What's in a name?

St Bartholomew's Family Service

Welcome and Introduction

At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow:

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

We ask God's forgiveness for our sins

Let us return to the Lord our God and say to him:

Father,

we have sinned against heaven and against you.

We are not worthy to be called your children.

We turn to you again.

Have mercy on us,

bring us back to yourself

as those who once were dead

but now have life through Christ our Lord. Amen

Absolution

May almighty God have mercy on us,

forgive us our sins,

and bring us to everlasting life,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Song: 35 Angels from the realm of glory

Collect (see notice sheet)

Talk: Have you chosen a name for it yet?

"Have you chosen a name for it yet?"

It was a question that we were often asked when we told people that we were expecting our first baby.

At first we said, "No", because we found it quite hard to choose a name. Well there are so many to choose from, ...I've borrowed a book from the library which lists thousands and thousands of them.

And we felt it was quite a responsibility, after all, this little baby was going to have to live with it for the rest of his, or her, life.

And that's another difficulty, you don't know if it's going to be a boy or a girl, ...and so you have to choose two names.

But after giving it an awful lot of thought, we eventually told people, "If its a boy we are going to call him Christopher, ...and if it's a girl we are going to call her Emily."

And we had a baby boy.

And when we were expecting our second baby, we told people, "If it's a boy we are going to call him Andrew, ...and if it's a girl we are going to call her Emily."

And we had a baby girl.

And the third time round we chose the names Andrew and Jennifer.

Now the main reason why we chose these names was simply that we liked them.

But sometimes, parents have other reasons for choosing a name.

Sometime parents decide to name their children after a relative, or a close friend. (How many of the parents here have done that?)

Other parents wait until their baby is born, so that they can see what he or she looks like. And then they decide that he really looks like a "Horace".

Other parents choose a name because it has a special meaning, ...and we will be thinking about that a little later.

And when the virgin Mary had a baby boy, ...she called him "Jesus", because an angel had told her that that was to be his name.

Which brings us to our next song, ...it's printed on your service sheets.

Would you please stand as we sing, "The Virgin Mary had a baby boy."

Song: The Virgin Mary had a baby boy (see Service Sheet)

Talk: What's in a name?

Now in Bible times parents often chose names for their children because they had a special meaning.

Take for example this chap, (OHP- ).

Now he was very, very old, ...and he didn't have any children. And his wife was too old to have children. But then God told them that they would have a baby, ...and his wife just couldn't believe it, and she laughed.

But she did have a baby, ...a baby boy. ...And do you know what they called him? They called their son "He Laughs".

...because his wife said, "God has brought me joy and laughter, and everyone who hears about it will laugh with me." (Ge. 21.6).

That's what the name "Isaac" means, ..."he laughs".

But that wasn't all, ...you see, this man was called "high father", ...but God told him that he would become the ancestor of many nations, ...and so God said that he should have a new name, ...and that from now on his new name would be just that, "Ancestor of many nations". ...That's what the name "Abraham" means.

Many of our names have got meanings too.

How many Christopher's do we have here this morning?

Who knows what Christopher means?

Christ carrier.

There is a legend that a giant carried the Christ Child over a river, ...and so he was given the name "Christopher", (Christ carrier).

And how many people have the name Jane, or Jean, or Joan, or Janet, or Joanna?

Well they are all feminine forms of the name "John", ...which means "the Lord is gracious".

These days not many people choose names for their meaning, ...but they did in Bible times.

The angel told Mary that she was to call her son "Jesus" ...I wonder what that name meant?

But Jesus was so special that he has been given many other names as well. ...For example, we also call him the "Christ".

And our next song contains several other names for Jesus. It's on your Service sheet.

Would you please stand as we sing "Jesus is greater".

Song: Jesus is greater (See Service Sheet)

Our Bible reading contains another special name for Jesus, see if you can spot it.

Reading: Isaiah 7.10-14

Did you spot the other special name for Jesus?

Immanuel.

And so in the Christmas Bible readings, which we have each year, we have at least three names for him. Jesus, ...the Christ, ...and Immanuel.

But what do they all mean? (OHP - )

Quiz and Talk: And you shall call him...

Jesus - The Lord is my Salvation

Christ - Chosen One

Immanuel - God is with us

On Christmas Eve I talked about how Jesus is our Saviour, how he came to rescue us.

But the name "Jesus" reminds us that only God is able to save us. I can't save you, ...David can't save us, ...the Archbishop of Canterbury can't save us, ...the Pope, Mohammed, and Buddha can't save us. No-one can save us ...except God himself.

That is what the name means, "The Lord is my Salvation".

But if God alone can save us, how can we say that Jesus our Saviour.

Well the answer to that lies in the next two names.

First of all Jesus is God's "Chosen One". He was sent by God, and came with God's authority.

And that is what set's him apart from all the other religious leaders which ever lived. He alone is God's chosen one.

(OHP )

But what is even more important, is that the baby born to Mary was no other than God himself. Yes he was a real baby, ...you could really touch him, ...he cried when he was hungry. But he was also really God.

"Immanuel" - God is with us.

The name "Jesus" reminds us that only God can save us. ...But the name "Immanuel" reminds us that Jesus was God.

Would you please take your service sheets and turn to Psalm 113.

Let us praise the name of the Lord.

Psalm 113 (verses 1-4)

Praise the Lord. O sing praises you that are his servants:

O praise the name of the Lord.

Let the name of the Lord be blessed:

from this time forward and for ever.

From the rising of the sun to its going down:

let the name of the Lord be praised.

The Lord is exalted over all the nations:

and his glory is above the heavens.

Songs: 375 Jesus, name above all names

11 All hail King Jesus

We affirm what we believe about God

Do you believe and trust in God the Father, who made all things?

We believe and trust in him.

Do you believe and trust in his Son Jesus Christ, who redeemed the world?

We believe and trust in him.

Do you believe and trust in his Holy Spirit, who gives life to the people of God?

We believe and trust in him.

This is the faith of the Church:

This is our faith. We believe and trust in one God,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Prayers

Song: 41 At the name of Jesus

Blessing

At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow:

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.