Sermon Tone Analysis

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*What are we Worshiping, Christmas or the Creator?*
Names are significant.
They mean a lot and communicate a lot to us.
I’ve mentioned before that I am a missionary kid and that I grew up in Ecuador, South America.
When we first moved there the transition was tough.
Everything was different.
We couldn’t find any of our favorites – our favorite candy or candy-bar, our favorite T.V. shows, or our favorite restaurants.
I remember the first time we went to the mall.
We wandered around aimlessly looking at the stores, trying to figure out what all the stores were and what they sold.
But after walking for a while and not seeing anything familiar or even appealing to us, we rounded this corner our eyes were greeted by the sweet, sweet colors of red and gold – golden arches to be exact.
I was only about 6 or 7 at the time, but I distinctly remember getting choked up at the sight of those golden arches.
It was beautiful.
Anyway, we ran in to the McDonalds and just started to order anything and everything on the menu.
We weren’t even hungry – but we didn’t care because we were just so excited to see something familiar, something from home.
But that feeling of excitement didn’t last long.
Just about the time the food was coming we began to notice that this McDonalds wasn’t like all the other McDonalds we’d been to.
And getting the food only confirmed it.
The burgers were barely burgers.
The fries were these thick, fat, undercooked, undersalted, and soggy potato sticks.
Even the ketchup was weird.
Why?
Because as it turns out it wasn’t a /real /McDonalds.
It was a knock off!
In fact, it took the /real /McDonalds years to ever get in the country and get established because this guy had for years been running a sloppy, copy-cat chain of restaurants by the same name.
You see, names are significant.
Names are a big deal.
They represent something significant – something beyond the product alone.
They represent a status or identity.
For me, living in a foreign country, McDonalds wasn’t just a name or a fast food joint, it represented home.
It represented a part of who I was as a North American.
You see, names convey a meaning beyond the product or person itself and because of that we attach ourselves to names.
To prove my point, let’s try a little bit of an experiment.
We’re going to flash a few names and products up on the screen and when you see them I want you to tell me which one is better – which name is better or more significant to you.
Okay?
So here we go, first set of names:  Maxwell House vs.
Starbucks.
Little Debbie vs. Cinnabon.
FSN vs. ESPN.
Diamond Warehouse vs. DeBeers.
Oldsmobile vs. Ferrari.
Sam Moon vs. Louis Vuitton.
Sandisk vs. iPod.
You see, names are significant.
Having the right name, and identifying with the right name is important to us because when we identify with a name we become passionate about it.
We believe in it.
And, we tell everyone about it.
Because names are important.
This is exactly why we are doing this series called, “What’s in a Name?”
This series is designed to help us identify with God and who He is.
You see, each name for God in the Old Testament reveals something about God – they teach us something about God’s character and work.
So by learning what these names mean we begin to identify more and more with God.
We understand Him better.
Our faith in Him is strengthened.
And as a result, we speak of Him more passionately to everyone around us.
But we’re also doing this series now, at Christmas, because God uses a name to reveal to us how He is going to change history.
God uses a name to reveal how He is going to save the world – and we will talk about that as we approach Christmas.
So in the first week of the series we saw that God sometimes refers to Himself as /Jehovah-Jireh /which means what?
God will provide.
And last week Jeff talked to us about /El-Elyon /which means what?
God Most High, or Most High God.
So this week we come to our next name in the series.
In Hebrew, which is what the Old Testament was written in, the name is pronounced /Elohim//.
Elohim /is used over 2500 times in the Old Testament alone as one of the names of God.
Over 2500 times!
So a name used 2500 times must be a significant name, right?
So, because it’s /so/ significant I really want you to grasp the power and meaning of this name so we’re going to put the definition of the name up on the screen so that nobody misses it.
Alright?
This is huge, now, so get ready.
The name /Elohim/ literally means:  G O D. 
Wow.
Isn’t that profound?
I can tell right now, just by the looks on some of your faces that you are completely blown away.
Some of you are thinking, “I came to church to hear this?”
Well, hear me out on this.
Why is it that we have a much greater response to names like ESPN or Louis Vuitton than we do to “God.”
Why is that?
Why is it that we get far more excited about a product or a ‘name brand’ than we do about God?
Why is it that the material excites us more than the spiritual?
Here’s what I think: I think that our lack of response to the name “God” means that we really don’t understand how huge that name is.
I don’t think that we really understand what the name “God” means!
Somehow, even we as Christians, have missed something really big about God because by and large the name “God” just doesn’t do much for us.
For whatever reason we think that the name “God” is kind of generic.
That there’s nothing special about it, that it doesn’t have any pop or appeal – it’s just generic.
But let me tell you something, there is /nothing /generic about God.
There is /nothing/ generic about God.
And the more I studied this name the more I began to realize that we are missing something big about who God is because we don’t fully understand what His name represents.
So turn with me to Genesis chapter 1.  Genesis chapter 1, starting at verse 1.  “In the beginning, God…”  [Repeat]  Now, stop there with me.
This is the first time we see this name in the Bible.
It is the first name we ever see for God, and it appears in the first four words of the Bible.
In the beginning, God.
In the beginning, /Elohim/.
The fact that it is the very first thing we see in Scripture, at the start of the story, tells us this: *God is Sovereign*.
*God is Sovereign.*
In the beginning, God!
There was nothing else; there was /no one/ else!  God alone existed.
He is sovereign, He is supreme, He is the beginning of all things because before anything else existed there was God!  /Elohim//!/
I don’t care what you say, but there is /nothing/ generic about this kind of God!
There is nothing generic or ordinary about a God that existed before time itself!
There is nothing ordinary or generic about God!
He is sovereign, He existed before all things!
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