HopeUC Secunderabad

How to Take God Seriously

• HopeUC Secunderabad

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What’s in a name? Everything, especially when it’s God’s. Our culture tosses around “Oh my God” or “Jesus Christ” carelessly, but the third commandment calls us to honor His name with reverence.

In Scripture, a name represents character, power, and presence. To misuse God’s name isn’t just profanity, it’s living in contradiction to our faith or using His name to manipulate. David didn’t trust his stones against Goliath; he trusted “the name of the LORD.”

Honoring God’s name means watching our words, aligning our actions with our faith, and representing Him boldly. His name is no throwaway—it’s the name before which every knee will bow.

This week, how will you carry His name, with carelessness or with honor?

PRAYER
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ABOUT HOPEUC INDIA
Hope Unlimited Church is an independent, Spirit-filled church with multiple campuses in India, serving young professionals and families from all parts of India in a modern, dynamic metropolitan church setting.
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Speaker 1:

A driver who was driving somewhere got lost and said Lord, show me the way. The GPS said turn left on Yahweh. He thought, wow, divine GPS guidance. He just misheard because of his prayer. He said no turn left on the highway, but he heard it as Yahweh.

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It's funny, but many times we treat God's name like a casual part of life. We see it in the movies, right, oh, jesus Christ, in frustration, right, oh, my God, out of shock. You know Very casual way we use and utter the word of our God, the name of the living God. You know, the third commandment isn't just about avoiding bad words, it's not just about avoiding cuss words or you know bad words, but it is. It's about honoring God's name with our speech. It is about honoring our God's name with our speech. Not only speech, but also in the way that we live and carry that name in our lives. Amen.

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In the ancient times, pagan worshipers believed, saying their God's name, to invoke the power, the evil power, okay, invoke the power, the evil power, okay. So they would call upon their gods only, you know, to invoke the evil spirit. Now, in those times, our living God did not want any of his children to be a pagan worshiper or do the same practice while uttering the name of the living God. So our living God was very clear my name is not to be used in vanity. My name is not to be used in a casual sense. My name is not to be used in an unholy way. My name is not to be used in vanity but it is to be carried, spoken right and, you know, invoked out of a place of victory, in the Bible and even in our lives. A name represents personality, power and protection. You know, if I give, if I say some names, I'm sure you'll be able to, you know, recollect or try to put on some tags on that name. Like, for example, if I say the name Mother Teresa, on that name. Like, for example, if I say the name Mother Teresa, you put on some tags onto that that describes some characteristics of that character, right, of that person. If I say Steve Jobs, I'm sure you would think something associated to that person, right? If I say Adolf Hitler, there is something that you associate, even though it is bad, right. And in the Bible, when we are uttering the name of our living God, what we are saying or what we are representing is his character, his power, his ability right, what he stands for, what are his values. That is exactly what we are uttering as we say the name of our Lord, jesus Christ.

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In the average Hollywood film, god's name is misused over 20 times, often more than any other profanity. It might be in the way of you know, oh my God, or Jesus Christ, you know, might be anything right, and God is helping us, you know. May God help us today to not be confirmed by the world or the culture that we live in or what we are consuming, but help us in and put us in a place where we utter his name, share his name, out of reverence, honor and respect that he deserves, out of reverence, honor and respect that he deserves, amen. Can we all say amen to that? Say I'm ready. I'm ready to change. You know, just like the song that we sang, everything is changing, amen. So I want you to ask yourself this question Okay, am I treating God's name as holy or as something casual? Just rewind one week, two weeks how many times have you used God's name out of a casual sense? Instead of keeping it holy, it's time for us to put some good practices so that we will continue to honor our God, amen. As believers, we are called to share his name, not as superstition but, you know, share it as truth.

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Now, there are different ways that we misuse God's name. Okay, using God's name to insult, you know, we see this in movies, all right, we see this. We keep hearing saying God or Jesus in frustration or casually. Right, although we do not mean directly to our God, but still, as I said, it is still pointing to the living God. Amen, right.

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Leviticus, chapter 22, verse 32 it do not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy, full stop. God says. I must be acknowledged as holy. Right? If someone insulted your family name? My family name is Kumari. If someone insulted your family name, you would defend it instantly, right? If someone says look at those Kumaris, you know they are. You wrestle within and then you wrestle outside. How much more is God's name right?

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If someone says against our God's name, do we stand for him? Do we stand for him and go against the person who is doing that and stop them right there. We are to wear his name with honor. What we say should reflect he who he is. Now ask this yourself Do my everyday words elevate God's name or cheapen it? Do my everyday words it's not just referring to him, but every day, whatever that you speak, is it elevating God's name because you are called to be his children or is it cheapening it? If there is something like that, no, it's time to change. It's time to go in the positive direction so that we will carry his name. You know, and every word that we speak you know, to elevate his name.

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Now the second one is using God's name to indulge, claiming Christianity, while living opposite to God's word. You know we keep doing this, using faith language to excuse selfish actions. Titus, chapter 1, verse 16,. It says they claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. Are we in this situation, but by their actions they deny him? Are we in this situation that we sing a song and then live completely contradictory to him? God is saying that. You know. They claim to know God, they claim to sing to me, but by their actions they deny me. Such a difficult place for us to be calling ourselves to be the children of God, calling ourselves to be the church of Christ. You know, for example, we post verses on Sunday or reshare social media quotes that we love or scriptures that we love, but after that is done, we go back to our gossiping or cheating or you know, whatever bad thing that we are involved in or used to doing. Let's ask ourselves this question when am I wearing the Christian label without living the Christian life? Which area am I wearing the Christian label? I call myself as Christian but I don't live according to the Christian life that is recommended in the Bible.

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Here's the third one the way that we can intimidate, you know, devalue God's name, using God's name to intimidate others, how Saying God told me, god told me to tell you, yeah, yesterday I was praying. And God told me to tell you, I mean, there was no prayer. If it had been prayer, okay, god told me for you to shut up. I mean trying to control others without you know God telling them, without even spending time in prayer. I heard this somewhere that Paul was while writing in his letters. He was very specific and discerning to put in his verses whatever he writes and segregate them. As God said these verses, and then I tell you these verses, he was very specific to denote what came from the Lord and what he was speaking out of inspiration. Can we be like Paul? Can we say that you know God told me literally means definitely, god told me, and not something that we do out of you know, out of wake Isaiah, chapter 5, 20,.

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Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Basically, they are lying, right, we do sometimes. You know one of the things Justin reminded me of, a situation that happens, keeps happening, in my life. You know, we usually hear this, justin. When we refer or try to stall others, okay, ask them, where are this? Just 10. When we refer or try to stall others, okay, ask them. Where are you? Just 10 minutes, brother? No, just two minutes, 20 seconds. Two seconds Lies, just to stall, just to keep them waiting. Right, can we have our yes to be yes and no to be no? Because I'm sure it's going to be very difficult, very difficult to maintain that truth and truth again and again. Hold on to it and things won't work out. But I'm sure, according to the scripture, that the truth will set us free. There is no other way for us to be set free. Amen.

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Can we hold on to the truth? Can we speak truth? It's like signing God's name at the bottom of a letter he never wrote, or it's like sending an email from God's email to someone. God spoke to me and we are called to bear his name with integrity, represent him truthfully in every space that he has put, put us in, placed us in. Amen. Now ask, ask yourself this question, let's ask ourselves this question Do I ever use God's name to push my own agenda instead of his? Have we been there in that place where, you know, I feel like God is telling us to do something, while God was like what he's shocked, right? Sometimes we don't even need to use God's name. We feel, you know, we feel and we want to push, so we find a way to push our own agenda onto other people. Amen, let's stop that and let's change ourselves. Amen. According to the song that we sang, everything is changing in this place. Nothing is impossible for God. Okay, let's hold on to God's name with honor, with truth and with the power that it carries. Amen.

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The name is not a magic word. God's name is not a chant. It's a covenant. Amen. It's not a chant Like if a covenant, amen. It's not a chant Like if you say the name of Jesus thousand times, this will happen in your life. You know those spam messages that come send this to 10 people by the end of this day. That's a chant, that's something you know. That's I mean more than chant, it's a spam, right? I mean God clearly said that I do not want my name to be used in that way. Right, Because in his name he cut a covenant and he wants us to invoke his name out of victory, a place of victory, out of a place of authority, out of a place you know it is not like that. You are fearing someone and you say, oh Jesus, please, please, save me. No, god wants us to use his name out of faith, out of authority. You go against the enemy and say in Jesus' name, I bind you. In Jesus' name, I, you know, I, command you to leave from this place. Set me free, amen.

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That is the intention of God asking us not to use his name, for, you know, like magic, but you know longing, you know he would be more than privileged to hear his name on our lips. His children, right. And John, chapter 14, verse 13,. It says and I will do whatever you ask in my name. So we ask, we pray, nothing happens. And we come back to that verse and we read the next part that says so that the father may be glorified in the son and I will do whatever you ask in my name.

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But there is a validation statement in the second line. It says so that I mean. Whatever you ask, just check if my father will be glorified. You know in the son Amen. This means alignment with his will, not just attaching in Jesus name everywhere. Okay, can we speak the will of God? And that's why I love that, whenever there is an opportunity, speak the scripture, speak the promises of God, attach in Jesus name. God would be more than proud, you know, to see his children use his name in situations where you know, in Jesus name, let the iPhone come into my pocket tomorrow. Will the father be glorified? Absolutely not. But instead, if you say my father is suffering, lord, in Jesus name, I release your healing by your stripes, he is healed, and tomorrow you receive the message oh my God, that was so amazing. Father would be glorified. Oh, my child has used my name and set someone free. Amen.

Speaker 1:

Can we do that? Can we stand in that place and use our God's name? Rightly now? David defeated Goliath. With with what did he defeat Goliath? We might think that it is the five stones and the sling that saved David, but it it says that I come in the name of the Lord. I mean with the stone. We can't even hit the mango properly on the tree. Now God uses that same one smooth stone not even all the five one smooth stone to put Goliath down, because it's just a tool in the bearer of the name of the living God. Amen.

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Now, if you might be fighting some battles, you might be fighting some battles in your life. In your life, you might be toiling all night with your skills and talents and probably doing everything that you can. But can you go for once and taste for yourself by speaking the name of the living God, invoking the power that is there in his name? Amen, amen. Can we do that in our lives?

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The commandment isn't just avoiding wrong. It's not just about avoiding wrong. It's about carrying his name in victory. When God says, do not misuse my name in vain, he is referring to the positive side Use my name in victory Right Now. That gives us the privilege to carry his name on our lips. Matthew, chapter 6, verse 9,. It says Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, son, son of the Father. God, referring to himself, his name, saying in the very first statement Our Father in heaven, our Lord, be your name. Holy be your name the most holy. Be your name.

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Wearing His name means living in a way that honors it everywhere, every part of our life. And I'm sure we wear crosses around our neck sometimes. Put some nice cross on our car, but there are challenge on the car. Anyways, let's not go there. Can we bring honor to that name? It's the greatest name. I mean just to utter the word Jesus on our lips that are just from dirt, of no value, just taking that name with the very breath that he gave. It's the greatest privilege that any man or woman can have, and we have that privilege.

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And if we take that name out of vain or out of a casual attitude, we are misusing it. If my life was the only example of a christian someone saw this week, someone sees how I behaved would I still be called a christian? Would I still be called a follower of christ? Can we honor god's name now? How? How can we take God seriously? I have three points. Okay, all right, be careful with your words.

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Speak God's name with reverence. Replace casual oh my God with genuine praise or prayer. You know, even when we say praise the Lord, are we really praising the Lord Because it's such a powerful, we say praise the Lord. Are we really praising the Lord Because it's such a powerful word? Praise the Lord? Now, if we do not do it with reverence, it becomes a normal word. That means we are misusing the Lord's name. But if we do it with the joy of our heart and we share the name with joy and honor and respect and reverence, definitely it's going to be a praise to the King of Kings. Amen. And find a phrase that you can replace, oh my God, with something as a praise or a prayer. What words can I replace this week to honor God's name? Identify those words. May the Holy Spirit, god, help us so that we can replace those phrases with something that will bring praise and honor to our God.

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Now, this is the second one Be consistent with our actions. Live, so people see God's character in you. In the beginning, as I said, the name points to a character of a person, a personality of a person, the power of a person. Now, when we bear that name, are we really identifying those characteristics of God in us? May God work in us and eventually through us. Amen, amen.

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Live such good lives that they may see your good deeds and glorify God that everything, not only speaking, but every behavior, every interaction that we do, the way that we present ourselves, the way that we speak, the way that we look, the way that we think, will bring glory to our Father in heaven. It's like wearing your team's jersey but cheering for the rival, pakistan. Jindabad. Edit this out. Yeah, you feel like it confuses everyone, right? No, we wear Christian clothes, but we do. Where is my lifestyle out of sync with my faith? Am I wearing my faith and living from that faith? Can we introspect and look into our lives?

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The third one be courageous in representing Him. Honor God's name, even when it's unpopular. We see this in our daily life. There are some people, after five years you have worked with someone, then you identify that they are Christian. Very sad. You're Christian, I didn't know. And he says you're also Christian, I didn't know. And then both of them say we go to the same church. Very sad, right, we face that, but let's get out of it.

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Today is a greatest opportunity that we can re-represent God's name. You know, represent heaven on earth. Amen. Speak truth gently when his name is mocked, don't go with the five smooth stones. That is Old Testament and he was Goliath, right. Let's go with gentle Truth. Speak truth gently, right.

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When someone mocks the name of our Lord At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, every knee should bow, every knee should bow. There will come a day. There will come a day that every knee, above, beneath from the entirety of the existence, beneath from the entirety of the existence, bows down at the mention of this name. Then we will understand. In that moment, can we not be in a place where I misused your name? Your name is so powerful and yet I used it so casually. I had the greatest opportunity to represent the greatest name in the history, and yet I shied away. I hid myself away, I hid my identity away. Can we be people of God who take bold steps? What bold step can you take? Can I take this week to represent God with honor and respect that he deserves? Shall we all stand to our feet.

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A jeweler dropped a priceless diamond on a dusty floor. A jeweler dropped a priceless diamond on a dusty floor. People stepped over it thinking it was glass, until he cleaned it and held it to the light. The name of Jesus is of great value. God's name. Is that diamond too valuable to be treated as common. Can we share his name, can we wear his name and can we bear His name? Let that be the lifestyle.