Pray that God gives you an opportunity to tell them your story of God’s grace in your life.

I don’t want to look back on my life and think, what could have been?  Instead my prayer is that we can all look back and say WOW, look what was, look at all the powerful ways that God worked in our midst.  And think, it all just started with a little asking and doing.

 

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

1. What is one opportunity God has placed before you that you need to engage, or ask God for help and guidance in?
2. What might cause you to hesitate or pass up the opportunities God places before you?
3. Who could walk with you on the journey as you seek to ask God in prayer, and follow God in action?

Prayers that Rock

I remember learning to pray as a kid, and learning not just how you pray, but what you are supposed to pray about.  You should pray to God about “small” things, but not too small, God is busy you know, so don’t bother Him with things that are too little.  On the other hand, you should pray about “big” things to God, but not too big; I mean if everyone asked God for a million dollars or to win the lottery, what would happen?  As I continue to grow, this model of prayer just did not seem to fit with the biblical model of prayer laid out for us in the Bible.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray for daily provision (daily bread), a seemingly small prayer.  Jesus teaches the disciples that prayer can cast out demons (Matthew 17:21), and that God will give them great gifts and answers to prayer if they just ask (Matthew 7:11).  One verse on prayer that stands out to me is Matthew 21:21-22, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt…but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.  If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

I do not want to suggest God is our holy ATM, giving us all sorts of stuff if we ask right.  Instead I wonder if we ever pray like these verses suggest.  Take a moment and think about your prayers.  How many of our prayers would make heads turn if God answered them?  How many of our prayers require God’s supernatural involvement?  How many of your prayers are BIG?  I believe this is the kind of prayer Jesus is talking about.  The kind of prayer where God’s answer is so dramatic, people would not even consider giving you or another person the glory, but instead would just look and say WOW God.

Consider lifting up a prayer to God that requires an answer only God could provide, and God would get the glory and honor from.  Don’t be mistaken these prayers don’t have to be “big” in terms of money, numbers, or influence. 

A family prays for a sister dealing with cancer, praying God it is only you who could heal her, may her life be a witness to the medical staff by your healing touch.  She was healed of her cancer, and was a powerful witness to the staff at the hospital.  Her healing left doctors and specialist scratching their heads wondering, how could that happen?   But the family knew, by God’s power alone. 

Jesus makes it clear, ask whatever you want in prayer, and have faith that God will answer.  Pray big, and have faith that God will answer, and God will show up.  Pray big because God wants to show up in our lives.  Pray big because we worship a God of unlimited possibilities.

 

Pastor Bill 

Discussion Questions

1. Why do think we hesitate to pray big prayers?
2. If you had to look at your current prayers on a scale of 1 (small request) to 10 (only God could do that, it would make people’s heads turn), where do most of your prayer fall?
3. Take time to consider what might be a BIG prayer you can lift up to God for your church, your family, and your relationships.  Pray that same BIG prayer for at least 3 months, and journal about how you see God answering it.

The Voice- Part 1

A few weeks back NBC launched a new show called, “The Voice.”  A number of gifted vocalists audition for a panel of vocal experts.  The experts walk with a number of contestants as they embark on a journey of finding their voice.  They work to hone their skills and to truly grow into their voice as God gave to it them.  I haven’t watched the show yet but couldn’t help but think of the symbolism of finding ones voice.  Many of us spend years and years looking for our own voice, our own identity and what that means for our daily lives.  Each day we are bombarded with lots of conflicting voices telling us what to think, wear, eat, say, and do.  It can be challenging to sort through the mess and try to find God’s voice and then our own voice.

There is one voice that we tend to hear loud and clear.  It tends to sound like this, “you’re not good enough, that will never work, you can’t do it, you’ll never be able to accomplish that.”  Many of those seeking work hear this voice more often then they would like, saying, “You’re not qualified, good luck finding a new job, how long can you make it financially like this?”  As hard as we may try, that voice is the one that we most often hear.  It discourages us, makes us afraid, doubtful, nervous and irrational.  Peter reminds of us of this struggle in 1 Peter 5:7-8, “Cast all your anxiety on him (Jesus) because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:7-8, TNIV)  The devil is just waiting, hoping we’ll take the bait, that we will be convinced his voice is the voice of a “realist” or “reality” instead of seeing it as a voice of negativity and deception.

The voice of the devil does not just speak to us about work, it speaks into our families, our marriage, our relationships, and even into our churches.  This voice tells you, to be afraid of anything unfamiliar, distrust any change, and keep things the same at all costs.  Don’t be unique, just give up, don’t worry about following God, just follow the crowd, just try to be as “normal” as possible, don’t make waves, and don’t do something extraordinary, just get by.  This voice is not the most powerful or important voice we hear.  Come back to read the next 2 posts as we look at God’s voice in the midst of our chaotic lives, and then finally what it looks like to find our own voice.

Pastor Bill

Discussion Questions

1. What is the voice of the devil whispering into your life right now?
2. Are there certain times this voice tends to speak louder to you?
3. What makes it challenging to ignore or dismiss this voice?