Branding the Church

verse, I want to ask you, how many of you this last year remember what happened with Cracker Barrel when they tried to change their brand uh picture. You remember that? Uh they uh kind of got in a lot of trouble for for uh everybody saying you you you've done well with who you are. Don't change that. And uh you know, branding is so important to any organization, including churches. What do the people think about your church, about your business when they see it in the community? And we want to make sure as we go into 2026 that we understand what is the brand of Ohana Baptist Church. What do we want our community to see and to know about us as a church?

In Acts chapter 17 11, this is our church theme verse. And so I hope you've memorized it at some point, but it says that these were more noble than those in Thessalonica. And that they received the word with all readiness of mind and search the scriptures daily whether those things were so. And and that's really what we want to be as a church. We want to be noble. We want to be a church that's known for preaching the word and a place where you can come and hear the word of God as well. You know, when you're when you're trying to brand a business, the first thing you have to do is try to establish an identity.

Who who are we? In Acts chapter 9 and verse number two, it says and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or woman, he might bring them bound on Jerusalem. Even in the early years of the church, they had established identity, an identity, they were known to the people of the way because there was only one way. John 14:6 Jesus saith to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh on the father but by me. And because they preached that was only one way to heaven through Jesus Christ, they became identified or known as the people of the way.

You know, uh what name you choose is important. In Acts 11 26, it says, "And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves to with the church and taught much people and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." A and so that's what we got our name, Christians, Christlike ones. and and and and the name identifies you both positive and negative. Uh you hear certain names or you see certain names, you you have a feeling that comes to your mind, right? For example, if you see these two symbols like for a car, if you see the symbol of a BMW, uh that's one picture that comes to your mind.

And if you see the other symbol for the VW, that's a whole different picture that comes to your mind, isn't it? Uh there are two different identities to those car manufacturer. Uh the same thing is true if you saw the the name Bloomells. You you get one picture in your mind. Or if you see the name Target, that's a whole different place, isn't it? And uh or or Roose Chris Steakhouse. Anybody ever gone there? They're really good. You get a picture of great steak in your mind. And then you see the uh the Golden Arches and that's a whole different picture. Uh there's a whole different identity to those two.

They're both restaurants, but a very very different identity to them. Uh, even Chick-fil-A versus Kentucky Fried Chicken. They're two chicken places, but they're very different, aren't they? And and so the name evokes in your mind a certain feeling, a certain thought of what they're about. It identifies them. So, what does the name Ohana Baptist Church evoke? Not only for you and I here in the church, but for our community around us when they hear that name. Somebody uh Shakespeare of course once said a rose by any other name is still a rose you know uh and a name is important uh we chose the name ohana for a reason because we felt like it would identify us in the way we want to be

identified you know would you still buy an Apple computer if it were called a kumquat computer it's a little different isn't it or would you would you want a Mustang if they called it a donkey or or would you would you be interested in buying a Y circle instead of an Xbox you know The name is important, is it not? And and the name identifies you. And and we want the name Ohana Baptist Church first of all to glorify the Lord. The Bible says in Philippians chapter 2 and verse number nine, wherefore God has also highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. I hope that when people leave the church here as visitors, they will say they will not say what a great church.

I'd rather say what a great God that we have. And we always want to glorify the Lord. And we want that to be part of our identity to glorify God. In Ephesians 5 and verse 27, it says that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but it should be holy and without blemish. I I hope that our church also has a good reputation. That our church is known as a glorious church, a church that glorifies God, but a church that is fulfilling what God has put us here for. in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse1 15. But if I tar long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar in the ground, the church.

And so I hope that when people come to Hana Baptist Church, when they hear of our church, they first of all glorify God and think that's a church that loves God. But also I hope that they see it as a church that is a glorious church that that is a church that is teaching the word of God. And we also ought to be known for our love. In John chapter 13 34 and 35, it says, "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another." I I want to be known as a church that loves people.

I want to be known as a church that loves God and loves our community. We need to be identified by our love, our love for God. In Mark 12 and:e 30 it says, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy uh strength and with all thy mind, with all thy strength." This is the first commandment. And the first thing that God calls you and I to do is to love God with all of our heart. And I hope that we are a church that is known for loving God. And then verse number 31 says, "And the second is like like namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There's none other commandment greater than these."

And we want to be a church that is known for our love of God and our love of people. Whether they're members of our church and loving one another or visitors to our church or strangers out in our community that we love God and love people. So what is our reputation? If you were to walk up to the person on the street today and say, "What do you think of Ohana Baptist Church?" In Acts chapter 16:es 1 and two it says then came he to Derby and Lististra and behold a certain disciple was there named Timoththeus the son of a certain woman which was a Jewish and believed but his father was Greek which is well reported by the brethren that were lististering in Iconium.

You see the reputation of Ohana Baptist Church is based on the reputation of the members of Ohana Baptist Church and what is your reputation in the community around you? the people you work with, the people you live by, uh the people you do business with, what is your testimony for the Lord? Timothy had a good reputation. And I hope that we as people would also ask ourselves, do I have a good reputation in my community? Do I have a good reputation representing God and representing my church? You know, uh a church, a business brands itself in certain ways, and one of those is by their logo. Uh there's certain logos as soon as you see them, you know exactly who they belong to.

Uh tell me out loud here what this first logo. What is this? Who's what's the company? Nike. You recognize that right away. How about this second logo? Apple. Apple computer. And how about this next one here? Right. The lesser of the two computers. Uh how about this next one? You you addicts know this one. What's you know that one? Google. All right. There was one before that though. Is it? Maybe it's after that. Uh what's the next one? Go ahead and put it up. What's that? NBC. All right. And what's this one? Pepsi. Right. And the other one's supposed to be Starbucks. I don't know what happened to Starbucks in there, but uh in John chapter 3 and verse 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up.

You know, just certain things you recognize. For example, if they put this logo up on the screen now, the next one, if they can, what is that? That's the medical logo, right? is based upon this scripture and just certain things about logos that help identify who that company is in our minds and and there's a lot of Christian logos in Hebrews 12:2 it says looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. When you see the symbol of the cross you think of Jesus Christ right?

Or if you see this next symbol, you recognize this one. That's the fish. How many recognize that as a Christian symbol? And uh that is a Greek acronym from the name Jesus Christ, son of God, savior. That spells out the Greek word for fish. That's where it came from. And back in the old in the days in that time under persecution, if they want to identify themselves as a Christian, they would draw a fish in the ground and other Christians would know that that was a secret symbol, identify them as Christians. And then there's the one that's called Cairo. You might have seen this one as well. And uh that is based upon the first uh two Greek letters in the name Christ.

And it's uh kind of a uh used in some places identify as Christians. And then of course a modern symbol is a steeple. You see a steeple, you think of a church. You think of a of Christian as well. Uh we have a logo. Uh our logo is a family. And uh and if turn over to Ephesians chapter 3, if you would, I'm going to put you to work a little bit here. Turn over to Ephesians chapter 3. When we started Ohana Baptist Church back in 1986, we chose the name Ohana because that's what we wanted to have. We wanted to have a a family and uh and we chose this logo. It's it's changed a little bit over the years.

In fact, the very first logo that was drawn for us was drawn by uh Frank Remal. And Frank, I appreciate that. And we've kind of uh upgraded a little bit since you drew it. But in Ephesians 3 14 and 15 it says for this cause I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named and we are a family of believers and and that's what that logo represents and and our purpose as a church number one is to build families. In Ephesians chapter 5 and:es 31 and 32, the Bible says, "Let all bitterness in I'm sorry, Ephesians chapter 5:es 31-32. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh."

This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ in the church. In chapter 6:es 1-4, children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long in the earth. And you fathers provoke not your children wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and the admission of the Lord. You see, one of the purposes of the church is to build up marriages and to build up build up families because that represents the Lord and and and a church is only as strong as the marriage and the of the church.

It's only strong as the the families of the church. And so as a church, we want to build families, but we also want to minister to the whole family. Turn over to Matthew chapter 19. Matthew chapter 19 and look at verses number 13 through 15. Matthew chapter 19 beginning with verse number 13 says, "Then were brought unto him little children. He should put his hands on them and pray. And the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, suffer little children. Forbid them not to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." And he laid his hands on them and departed then. And we want to be a church that ministers the whole family, that has something for the children, has something for the the teenagers, for the young adults, for the young Marys, for all the way up through uh my age.

And that we're ministering to the whole family and building stronger families as well. And then we want to also be a family. Turn over to Romans 12 and verse number 10. Romans chapter 12 and verse number 10. The Bible says, "Be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love and honor, preferring one another." As a church, part of our brand, part of our identity as Ohana Baptist Church is that we are a family of believers, that we are brothers and sisters in Christ and that we would honor and and even prefer one another and and to be a family that loves one another as well. So companies brand themselves sometimes uh with a with a name but also with a logo and even with a color.

There are certain colors that go with certain companies, is there not? If you see that color, you know who the company is. For example, this first one up here, uh you addicts can recognize this one, right? What company is that? Starbucks, right? And then the next one here, you recognize this one and that's CocaCola. And then uh and then finally, this third one here is got a couple colors in there. Anybody recognize the colors? Taco Bell. And so you got the different colors that represent them. You know, and as a church, we also have colors that represent who we are as a church. The first color is the color black.

It represents our sin. In Romans 3:23, it says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And we need to realize that every one of us are sinners and we're separated from God because of our sin. But the next color is the color red which represents the blood of Christ. In 1 Peter chapter 1 and:es 18 and 19 it says, "For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." And we are a church that still preaches the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

We're a church that believes us by the shed blood of Christ that we are saved and we are cleansed. And and we want to be known as a church that preaches about the the crucifixion, the death, the burial, re resurrection of Jesus Christ because white represents Christ's righteousness in Titus chapter 3 and verse 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. And we we cannot be saved by our own righteousness. It's not our religion. It's not our rituals like baptism or catechism or church membership.

It's not our own righteousness that's going to get us into heaven. But it's the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21. For heath made him to be sin for us who know no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. When he died on the cross, he paid for our sin through his righteousness. And it's only by his righteousness that we can be saved. It's only by his righteousness that we can have eternal life. There's nothing that we can do, but it's only what he did for us. And then gold represents the streets of heaven. And there's only one way to get to heaven, and that's to trust Christ as your savior.

In Romans 10:es 9 and 10, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God is raised from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans chapter 10 and verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And if you're here today, if you've never called upon Jesus Christ as your savior, you need to do that today. Because the colors of our church are the colors of salvation. And it's only by trusting in him that you can have eternal life.

He is the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto him but by the father. Just a couple days ago, you received gifts that were given to you by in love. You did not have to pay for them unless you're a father and you paid for the kids. Your kids bought you. You understand that? But yeah, you didn't have to pay for them. You didn't have to work for them. All you had to do was say, "Thank you and receive them." And that's exactly what salvation is. It's just saying thank you, Lord, and receiving his precious gift of salvation, receiving his son, Jesus Christ. And then green is for growing in Christ.

In Ephesians 2:8:9, it says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, then not of yourselves, is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." But then verse 10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk with him." God's desire is that once you're saved, that you would begin growing in the Lord. And just like with with the all the rain we've been having, uh my grass is growing and the weeds are growing, too. uh but my all the plants are thriving with all that rain and God wants us to grow but the way to do that is under the preaching and teaching of God's word.

When you come to church and you hear the preaching of G it's like rain pouring down in your life and it helps you to grow in the Lord as well. So companies brand themselves and they do it often by a color or by a a logo or by a name. But you know, no matter how nice your brand is, how nice your logo is, how nice your colors are, you've got to have a clear message. Go to second Peter chapter 1. Second Peter chapter 1 and verses 15-19. Second Peter chapter 1 and beginning with verse number 15 says, "Moreover, I will endeavor that you may be a able after my deceased to have these things always in remembrance.

For we've not followed cunningly devised fables, we made known unto you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved son whom I am well pleased." And this voice which came from heaven, we heard when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy where unto you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn the day star rise in your hearts. You see we want as a church we want to have a very clear message that people remember.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant and next day you can't even remember what you ate? Have you ever gone to a place and and and and when you walked out you forgot all about it? We we want to make sure there's a clear message and and and we want to keep that message simple in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse number 12. For our rejoicing is this the testimony of our conscience that is simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God we have had our conversation the world and more abundantly to you word. You see we want to keep a simple message. Companies that do well are messages that know what they're doing and this is they have a clear purpose.

Uh those of you who have been here for a while, you know our our purpose statement says this. At Ohana Baptist Church, we are committed to connect with God, to grow together in grace, serve others with humility, and make disciples of all men. That's that's our purpose as a church. Those four things to connect with God. We hope that as you come to Ohana, you will learn how to connect with God through his word. You will learn how to connect with God through prayer. Uh in my foundations class, I've been talking about meditation and all of these things help us to connect with God. And that's our number one purpose to connect with our God.

The Bible says in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto death. Now, Paul wasn't talking here about salvation. In verse number nine, he talked about his salvation that he knew that he was saved and going to heaven. But here it says, I I don't I want more than salvation. I want to know God on a personal basis. I want to know him in my life in every way. And that's one of our purposes, one of our goals as a church is to is help people to know God and then to grow together in grace. Second Peter 3:18, but grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To him be glory forever, both now and forever. Amen. You see, to grow together in grace is so important. You know, you can't do this alone. You need other Christians to help you, to encourage you in your in your personal walk with the Lord, in your in your life, at your workplace, in your marriage, in your family. Uh we grow together in grace. And folks, you just if you're just coming here and walking out that door and going home, you're not fulfilling part of the purpose of this church. It's to take time to get to know people. is to take time to build relationships to provide for accountability and prayer a and to help each other to grow in grace.

Uh one of my favorite verses in Psalms is Psalms 122:1 says, "I was glad when they said unto me, let's go into the house of the Lord." And then verse 9 says, "Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good." And and that's part of the purpose of the church. is not just to come and to sit and to go home, but it's to come a and and to grow together in grace, to seek the the best for one another, to help each other to be better in the Lord. And then thirdly, our purpose is to serve others with humility. In Galatians 5 13 and 14, for brethren, you have been called unto liberty. Only use not your liberty for an occasion of flesh, but by love serve one another.

for all the laws fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And we are here to serve others with humility. And as we go into 2026, I want to challenge you. If you're not serving, get involved. Serve in the nursery. It's so needed down there. We need more workers. Serve in the children's classes. Serve in in the hospitality ministry. Serve in the music ministries. Uh we need a more people in the choir. And the choir is going to need a piano player now. And and and you can get involved in serving. There's so many ways that you can serve God. And and we need to serve others with humility.

I'm here to be a servant. You know, I I love what the Bible says in Philippians that God humbled himself and took on upon form of a servant and became in the likeness of men. God came to serve you and I and you and I ought to come to serve others as well. A and to serve our guests. You know, when you have guests in your home, you're there to serve them and to serve our guests as well. And then to make disciples of all men. Matthew 28:1 19-20. Go you therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Ghost, teaching them observe all things whatsoever commanded you.

And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. One of our ladies came in this morning and I met her out and saw her in the parking lot. Went up to greet her and the first thing she said to me is, "I need more tracks. I gave away all my tracks and I I need more and I'm going to take everything you got." Uh she wants to go out and reach people for the Lord. And folks, I want to challenge you as we go into this new year. Renew your commitment to reach others with the gospel. Renew your commitment to pass out tracks and invite people to church and to share the gospel and to share your testimony.

That's one of the primary reasons God established the church is not just as a club where we can meet but as a lighthouse to our community as an opportunity to reach out to those around us. And I want us to renew our commitment to reach others as well and invite them to come to hear more about God in Ohana Baptist Church. But we need to be sincere. You know, a lot of places they they say one thing but they do another. Don't you? You ever been disappointed by a business that you did business with? You ever been disappointed by a restaurant you went to because they advertised how great they were and they weren't?

The Bible says in Psalms 126 and:es 5 and 6, they that sew in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bear in precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing and bringing their seeds with them. You know, it's important for a company to keep their focus on their purpose. I I like to listen to a podcast how I built that and talks they they interview companies that have built big businesses and how it came about and almost always in every interview they talk about how that the hardest thing to do is stay faithful to their original purpose what we started the company to do and folks we need to stay faithful as a church and and and be sincere in our desire to reach our community and to honor the Lord.

There's a there's a saying you've heard me say over and over again. I don't know who said it originally, but it goes like this. People don't care much how much you know until they know how much you care. And I want to be known in this community as a church that cares. I want to be known as a church that cares about people. Not only the people of our church, but the people outside our church as well. And so we need to we need to brand our church in a way that makes an impression. In Acts 17:6, it says, "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also." I want to be a church that turns this community upside down.

I want to be a church that has a reputation of being a church that glorifies God and a church that loves one another and a church that preaches the word. I I want to be a church that is is fulfilling the purpose that God has called us to fulfill. You know, you can know what you're doing, but that doesn't mean everybody else does. It's like winking in the dark. When you wink in the dark, you know what you're doing, but nobody else does. And as a church, we cannot wink in the dark. We cannot just do what we do here in this building. We as a church need to go out into our community and let people see Christ in our lives.

Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, just a couple verses and we'll close. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and look at verses 6 and 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 3:es 6 and 7. I have planted a Paul's water, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that waterth but God to giveth the increase. Some of you are going to be planters, some of you going to be waters. And we need to realize that that if we're going to get the word out, then we've got to do it through multiple platforms. You know, I will often ask people, well, how did you hear about Ohana? And there's a lot of different answers.

Well, my neighbor invited me or my friend invited me, uh, or or we saw you out sign waving or we looked you up on the internet. Uh, there's a lot of different ways, but one of the things I found is most people, it's not just one thing that brings them to the church. It might be we had one family, they they saw a sign waving, but they also had somebody that invited them to come and and and and and you maybe it's on Facebook. We get a lot of people that uh go on to Facebook pages, you know, the the group pages like the Hickham uh military page or or Scoffield's uh family page or whatever, and they'll ask the question, they say, "I I'm new on the island looking for a church."

and people will recommend Ohana even who haven't come to Ohana because we've got a reputation out in the community. This is a church that cares. I'm thankful for that. But there's so many different ways that we can invite people passing out tracks and and so on. What I want to challenge you as we go into the new year that let's determine to be even better at reaching out to our community. Let's give out more tracks. You can grab tracks. I I carry them with me everywhere I go. I carry a track and when I do business at a store, when I meet somebody or whatever, I just hand to say, "Here's here's something that you can read and we invite you to visit our church and and you say, "Does it work?"

Yes, it does. Or and you can take time, make it a commitment. I'm going to invite someone every week to come to church specifically, purposefully. Uh make it get on Facebook. If you're on Facebook, get on some of those pages and and share a little bit about what's going on at Ohana. And let's do our best to reach our community for Christ. I want to close with 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verses 2-10. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and beginning with verse number two. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our father.

Knowing brethren, beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not as you in word only, but also in power and the Holy Ghost and much assurance as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. and you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost, since you are examples to all that believe in Macedonia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only Macedonia and Acacia, but also in every place your faith to God word is spread abroad, such we need not speak to anything. For they themselves show what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living, the true God, and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Here was a church that had an impact, that people were talking about that church, that people knew what they were doing, that they were having influence in the community around them and beyond. And and that's what I want to see for this church in 2026, folks. We can brand the church. We can have pretty colors. We can have a great logo. We can have a great name, ohana. All of that's good and important. But the brand of Ohana Baptist Church is the people of that church. And when people think of this church, they don't think of the building. They think of you and your impact in their lives and your testimony, your reputation in our community. And so as we move into 2026, let's make sure that we have the right brand for this church, that we are glorifying God, that we are growing together in grace, that we are loving one another, and that we are serving in humility. Let's bow in prayer.