The Pre-eminence of Jesus

[Karlena]

Every time that I say the phrase “in the Name of Jesus” when I pray—I always pause in my heart and mind and internally reflect on the meaning of “the Name” and all He stands for—not just His authority and might and power and infinite awesomeness—but other aspects of His glory come to my mind and heart—His love, grace, peace, compassion, patience, long-suffering, justice, for example. I want to think deeply about the meaning and significance of His Name and all He is and stands for. Doing something “in the Name of Jesus” again makes one think about His character and His being (attributes) –recognizing that the Holy Spirit is working out the glory of the Name of Jesus in our lives and ministry. Sometimes, it causes us to ask ourselves, is what I am doing now something that can be done “in the Name of Jesus?” For Jesus to be at the center of ACOP, it means that Jesus is the Head and ultimate authority of His church—focusing on the Name of Jesus keeps priorities straight, provides clarity, and also causes us to continually examine our own hearts and motivations.

[Rachel]

I think that ensuring the name of Jesus never becomes a formula or an incantation means that we have relationship with him. That he becomes more and I become less. Jesus is a person, not just a name. That’s why when we say, “In Jesus Name,” things happen.

[Caleb]

I think through devotion and studying scripture, we can be sure to keep Jesus from becoming a sort of incantation. The reason I think that is you can almost think of spending time in daily devotion as a daily recalibration of the human heart. we set ourselves in tune with Jesus when we spend time with him and in his word. The focus, therefore, will always be on the greatness of Jesus, his preeminence, and the seemingly insanity of his love for us.

The same goes with ACOP. I think for Jesus to always be at the center of the movement there should be regular meetings where time is spent in devotion listening to Jesus. the movement will ever need to recalibrate its heart in order to keep Jesus at the center.

[Sarah]

I think that Jesus being at the center of the ACOP means that everything we do points back to him. We make a point in my youth group that every time we speak we mention Jesus in some way even if we aren’t talking directly about him. In all we do we try to tie it back to him and our relationship with him. I think the same has to be true of the ACOP – that everything we do, in all we teach, and in all we say, we are ultimately pointing back to him, and empowering relationship with him. That relationship and focus on him has to come first before personal gain, and even the advancement of the ACOP. Our advancement should be that more people know Jesus intimately, not that more people know the ACOP.