Sermon Tone Analysis

Embody the New Name

One year ago we changed our name to Reach Church.

I remember when we changed the name, we thought it would take time for the new name to “grow on us.”

For us to be comfortable with it.

But one of the things we have been saying for the past year is that we don’t really want the name to grow on us, but to grow inside us.

We want to become Reach Church.

We want to embody our new name.

We want to embody the mission of living to reach all people with Nothing But Jesus.

God Changes Names

In the Scriptures, when God was doing a new thing, many times he would change the name of groups of people or individuals.

All the way back in the book of Genesis, when Abram was called, he became Abraham.

Jacob was given the new name Israel.

Jesus changed the name of one of his closest disciples, Simon by giving him the name Peter.

Even the people of God, all through the ages, have been given different names depending on the era of redemptive history.

All the way back in Exodus when they were in bondage to Egypt they were known primarily as the Hebrews, then when they were wandering in the dessert and complaining and saying they wanted to go back to Egypt, they were the Israelites, then during the time of the Kings, they were known as the children of Israel and then the Children of Israel and Judah, when Israel, the Northern Kingdom, was defeated by the Assyrians and Judah, the Southern Kingdom, was eventually defeated by the Babylonians they became known as the Exiles, then they primarily became known as the Jews, after Jesus rose again, those who believed Jesus was the Messiah, were called the way, and finally they became Christians.

Saul Defeated by Jesus

But perhaps the most famous name change in the Scriptures was when a young brilliant Jewish Pharisee named Saul was given the new name Paul.

This Jewish Pharisee, Saul, felt he was called to persecute Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah, these were Jews part of a growing sect called The Way.

So Saul would travel to different locations and would find Jewish people who believed Jesus was the Messiah, who were part of the Way, and he would round them up and kill them.

So Saul was on one of these conquests, headed to Damascus, and it was on the road to Damascus, that Jesus appeared to him, the hound of heaven tracked him down, salvation is initiated by God, every time, and asked why Saul had been persecuting him, can you imagine that moment, and it is thought, it is taught it is assumed that it was here at Saul’s conversion that he was given the new name of Paul.

Because for the rest of the NT we don’t know Saul as Saul but as Paul.

Only that last part is not accurate at all.

Only that last part is not accurate at all.

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?”

And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.6

But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

Luke Continues to Refer to Him as Saul

Luke Continues to Refer to Him as Saul

Do you see what is missing?

Nowhere does Jesus change Saul’s name to Paul…in fact, Jesus calls him by Saul, and then Luke, the writer of Acts continues to refer to Saul as Saul.

And after Saul was converted, he is referred to as Saul for the next three chapters of Acts when he preaches in the Jewish synagogue.

Without explanation.

It isn’t until , that Luke, who had been brought to Jesus by Saul, begins to refer to Saul as Paul…so is THIS when his name was changed?

Let’s look:

9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

That’s all Luke says.

And for the rest of Acts and in all of Paul’s letters, and for all of church history, Paul is referred to AS Paul.

It’s very curious.

What is going on here?

That’s all Luke says.

And for the rest of Acts and in all of Paul’s letters, and for all of church history, Paul is referred to AS Paul.

It’s very curious.

What is going on here?

Two Names from Birth: Saul (Jewish) and Paulus (Greek/Gentile)

Saul had two names from birth.

His Jewish name was Saul, named after the first King.

And his Greek Name was Paulus, or Paul.

He always had two names.

But in the context of being a Jewish Rabbi, of rounding up Jews who were followers of the way, he was known as Saul.

And in fact, up until this point in his life, there would be no reason for him to use the name Paul.

He was mired in the Jewish religious sub culture.

Insulated.

Saul Embodies Paul

What happened in and for the rest of Paul’s pastoral ministry?

What changed?

He began living to reach ALL people—not just Jews—with Nothing But Jesus.

He started with a missionary journey with Barnabas and of course he would become known as Paul because he left what was comfortable and began sharing Jesus with the Gentiles.

But Paul emerged from Saul…because God was doing a new thing…and left Saul behind.

In the same way, Reach Church has emerged from Glasgow Church and has left Glasgow Church behind.

When we talk about the past of Reach Church, how do we refer to it?

We are 32 years old as a church.

Just one year as Reach Church.

When we talk about the past, do we talk about the church being Glasgow Church?

Or Reach Church?

Functionally, it’s best to just talk about it as Reach Church, but the fact is that we, like Paul, have two names in our history.

And just like Paul was Paul and Saul from birth, we have always been Glasgow Church and Reach Church from birth.

Reach Church was always there.

We have always reached people.

And it isn’t that Reach Church is good and Glasgow Church is bad.

Just as Saul isn’t bad and Paul good.

They are both good names.

But Paul emerged from Saul…because God was doing a new thing…and left Saul behind.

In the same way, Reach Church has emerged from Glasgow Church and has left Glasgow Church behind.

Reach Church has always been with us

And that isn’t a slam on the past…

My Dad, who is our pastor emeritus and was the first senior pastor of Reach Church, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS had wanted to change the name.

I know now that God in his providence caused us to wait until last year because of what God wanted to do.

But he always wanted to change it because the old name just told people where the church was and what denomination we are.

That is important information, but that is insider stuff.

That is churchy stuff.

And Reach Church has never been a churchy place.

Reach Church has always been with us

We have always been Reach Church in a bunch of different ways.

Just like Saul had always been Paul.

The question is, will we, like Paul, fully become and embody Reach Church?

Paul embodied Paul in so many ways…but one way was his radical concern for the next generation.

What did it look like for Paul to embody the name Paul?

Saul meant royalty.

Paul meant small.

Reach Church Will Be Safe Place for Vulnerable Relationships

Paul meant little one.

Paul embraced being the little one, being the chief of sinners.

Saul meant royalty.

Paul meant little one.

Paul embraced being the chief of sinners.

Reach Church will embody Reach Church more and more as we embrace our weaknesses, when we are vulnerable with one another in relationships.

Amazing that God needs our weakness for his power to be made complete.

Amazing that God needs our weakness for his power to be made complete.

Focused on What Was Happening IN him, not TO Him