What Is Your Name

                                          

Text: –

 “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” – “Acts 4: 12” King James

Introduction: –

Hello, my name is Albert. Some of you I know some I don’t, but I want to say to you today that I’m excited and happy – LET ME HEAR YOU SAY “WHY IS THAT ALBERT” – As you have asked I’ll tell you why. It’s because God has honoured me with the privilege and opportunity to share something that is on His heart and that He wants you to know.

It is that God loves you and His desire is to show you His love and care for you. Our situations are all different.

• Some have arrived with burdens weighing them down
• Some have arrived with sickness clinging to them
• Some have arrived with circumstances that are like a shroud that they are wearing
• Some have arrived not recognising that they are in need

Well! Let me say to you today – I’ve got really GOOD NEWS for you.

My aim and sincerest desire today is to: –

• Challenge, Provoke, Inspire and Encourage you.

How many here today believe that “God’s love is here and in this place.?” Great. We come from differing walks of life and experience. Some are here today Feeling “Pumped Up, Guns Blazing and really Up for Anything and all about Serving Jesus.”

However, “Who’s here struggling to believe that?” The reality and truth are that for some it took all the faith you could muster to drag yourself here today “Am I right?”

 

“Either way it’s not about how much faith you have today it’s about who your faith is in.” – Did you hear me in that – “Either way it’s not about how much faith you have today it’s about who your faith is in.” and the reality is that God is in this place!!!!!!

He is always Dependable, He is Rock-Solid, there is nothing Left to Chance with Him and He is Never Reckless.

• There is LIFE, there is FREEDOM, there is HEALING, there is RELEASE, there is REVELATION.
  • All to be owned as ours in RECOGNITION OF HIS LORDSHIP OVER OUR LIVES.
    • Isn’t that great news?

If you want to leave this place today set on a journey of discovery, or with a new-found sense of victory over your despair, hopelessness and fear – then “It’s about whose word you are willing to believe.” – The Choice is yours.

WHAT IS TRUTH

Jesus said – “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” – “Mark 4:9”

• Jesus said – “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” – “John 14:6a”
• Jesus said – “YOU shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – “John 8:32b”
• Jesus said – “Come to me if you are weary and burdened down and I will give you rest” – “Matthew 11:28” my paraphrase
• Jesus said – “If you drink the refreshing water I give you it will be like a well within you refreshing you for ever” – “John 4:14” my paraphrase
• Jesus said – “With man things are sometimes impossible, but with God all things are possible” – “Matthew 19:26” my paraphrase

Will you hear the words of Jesus to your life today?

Today, in this place there are in all probability those that God has given the ability to hear His voice through the declaration of the good news of the Gospel. So, I urge you – When you hear that “Little Voice Inside You” don’t ignore it because “God’s Purposes are at Work in you today.”

DESTINY

I am a great believer in Destiny and I beleive that God has a Plan and a Purpose for all. If that’s true; and I believe it to be so, then Now: – “Is a Place and Time when all of Heavens Timing and your Life’s Journey have met together.”

“This day may not have been on your calendar, but this day in your life has been circled on God’s calendar since before you were born.”

You may be a Regular Member to this Church and it’s your routine to be here every week; alternatively, you may be a Visitor for the 1^st Time. Let me say Both are Welcome. However, in doing so let me also say that – “You will not leave this place the same as you came in” – Why? Because today and right now “Time, Circumstances and God’s Planning have Ordained that You are here.” In the same way that the stars mark a point in the sky that cannot be altered so is this time for us here today.

No News is Good News is what they say – but I have GOOD NEWS

We are surrounded every day with BAD NEWS – No News is Good News is what they say – but I have GOOD NEWS.

• If you feel inside that your life has gone up in flames leaving only ashes, then God wants to take those ashes and to cause you like a Phoenix to rise up again.
• If today your burdened down, then God wants to exchange the burden that’s bringing you such sadness and give you joy and cause you to rise up again.
• If you are living in a rut with circumstances that are like a living grave to you then God wants to give you freedom from it and to replace the shroud of death you are wearing for a garment of praise, so you can rise up again.
• If today you don’t feel you are in need He wants to bring you revelation and sight for your blindness, so you can also rise up.

“Who I Am – Where I’m coming from as I speak to you – What does Jesus mean to me.”

 April 4^th, 1968 @21:50hrs 

You could say today – “Who’s this guy talking to me in such a manner?” and it’s right for you to ask that question – So, let me share a little about myself.

If I told you my story today it would tell of a young man who was a “bad boy” in every sense of the word. It would tell you of one who had a life mixed up with “drug takers and pushers” one who associated with “murderers, thieves and burglars”.

It would be a story of one who was “refused entry to Churches and Youth Groups because of my reputation and behaviour”.

I was bound by Tobacco, Sex, Bigotry, Pride and all sorts of stuff, but Jesus came along, and HE CALLED MY NAME. He declared that I could know of His Freedom and He set me free.

However, it would also tell of a day when where I deserved (Condemnation, Rejection and Judgement) because of my wrong doing God instead granted (Mercy and Acceptance) and gave His (so – so – so unmerited favour instead of listing my sins, mistakes and failures).

My story is that of a person who (deserved nothing but received everything). One who found (kindness and love) from a Saviour in Jesus who I had (mocked, ridiculed and blasphemed the name off).

In April 1968, the Love of Jesus was Shared with me, I was told that not only did He Die for me and that although I deserved to die – He wanted to give me life.

The person I could be, the person God desired me to be was “hidden in all the stuff of my life” – but God called me out of it, He empowered my life with new potential and set me free.

How many of you have seen the movie “Van Helsing Frankenstein?”  Well you may recall a section in it where the Monster is hanging from a rope over the collapsing bridge – He cries “Help! Help me!” to the Monk and Carl the Monk says to him “But you’re supposed to die!” – The Frankenstein Monster cries “I want to live!” and the Monk Carl says, “All right.” And drags him off the collapsing bridge to safety.

Well! I want to tell you today that I was no better than that Monster – I deserved to die, in fact because of my sinful state I was already “Judged, Sentenced and Destined” to die. The Bible tells us clearly – “The wages of sin is death” – “Romans 6:23” and in “Ezekiel 18:20” – “The soul that sins shall surely die” but I cried out in response to the good news of the gospel “I want to live” and Jesus who knew I was supposed to die gave me life and saved me – Yes – “The wages of sin is death BUT The gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ”

My story then is a story of the (Grace of God at work in my life – It is the story of the transforming work of Jesus Christ in my life.)

My story is one of: –

• Kindness drawing me in to a relationship with Jesus.
• It is a story of the Love of God in Christ that never gave up on me.
• It is a story of Hope amid hopelessness.

I found Kindness, Love and Hope all given by the hand of Jesus.

There is a line in a song which says – “Your love Made a way to let mercy come in” and right here and now Gods love is providing a “gateway, a bridge a conduit” call it what you will for you to enjoy His favour in your life.

Jesus once said – “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” – “John 14:6a”. He also stated, “YOU shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – “John 8:32b” and I have come to know the reality of this in my life.

God Called My Name

Earlier I said – “He Called My Name” and I want to say to you today – “That’s just what He is doing today”.

Let me ask you to do something, I know it will sound strange but please humour me just at this moment Call out You Name – Let’s do it in unison together …….

Now why did I do that? The answer is simple – God knows your name – in fact, “before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people.” – “Ephesians 1:4” Contemporary English Version – and He is going to respond to you today.

I entitled what I wanted to say to you today “What is your name.” because our names are very important to us; “through them we find our identity”. Our names sometimes suit us and at other times they seem like a burden on our shoulders.

I am hopeless when it comes to remembering names, but I am not ignorant of how important they are.

Take for instance the little lad who was always feeling very guilt and had a persecution complex by the name of Bill Stickers because everywhere he went he saw posters up on walls and windows saying, “Bill Stickers will be prosecuted.”

 Retired airman Stan Still, 76, from Cirencester, Gloucestershire, said his name had been “a blooming millstone around my neck my entire life”. “When I was in the RAF my commanding officer used to shout, ‘Stan Still, get a move on’ and roll about laughing”

Joining him on the list are Terry Bull, Paige Turner and Mary Christmas.

By our names we are “authorised”. So often when telephoning a company, they ask for your name as a “security check”.

As I was preparing to speak to you I thought I would look up the origin and meaning of my names which are – Albert Matthew Martin – and I was very pleasantly surprised at what I discovered.

Mine means: –

• Albert (Noble)
• Matthew (Gift of Yahweh)
• Martin – (Warlike)
  • “A Noble Warrior of Yahweh”

I must say I was very pleased with that.

One thing that I am very sure of however is that there are many names derived from the experience we go through or we are “given, adopt or just merge into” that truly are NOT NAMES and IDENTITIES that we should hang onto.

Names such as: –

• Regret – Defeat – Guilt – Shame – Fear – Pain – Tears – Bondage – Tired – Weary -Lonely

Let me ask you – “What is your name?” – “Are you living out your life wearing any of those names?

DON’T LET YOUR STRUGGLE BECOME YOUR IDENTITY

If that is true of you in any way, then one thing that I want to say to you today – right here and now is – and please hear me now on this – “You and I are not defined by the name that you and I have adopted or that we may have developed into!”

WORDS OF DEATH

Children grow up being told “You will never amount to anything” or “You are useless” – “Why can’t you be like your Brother or your Sister” or “You’re not good enough, lovable, or pretty enough.” If that is true of you today, then let me tell you “Don’t believe everything you’re told.”

Daily we are bombarded by voices that are full of lies.

You may be thinking today – “Oh! I have lived with that all my life, it’s my history” if that is what your heart and mind is declaring today then let me say to you – “We stand today in a position where our history is just that history and behind us, and God is right now waiting to write new futures.”

Let me assure you that Jesus will make you a history maker, and He is intimately interested in your future. The Bible tells us clearly “If you are saved and a disciple of Jesus Christ then He makes you into an entirely new person, the old past with all its failures are gone and everything in your future is new” – “2 Corinthians 5:17”

There is right here and now the opportunity for change not only in the future but now! Did you hear me on that? – right here and now the opportunity for change not only in the future but now!

The message I’m bringing to you is a message of Hope, its Good News, its Powerful because in it there is Release and Liberty to be found in it.

NAMES WE BEAR

1.  Regret, Defeat and Despair

I would hazard a guess today that in your life at some point you have met one or these characters. We have – all of us – met them at some stage.

One of the major characteristics of them is that they will greet us “every single day”. When we wake up in the morning and we look in the mirror doing our make-up or shaving there is that little inner whisper of “regret reminding us of some past indiscretion or word said or opportunity missed”.

I recall very vividly after months perhaps years thinking I had never told my Father that I loved him, and the regret stayed with me. Like a thorn in the finger – reminding me so very often. What a relief it was when on the doorstep of my home as my Father was leaving I said – “Dad! I want to tell you something that I have not said to you before – I love you.” He broke down in tears on my doorstep and said, “No one has said that to me before.”

The Siamese Twin of Regret is often Defeat or Despair. We may have tried something, and it did not work, perhaps our “Marriage has failed, or we have been made Redundant at Work”.

It could be a “Business has collapsed” – There can be so many areas of defeat that cling onto us. Like regret there is that constant whisper inside about it and “Just When you think you can win, it drags you right back down again.” The Seeds of Defeat and Doubt put their roots deep into the mind, gripping our hearts and restraining our every step.

Alongside Regret and Defeat, we discover another family relation – The Grandfather Despair and despair can wash over us; to the extent that we feel like we are drowning but let me tell you today in the words of the song writer – “When the oceans rage I don’t have to be afraid Because I know that You love me your love never fails. The wind is strong and the water’s deep but I’m not alone in these open seas Cause Your love never fails.”

2. Guilt, Shame and Condemnation

We at some stage in our lives experience whether young or old Guilt. We feel things we are Ashamed off. These bring Pain to us. They can be totally debilitating. Counsellors, Phycologists and Psychiatrists are making a fortune out of the experience.

I said earlier that the Siamese Twin of Regret is Defeat and it’s equally true that theses Twins of Guilt and Shame. Condemnation comes from them and acts like a Cancer Eating its way through everything that life has.

THERE IS NOW NO CONDEMNATION

Today, you can be freed from your condemnation

There are so many people that are dying slowly in a secret tomb of shame.  Perhaps today your being plagued by the guilt of an irresponsible lifestyle, or debt.

Today, you may be ashamed about sexual sin from your past and carrying that guilt with you into your on-going relationships. So, so many people are crippled by the shame of secret addictions, masturbation, pornography, gambling and the list could go on.

Recently I was told of a young man who had been addicted to masturbation. I shared through a brother how Christ could release him and today he is living free from that which enslaved him and is a youth leader.

Yet others live with false guilt having suffered as the victims of sexual abuse. Today there are so many bound by the past, the mistakes and failures of yesterday. Many who wear the shackles of guilt and shame from wrongs committed against them, such as – Abuse, Molestation or Rape!

WHO AM I? Is their cry in life: – Well! I can tell you – “You are Loved of God”

Shame truly weighs heavily on us. It can hang in our souls and thinking like a dense humidity clings to the air. It can be so thick that it’s hard to breathe. We live longing for a breath of wind to bring us a refreshing.

The brokenness of heart is painful enough, but the shame! the shame can be relentless. I’m saying this to you because “I have experienced it.” I felt that Guilt and Shame were like a sign I was wearing around my neck. I felt like I was on display, like an animal at the Zoo. People watching, judging and sentencing me every day. These were both “so called friends and colleagues”.

Shame Shackles

Shame shackled it all to my identity. In my experience, I provided myself with shame shackles. It was so heavy I could hardly move. It was “Suffocating me and choking out what joy and hope I had left.”

I was Guilty – I was Humiliated – I was Ashamed.

I thought “How could I be so stupid? How could I have been so reckless? How could I have been such a screw up, again and again?”

Today for you the experience could be: –

• I am getting divorced.
• I was not good enough to keep.
• I was not valuable enough to be protected.
• I was not worthy of the work and attention a marriage covenant requires.

Let me tell you – Guilt says, “I did something and I’m not proud of it.” Shame says, “I must be a really horrible person because of what I did.”

Christian, Child of God hear me when I say.

 

“Satan knows your name, but he calls you by your sin.

However, God knows your sin, but He calls you by your name.”

The message for you today is one of Hope, Release and Good News. When we think our lives are upside down, it’s very often in reality Jesus turning them the right way up.

3. Tears, Fears and Pains

I’m painting, unpleasant pictures. However, I’m doing so because I want to provide the Reality of the experiences that we go through.

We all recognise that as soon as we turn the news on in the evening or the morning that we live in a world of weeping. The news is always filled with a catalogue of tears and at times it causes us to have our eyes filled with tears. The Bible calls it a “veil of tears” or a “valley of tears” or as “Psalm 23″ says “the valley of the shadow of death.”

Fear is like an Animal Snare – It gets us at the most in-opportune and in-convenient moment. I would hazard a guess today that we have all experienced it’s Cold and Sudden Hand Grip Us.

I recently took my car into a local dealership and when it came to pay I suddenly realised – My Wallet was not in my back pocket” suddenly, I felt that Cold Hand – “Where could it be, was it stolen, will my Bank Account be emptied, how will I get my car back.”

I appreciate that this was a minor issue, but it reveals how unexpectedly Fear takes a grip and when it does it is Crippling.

The world in which we live is filled with “Tears, Brokenness, Suffering and Pain.” Whether it’s the tears of loneliness of a political leader being accused of decisions made years ago (Tony Blair and Iraq), the pain of a broken relationship, or the fears of financial collapse, tears are the sign of a “world gone wrong.”

Whether it is the tears of boatloads of refugees, or the cries of hungry children, or the weeping of someone confessing grievous sins, tears are always the signs of a “world gone wrong.”

However, as I said earlier – the message I have for you today is one of Hope, Release and its Good News.

GOOD NEWS

I know from experience that there are times when it seems that “you and your past are one.” We quite often fail to differentiate between what has “happened to us and who we are today.”

If you today are finding it hard to move beyond that “damaging mind-set” let me encourage you right now. “You are not your past.” True, you are changed and shaped by your past experiences, BUT, let me say to you – “who you were yesterday does not control the person you have the potential to become today and will be tomorrow.” – You are not defined by the “Wreckage you have left behind.”

God Brings a Wrecking Ball into action Breaking Through Our Destructive Patterns

When God is allowed to move into a life He breaks through the destructive patterns of thinking and behaviour.

Let me repeat what I said because it is vital that you comprehend it – “who you were yesterday does not control the person you have the potential to become today and will be tomorrow.” – You are not defined by the “Wreckage you have left behind.”

The answer to everything we have spoken about is Jesus. You are in Church, so I guess you would expect me to say that – but it does not alter the truth.

My text today was – “Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.” The Message

The song writer says: – “Let all the other names fade away – until there’s only you” and today it’s time for you to recognise that when the name of Jesus becomes preeminent in your life then the other names of Regret, Defeat, Guilt, Shame, Tears, Fears and Pains will truly fade away.

You may have been searching for answers, but I want to tell you today that before you call He has heard you and the answers are only those God can provide. You are in the right place right here and now He knows what you need. What you have been searching for are here and found in Jesus Christ.

He can change the Bitter to Sweet – He can change Blindness to Sight – He can turn Darkness to Light. If you are living in Confusion, He desires to bring you into Clarity.

If you are tired of surviving on Water and want Wine, then I tell you that Jesus is the one who turns Water into Wine. He’s done it before literally and He will do it again in your life.

He is Greater, Stronger, and Awesome in Power. He is for us not against us. He is higher and greater than all the names we have believed and have been attributed to us.

Conclusion

There was an occasion recorded for us in the New Testament when two guys who were followers of Jesus were going to Church. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for them it was their regular habit. On this occasion as they got to the gate of the Church they noticed a beggar who was lame sat there asking for money. They looked over to the beggar and he thought they were going to give him money. However, they said to his initial disappointment – “We haven’t got any money – But what we have got we’ll give to you – In the name of Jesus Christ – Stand up and Walk.” Immediately the lame beggar was healed. They helped him up and he went his way rejoicing.

In like manner I don’t have worldly riches to meet your need, but I have a risen saviour in Jesus Christ and like those followers of Jesus I want to tell you than you can Stand and Walk today in Newness of Life.

• Jesus is reaching out to you in your Brokenness to Make you Whole
• Jesus is reaching out to you in your Disillusionment to Restore Your Hope.

Some of you know the problem you are facing – you’ve fallen, and you can’t get up. We live in a world of broken and disillusioned people. Life is fragile; it’s got to be handled with care – Why? “because people break easily.” However, Jesus wants to take you as broken as you are, to make you one again.

All the self-help programs and the religious rules can’t fix the Broken Hearts and Broken Hopes of people around us.

Jesus is the only person who ever claimed to be able to Heal Broken Hearts, Restart Hope and bring Complete Restoration.

If you cannot find a release for your inward song of joy, then the release Jesus gives will take the anchors off your lungs.

I tell you today – Buddha is Dead, Mohammed is Dead, Confucius is Dead (all awaiting their final judgement) but Jesus is Alive, and the Power of His Resurrection Life is available to you.

Jesus once said – “The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him” and today that same Spirit is in this place to provide the miracle that you need.

We so often think the Gospel is only for the “unsaved but it’s not, it’s the Good News to all.” The empowering Jesus spoke of when He stood up in the Synagogue found in “Luke: 4” was designed to meet everybody’s need Christian and Non-Christian – Religious and Non-Religious alike.

He met the needs of both Child of God and Unsaved alike. Freedom, Release and Security is found in His resurrection life.

              GOOD PEOPLE DON’T GET INTO HEAVEN “FORGIVEN PEOPLE DO”

Good people don’t get into Heaven “FORGIVEN PEOPLE DO” – and entry is only by the “Grace of God.” His Grace provides MERCY and it is only because of His mercy that we can be transformed

Some will say THATS NOT FAIR it’s not JUST but if we say that we forget that JUSTICE is what we Deserve.

If you are a Christian today, then I want you to hear the voice that tells you “I am redeemed” – “I am a Child of God” I want you to hear the voice that tells you “You may have lost the battle, but it does not matter because the Cross has already won the war.”

He that declared on the cross – “IT IS FINISHED” – Now declares over your life – IT IS FINISHED!!!!!

God tells you today that He is pleased with you child of God and you will never be alone. In the dead of your night time experience He wants you to hear the whisper of His love towards you. Even though He holds the weight of the world in His hands, His assurance to you amid your turmoil is that “You will not slip through His hands.”

He wants you to know that whilst He feels the Pain of the World He will not push yours aside. When you are alone, in Pain, Fearful and filled with Tears He will quiet your fears and like a Father will wipe away your tears.

GOD IS REACHING ACROSS THE WORLD RIGHT NOW – REACHING OUT TO US TODAY

Jesus is extravagant in His love. Reach out and “Experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.” – “Ephesians: 3: 18” – Message

If I were to tell you my story of faith you would hear of: –

• Hope that would not let go – Love that would never give up.
• Grace that is greater than my sin – Mercy prevailing over justice.

If I were to combine them all together it would be The Story of Him.

• He Jesus want to enter every shadow of sin and bring His light.
• He Jesus wants to tear down every lie that is gripping your thinking.
• He Jesus wants to climb every mountain of unbelief you are going through.
• He Jesus wants to break down every wall rebellion that has captivated you heart.

What will you do Today?

Jesus Christ into your life then congratulations, it's great to know you have joined the family of God.

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