a. Call my brother a "saint" story

b. Do you know any Saints?

1. We see St. Christopher medals and we hear of St. Michael and St. Paul and St. Peter etc. many have cathedrals named for them

2. But do you know any Saints?

1. Someone that lived wholly in service to others and was martyred for their faith in Christ

2. One of the original Disciples

e. That's right ladies - your believing husband is a saint

f. In the NT we do not find Baptists or Methodists or Presbyterians or Lutherans or Catholics - There Christians are called Believers or Brethren or Disciples or Christians or Saints

g. In this the next to last of our series on "Your Church Home" I want us to look at the names God calls us in the church and what they mean to us - Next week I want to preach on "Being Baptist"
 

I. WHAT GOD DESIGNED

a. It is important to remember that God's design for the church is both Universal and Local

b. The world is larger than the Panhandle - at times I think we forget that

1. Did you know they actually play High School Football outside the Ohio Valley - I am convinced that many do not

2. In Swimming some think the summer leagues are all there is

1. The local church is important and responsible for sharing Christ and ministry in the community where God placed it
a. We are to join together in these efforts as members of a Local church

2. We are also part of the universal church in the world
a. We are part of the Body of Christ and we need each believer no matter what brand

e. With this global and local understanding let's look at the names God uses of us
 

II. GOD NAMES US

a. There is something significant in the Names God uses of us

1. We name our children carefully and with thought and when we do not it
a. Pa-ja-ma - Little girl in Oxford Mississippi

c. God Calls Us

1. BELIEVERS (Acts 5:14; 1 Timothy 4:12)
a. This describes their convictions

b. Convictions are those things you would die before abandoning

c. We have a faith worth dying for

2. BRETHREN (Acts 6:3; Romans 12:1)

a. This describes their company

b. We are Sisters and Brothers - part of a Family

c. We are knit together - all of us - regardless of color, nationality, or denomination - We are FAMILY

3. DISCIPLES (Acts 9:1, 20:7)

a. This describes their commitment

b. Learner or follower - We are committed to following Jesus

c. We learn and imitate Him

4. CHRISTIANS (Acts 11:26; 1 Peter 4:16)
 

a. This describes their conduct

b. "Christian" means "Christ in One"

c. Because of how they acted were first called Christians at Antioch

d. If arrested for being Christian - enough evidence to convict you

e. People should call us Christian because of how we act
 

5. SAINTS (Acts 9:13; Romans 1:7)
a. This describes their character

b. Who we really are

c. Defined as - "how you act in the dark when no one can see"

d. "Saint" means - hagios, is used for saints in the New Testament. This word, like qadosh, means holy. Consequently, saints are the holy ones

a. God knew us when he used these names of us

b. Many of us wonder when we will experience what these names mean

1. Like William Randolph Hearst who once read of an extremely valuable piece of art, which he decided he must add to his extensive collection. He instructed his agent to scour the galleries of the world to find the masterpiece he was determined to have at any price. After many months of painstaking search, the agent reported that the piece already belonged to Mr. Hearst and had been stored in one of his warehouses for many years.

d. I read this this week - It illustrates today's sermon

It is not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong;
Not what we gain but what we save that make us rich;
Not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned;
And not what we profess but what we practice that makes us Christians.

BOW WITH ME IN PRAYER
HYMN # 171 "TRUST AND OBEY"