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Let's Say The "NAME"

Acts 4:5-13 5  On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem,
6  with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.
7  And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”
8  Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,
9  if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,
10  let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.
11  This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
12  And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
13  Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.


The older I get, the less clutter I can put up with.  I like things to be simple, clear, and to the point.  I had a really frustrating set of phone calls with a credit card company - a little used card - when they incorrectly failed to post credit to my account.  (The problem turned out to be a switch of two numbers by whoever entered the information).  I was on the phone with the company several times over the two weeks before it was all resolved.  I can understand human error, but what is really frustrating is the "computerized multiple steps" to get to a real live person (let all who have had this happen raise their hand and give me an Amen!).  Ughh!  

While sitting at my desk going through a series of "press this number" I began to think about how this relates to we Christians and the way we take people through unnecessary hoops to get them to think about the Gospel.

The Gospel is very simple - Jesus Christ has redeemed us by his death on the cross, paying the penalty for our sin.  We, by faith, receive God's grace and are given forgiveness, freedom, and a confident future.  It's simple, and there's no reason for any unnecessary steps, no matter what the person may present as their objection.

In fact, in reading the passage above, I'd say it's even simpler.  The next time you get in a conversation with a person about matters of faith, just keep saying the name "Jesus".  Peter and John are summoned before the religious leaders to give an account for their actions and in a rather simple way, they go to the heart of the Gospel - it's about Jesus, who he is, what he has done, and what he is still doing.

So...the next time you're in a conversation with someone about matters of faith, the church, God, truth, etc... just get back to the simplest of things - say the name, the name JESUS.

Peace

  

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