Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Fun Girl Names

Clotilde = famous in battle

Etiennette = woman with a crown

Avriel = to open the flowers of spring

Eugenie = noble

Names have meaning, and in the Bible, the meaning of a person’s name was significant.

Prophet Hosea’s name means “salvation”

One of Hosea’s sons was named Jezreel, which means “God scatters”

One of the prophet Isaiah’s kids was named Shear-Jashub, which means “a remnant shall return”

The name Jesus, originally pronounced Yeshua, means “Yahweh saves”

God has many different names in the Bible, and each one reveals something about who he is.

How often do we think about God’s names?

How often do we pray God’s names over our families, schools, neighborhoods, church?

Starting a new series looking at a few of the OT names of God and how they apply to our lives… I highly recommend Praying the Names of God and Praying the Names of Jesus by Ann Spangler.

Our first name is YHWH Shalom.

Body

What does the name YHWH Shalom mean?

Explanation

YHWH = I AM

God is uncreated.

He exists within himself.

His existence does not depend on anyone or anything else.

God is the only thing that is uncreated, and everything else depends on him for existence.

See Col 1:16-17.

God is eternal.

There has never been a time when God did not exist.

And there will never be a time when God stops existing.

See Rev 1:8.

When you read the OT, and you see LORD, the Hebrew word is YHWH.

The ancient Israelites had such a reverence for God’s name that, as they copied Scripture, every time they wrote YHWH, they used a brand new pen that had never been used before.

Shalom = translated in English as “peace” but means so much more

The English word “peace” means tranquility, quietness, calm, the absence of conflict.

Shalom means all that and more.

Shalom means harmony, wholeness, peace, well-being, completeness—all is as it should be, as God created it to be, everything in its place, fulfilling its purpose in concert with creation.

We get glimpses of shalom when we experience the transcendent beauty of the mountains or the ocean, when we hear a symphony, when we taste a meal that has been perfectly prepared.

Biblical Illustration: The name YHWH Shalom first appears in the Bible when Gideon meets God in Judges 6.

Look at the end of this scene, Judges 6:22-24.

Why did Gideon think he would die if he saw God face to face?

And why did the Lord say, “Shalom to you.

Do not fear; you shall not die.”?

Implication: Something is broken in the world.

We do not have peace.

There is not shalom.

According to UNICEF, about 8,500 children starve to death every day (3.1 million per year).

Meanwhile 42% of adults and 19% of children in the US have obesity, and the US throws away about 40% of the food we produce every year.

How can we have shalom?

How can there be peace?

Let’s look at Genesis 1-3 for the answer.

We were created with shalom.

God intended us to have peace from the very beginning.

Shalom with God — Gen 1:26a, 27-28b; 3:8a

Shalom with self — Gen 2:25

Shalom with others — Gen 1:27; 2:22-25

Shalom with the world — Gen 1:28

Sin and Satan broke our shalom.

When we believe lies and reject God, peace is lost.

With God — Gen 3:8, 23-24

We no longer have shalom with self — Gen 3:7, 9-10

We no longer have shalom with others — Gen 3:12, 16; in Gen 4, Cain murders Abel

We no longer have shalom with the world — Gen 3:15-16a, 17a, 17c-19

Shalom must be restored in the right order.

We can have peace if we take the right steps.

Illustration: Fixing a Lego set that broke apart…

Implication: WWI, WWII, Vietnam, 9/11, Russia invades Ukraine, Nazis killed 12 million, Stalin killed 9 million, CCP has killed around 45 million… Racism, greed, selfishness, anger, gossip, bitterness, slander, lust… Insecurity, shame, anxiety, depression…

Application: If we want to restore shalom to the world, we must go back and restore the shalom that was broken in the beginning.

Step 1: Restore shalom with God through Jesus — Isa 9:6; Luke 2:14; Rom 5:1

Step 2: Restore shalom with self through the Holy Spirit

Step 3: Restore shalom with others through extending God’s love

Step 4: Create communities of shalom that bless the world with a glimpse of Heaven

Conclusion: Practicing the Peace of God

Stephanie: Confess patterns of behavior that hinder peace in your life

Andy: 1 Pet 5:7 (NIV)… Write your anxieties on a piece of paper… Communion

Jesse: Prayer for shalom in your family, in our church, in our schools, in your workplace