What’s in a name?
Do you know what your name means? How do you feel about your name? Do you use the name you were given at birth?
I didn’t particularly like my name as I was growing up. Apart from some of my relatives being incapable of pronouncing it correctly, I was led to believe the name came from a wicked Greek Queen. Not a particularly savoury name and I tried to ignore it as much as possible. However years later I discovered it came from the Greek word: Berenike. It’s where the company Nike gets its name from as it means ‘Bringer of Victory’. How much better to be a bringer of victory than a wicked Queen!
This online article discusses how your name can affect how you are perceived and how you are treated. Do you have any experience of this?
Names in the Bible
Names are important in the Bible. For example, Sarah and Abraham named their son ‘Isaac’, which means ‘laughter’, and Jesus changed Simon’s name to ‘Peter, which means ‘rock’. It was common for parents to name their baby after a family member.
However, Elizabeth and Zechariah named their baby John, which was not a family name. God had given them the baby’s name. It means God is gracious. Luke 1:57-66
Verse 66 in the New Living Translation says: ‘Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way’.
It was obvious to the people that the name of the baby, who later became known as John the Baptist, was extremely important.
Jubilee
The name of our church, Jubilee, is important too. Listen to Rob as he tells the history of Jubilee Church and the importance of the name to the vision and makeup of the church.
