As we continue in our series on the Names and Character of God, our goal is not just to know about the Names of God… but the goal is to KNOW GOD. Why study the Names of God?

1. We are commanded to not take God’s name in vain… so we may want to know His Name (Exodus 20:7)
2. The Character and greatness of God is wrapped up in His Name (Deut. 32:3)
3. In knowing how God has revealed Himself, we find ourselves looking into the very face of Jesus Christ (John 14:9-10, 20)

Note: Audio is off for the first couple of minutes, but comes back in pretty quickly…

ELOHIM: Plural noun, God

1. SUPREME GOD: Creator, King, God of gods

2. COVENANT GOD: 3-in-One, Godhead   This covenant keeping starts in the very being of God… in love. Augustine said, “For if God is love, then there must be a LOVER, a BELOVED, and the SPIRIT OF LOVE”… and if God is eternal… then there must be an ETERNAL LOVER, an ETERNAL BELOVED, and an ETERNAL SPIRIT OF LOVE… this love is unbreakable… from the beginning ELOHIM has been a perfect union of love.  This covenant keeping extends to creation… and even more specifically to His people… He loves His creation… and covenants to care for them… Colossians 1:16-17… all things hold together in Christ… so as the FATHER loves the Son… so He loves and covenants with that which is in CHRIST… and for those of us who find our life, our purpose… IN CHRIST… that love is a redeeming, all-sufficient, life-giving love… because HE LOVES US IN CHRIST.

Deuteronomy 6:4-13 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (5) You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (6) And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. (7) You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (8) You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (9) You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (10) “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you–with great and good cities that you did not build, (11) and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant–and when you eat and are full, (12) then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (13) It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.

At the beginning of the service, we continued our emphasis on being One with Them… those persecuted for their faith in Christ. Our focus in January has been North Korea, #1 on the World Watch List. By request… the video that we showed is below… Continue to pray.