Monday Teaching Recap

Week two of SUMMER AT THE MOVIES focused on one of the big themes in "Cars 2" - the 'names' we all have and the difference they make in our lives.

I'm not talking about our given names, like Todd or Susan or Bob or Kathy. There is another name we all have and we usually got it in childhood. It may be a good name - Beloved Son or Cherished Daughter. Or it may be a painful name - Stupid, Ugly, Not Good Enough, Fat, Unwanted, Always Coming Up Short.

The names become a sort of script for our lives and determine to a great extent our attitudes and actions.

Fortunately, God is in the business of REnaming all of us! In the Bible. names mattered a lot - to name someone implied a permanent relationship with that person and names said a lot about character, destiny, and calling.

In Isaiah 43:1 God says to his people - "I have called you by name; you are mine". And in Revelation 2:17, Jesus promises to give everyone in a relationship with him a white stone with a name on it that he has given them- a name known only to them.

But this naming comes with a price, a "ransom" as Isaiah describes it. To be able to give us a new name, Jesus had to lose his own name and the name of his Father. Mark 15:33 depicts Jesus dying on the cross and calling out the name "Eloi" (Elohim) to his Father. This is the most formal name, the least personal name for God in the Bible - not at all like the "Father" by which Jesus normally addressed his Father. And the Father does not answer in return with "my beloved son". Heaven is silent, for in those moments Jesus is paying the penalty for our sins and his Father must turn his back.

This is the incredible love God has for us - the incredible sacrifice our Tender Warrior made for us.

And as a result he wipes out our bad names and gives us a new name that speaks to the kind of man or woman he wants us to be and to become.

What's your old name?

What's your new name?