Sunday 9/20/15 Names

Dear Father in Heaven: Thanks for loving me, thanks for loving all of us. Thanks for forgiving us of our sins. Thanks for dying for us on the cross. I love You, Jesus, and I really appreciate all You do for all of us. Thanks for planting another subject on my heart today. Please, dear Lord, help me with the message. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters, today again I ask you to cover Pope Francis with your prayers. We need to do this, but I also want to get a few things straight as we pray for Pope Francis. With that I will get straight to the message, Names.

Sunday: September 20, 2015: Names

Isaiah 9:6 - "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and His name shall be called ..................... "The Prince of Peace." (KJV)

Today Pope Francis was referred to as "The Prince of Peace." I want to tell you that Jesus Christ is "The Prince of Peace" and no one else should be called by that name other than our Lord Jesus. I might upset a few people but I must get it straight. Pope Francis, while a great man of God and maybe a good church leader, is not and never will be "The Holy Father." Our Father in Heaven is "The Holy Father." That spot is taken.

Hebrews 3:1 - Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Jesus Christ. (KJV)

A few years back I did a funeral service at the request of a man whose wife had passed away. His wife was Greek and her brother was a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church. He also had the title of "Father" and he was also sharing the service with me. While others were calling him "Father" I told him that I, with all respect, would be calling him "Pastor" as the title "Father" was reserved for our Heavenly Father. He respected me for standing firm on what our Bible tells us.

Matthew 3:9 - "And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'" (NIV)

Here we see words spoken by John the Baptist and when referring to Abraham as a father, the word father, like our earthly father, is with a small "f," unless of course it is at the start of a sentence.

Matthew 5:16 - "In the same way let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds, and praise your Father in Heaven." (NIV)

Here in the very words of Jesus, He refers to our "Father in heaven." And yes, that would be with the capital "F."

One other thing, will calling a religious leader by "Father" keep you out of Heaven? The only thing that will keep you out of Heaven is not being born again.

I want to be very clear, we need to respect the religion as it is a Christian religion and if they are "Born Again" then they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. I would hope that all people would show their respect to the Reverend Billy Graham, Reverend Jimmy Swaggart, and leaders of all Christian religions.

One last thing. A lot of times the word Christian gets a bad rap. Our president tells us that he is Christian. Christian means Christ-like. I like the term Pastor Tim Beitzel uses, a "Follower of Jesus." Amen.

Tomorrow, Lord willing, "The Blood."

Now go forth, and please serve Jesus. Love ya.

Pastor Dan