THE MEANING BEHIND OUR NAME
DOVE
In the Bible, doves symbolize hope, divine guidance, and God's presence in
believers' lives.
The dove first appears by name, singled out, in Genesis, playing a key role in the life of Noah, the last of the great patriarchs. Genesis 6:11–9:19 details how humanity universally fell away from God and into sin – except for Noah and his family.
God sent a flood to destroy the world and start over, but instructed Noah to build an ark to save his wife, sons, and daughters-in-law, and two of every kind of animal.
When the earth had been covered with water for some time, Noah wanted to check to see if there was dry land anywhere, so he sent out a dove from the ark; the dove came back with an olive branch in her beak Genesis 8:11.
Since that time, the olive branch has been a symbol of peace. Symbolically, the story of Noah’s dove tells us that God declared peace with mankind after the Flood had purged the earth of its wickedness.
The dove represented His Spirit bringing the good news of the reconciliation of God and man. Of course, this was only a temporary reconciliation, because lasting, spiritual reconciliation with God only comes through Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament, all four of the Gospels mention the baptism of Jesus. In these accounts the Holy Spirit chose to manifest itself in the form of a dove. At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus went out to see his cousin, the prophet John the Baptist, in order to be baptized.
Matthew 3:16-17 (NIV)
“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’”
In this incredible moment, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit are present on earth. Jesus is in His physical body, the Father speaks audibly for all present to hear, and the Spirit manifested like a dove. It is significant that the Holy Spirit was pictured as a dove at Jesus’ baptism, thereby once again symbolizing peace with God and the fulfillment of promises.
STONE
Stones are solid. Stones endure. Stones are stable. The life of a Christian should
exemplify these qualities. In 1st Peter we are called to become “Living Stones” just as Christ was.
1 Peter 2:4-5 (NIRV)
Christ is the living Stone. People did not accept him, but God chose him. God places the highest value on him. You also are like living stones. As you come to Christ, you are being built into a house for worship. There you will be holy priests. You will offer spiritual sacrifices. God will accept them because of what Jesus Christ has done.
OUR LOGO
Our Logo is made up of 12 pieces. Depending on your translation of the Bible the number 12 is mentioned 187 times in scripture. The number 12 is a symbol of faith, the church, and divine rule. Here are 12 instances when the number 12 is used in Scripture.
Jacob had 12 sons. These 12 sons became the 12 tribes of Israel.
Moses sent out 12 spies in Numbers 13.
Elijah built an altar of 12 stones when he called fire down from heaven in 1 Kings 18.
12 Minor Prophets are in the Bible: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
God specified that 12 unleavened bread cakes be placed weekly in the temple. The priests were commanded to change the bread every Sabbath day (Leviticus 24).
Joshua took 12 memorial stones from the Jordan river (Joshua 4)
Jesus’s first words are recorded at age 12 when Mary and Joseph found Him in His “Father’s house.”
Jesus had 12 disciples. Matthias replaced Judas in Acts 1, perhaps demonstrating the importance of 12.
When Jesus fed the five thousand, 12 baskets were filled with leftovers.
When Peter cut off the soldier’s ear defending Jesus, Jesus rebuked him, saying He had the power to call down 12 legions of angels (Matthew 26:53).
The New Jerusalem has 12 gates and 12 foundations (Revelation 21:12-14).
The tree of life will bear 12 fruit crops 12 times a year (Revelation 22)
What do we learn from this? God is a God of details. Nothing found in scripture is random or incomplete.
Our logo also represents the Body of Christ. 12 individual pieces all shaped differently and yet they complete the picture as a whole.
Romans 12:4-6 (NCV)
Each one of us has a body with many parts, and these parts all have different uses. In the same way, we are many, but in Christ we are all one body. Each one is a part of that body, and each part belongs to all the other parts. We all have different gifts, each of which came because of the grace God gave us…
We believe that the local body of believers, the Church is the hope of the world. We further believe that your gifts, talents and abilities will help us reveal a more complete picture of Christ to a lost and dying world.
In choosing a name as well as a logo for our church we wanted to convey The Peace of God. The Strength of the Spirit and Our Faith in Jesus Christ.