From the Pastor

December 2007

Names are important, aren’t they? My parents almost named me Lucinda. Not a bad name, but when your last name is Peconge, you have to be careful. Although I suppose that if I had been named Lucinda, I could never have imagined myself being called Brenda! And had I been a boy, you might well have had a pastor you call PS instead of PB, because my name would have been Stephen.

Names are important, and parents-to-be spend a lot of time discussing and deciding what their child will be called. Some make choices based on family tradition, while others pick names for how they sound, or for what they mean. Names are important, and what we are named comes to say a lot about us. Our names help to shape our overall identities.

God chose the Son’s name very carefully, too. Of all the names God could have given to the one who would be the Savior of the world, God chose Jesus. The name is a form of Joshua (Yeshua), and it means "God saves."

What more appropriate name could there be for the One who came to redeem us, to offer us salvation, and to promise us eternal life? What else could our Savior, Lord, teacher, and master be called? Names are important, and God chose one especially suited for the Son who would come into the world. Jesus’ name makes a statement about what his whole life would be about—saving the world and everyone in it.

How blessed we are to be able to call upon our Lord by name! And how much more blessed we are to know that he knows our names. Jesus calls us by our names to claim us as his own, to call us to come to him to learn about his love and grace … and to call us into service in his name.

In this season of preparation for the birth of Jesus, I encourage you to consider what his name means. What does it mean to you that God sent us the One whose name literally means "God saves"? From what does he come to save us? How does he save you? How can we make his name known to others?

In Christ,
Pastor Brenda