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This podcast is a production of Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas, USA. Watermark exists to be and make more fully devoted followers of Christ, looking to God's Word as our only authority, conscience and guide.
When I was in seventh grade, I experienced a name change, and when my name changed, so did my identity. That sounds dramatic. It wasn't quite all that. I started going to church for the first time in seventh grade. I didn't grow up in a Christian home. My parents became Christians, and soon they began taking my little brother and me to church.
I walked into a youth group, and as I walked into the youth group, there was already somebody there with my given name. There was a David Brody, and I was a David Bruskas. Our youth pastor decided you couldn't have two Davids in the same youth group, so suddenly, I became Dave. That name stuck, much to the chagrin of my mom, who said my given birth name was David. I became Dave, and it has stuck since then.
I realized my identity had to change. Think of it this way. _David_ is a royal name, a regal name. If you think of David, who's the first David you think of? King David. Right? The greatest king of Israel in the Bible. _Dave_ is a common name. I searched AI, so this has to be true. Do you know what professions have a disproportionate number of Daves in them? Mechanics and drummers, which I think is really cool. If I could do either one of those things, I would be happy.
David is formal. Right? When you send a wedding invitation to David, you know David is going to show up in a three-piece suit, maybe even a black tie. You send an invitation to your friend Dave, and you just hope he wears long pants and a collared shirt. David is wise. You're going to seek David out for life's most complex issues. You're going to want David's counsel for who you should date and what job you should take and when you get into financial difficulties. Dave, on the other hand, isn't wise; he's just fun.
So, you're going to text Dave and say, "Hey, where's the best burger in DFW?" or "How should I fill out my March Madness bracket so I do really well in my office pool?" In seventh grade, my name changed, and because my name changed, my identity did as well. This morning, as we come to Acts, chapter 11, we're going to see that the identity of the disciples of Jesus is so different than anything anyone has ever seen that it's going to facilitate a name change. In other words, it was their identity that actually led to a change in the name.
We're going to see in Acts 11:26 this statement: **"And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians."** In the time we have together today, I want to ask the question…_Why?_ Why did this happen? Why were they called _Christians_? Then I want to draw away some applications for us. So, if you have a Bible this morning, jump in with me. I'm going to read the entire text this morning. We're going to be in Acts 11:19-30. Here's the story.
**"Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.**
**The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.**
**Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul."**
There's a lot going on here. I want to get to the big idea in just a minute of why the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch, but before I do that, I want you to see the backdrop. There's a backdrop in play here that we're going to see throughout the book of Acts, and the backdrop is simply this: _God providentially uses adversity to advance his purposes_. We see this in at least two ways.
We've already seen in earlier chapters of the book of Acts the martyrdom of Stephen. When Stephen was martyred, there was a strong persecution that broke out against the church in Jerusalem and scattered the disciples, but look at what they did when they went out. Everywhere they went, including at Antioch, they preached the gospel, and they preached the gospel in the heart language of the people. Those who were Jews heard the gospel, likely in Aramaic, and those who were of Greek descent, the Hellenists, heard the gospel in Greek.
What we see is God is causing, through the persecution of his church, the good words of the gospel to be spoken. We've seen this in our experience, too, haven't we? We saw this just a year ago. If you think back on the tragic event of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, we saw something really interesting happen after that.
Now, I know Charlie Kirk said some things that some of you may like and some of you may not like politically, but we can say he was a professing Christian who at times would speak of the gospel of Jesus, and we all saw him be assassinated in a brutal way. You began to think for a minute, "Oh no! Is this going to mean those of us who want to tell other people about Jesus are going to be silenced?"
Do you know what happened on the Sunday after Charlie Kirk's assassination? Across our nation, church attendance grew by 15 percent everywhere, at least 15 percent across all of the churches. In addition to that, it's estimated over 30 percent more Millennials heard the gospel of Jesus. Tragic event, heartbreaking event, one that could cause us to want to go into hiding as Christians, yet God providentially uses a tragedy such as the assassination of a follower of Jesus so that the gospel goes out. We see that in the book of Acts.
God uses all things for his purposes. Look at what happens at the end of our story. Prophets come down to Antioch from Jerusalem. They proclaim a famine is coming, and the new disciples in Antioch take action. So, we see through natural disasters, not only is the gospel of Jesus proclaimed but the good works of the gospel go forth as well. Christians rally together in anticipation of this famine. They send money so the disciples in Jerusalem can have food, can have shelter, and are provided for.
Watermark, you are a generous church. In the last year, 2025, through your generosity, through your faithfulness to support the work here, we were able to give \$105,000 to relief. We helped support those who were victimized by the floods in Texas. We were able to provide hurricane relief to those in Haiti. We even supported and helped out those who experienced hardship through the fires in L.A. There are immigrants and refugees all over the world seeking asylum who we were able to help out. God providentially uses adversity to advance his purposes.
We live in a scary time, don't we? There are a lot of bad things in the world, a lot of painful things in the world. Although it feels like in this moment we're living in a time of revival, it could happen soon that we would face persecution and attempts to silence us by government authorities across the world, but what we need to hold on to, what gives us hope, what gives us a sense of expectation, what gives us courage, is God providentially uses adversity to advance his purposes.
Now, let's go back to our question. Why is it that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch? I think we have a clue in verse 24 that gives us a sense of why this happened. Look at this phrase: **"And a great many people were added to the Lord."** This is the result of the mission at Antioch. Through the missionary efforts of all those who went to Antioch preaching the gospel to the Jews and the Gentiles and Barnabas and Saul coming and serving, we see that the end result was a great many people were added to the Lord.
What an interesting way to talk about the growth of the movement. As the Holy Spirit inspires Luke to write these words, there are a lot of different things Luke could have said. Luke could have said there were a lot more disciples added to the number of disciples already. Luke could have said many more people came into the church. Luke could have said a lot more people joined the kingdom of God. Yet he chooses this phrase: they were added to the Lord.
Here's the concept. It's so important that you get this. When you and I enter into a faith relationship with God through Jesus Christ, something absolutely profound happens. You and I are, what theologians call, united to Christ. We are attached to Jesus. The underlying word here in the original language has the same root we use for _prosthetic_. If you have a prosthetic limb, what happens? You've had a limb added to your body. In this sense, all who believed, all who turned from sin and trusted in Jesus, were added to the Lord.
If you're here this morning and you're a Christian, I want you to understand this is the most fundamental truth about your relationship with God and about our relationship together. You are in Christ. All that he has achieved is yours as if you were him. All of our life, not just Sunday mornings but 24/7, 365 days a year, through the rest of eternity, all that we are, all that we think, all that we say, and all that we do is done in the sphere, in the realm of Christ.
If that weren't good enough news alone, guess what else happens? Christ is in us. When you and I place our faith in Jesus, we receive God the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit is referred to in other places in Scripture as the _Spirit of Christ_. We're united with Christ, and the practical manifestation of our union with Christ is we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. This is so profound. I can't think of anything else more important. If you're here this morning as a Christian, good news: you're in Christ, and he's in you.
Now, what does this look like? How do we recognize this? I want you to look through the eyes of Barnabas, because as Barnabas shows up in Antioch, he sees two things that I think are representative of what it means to be in Christ. Look again at our text. Look at verse 23. It simply says when Barnabas showed up, he saw the grace of God. He saw the grace of God as he showed up in Antioch. He's dispatched to figure out what's going on. He walks in. He sees the new believers there.
Their iconic identification, the thing that marks them against all of the other people, is they have the grace of God. That's incredible. What is the grace of God? The grace of God is God's unmerited, undeserved favor. I want you to know the love of God is both powerful and permanent. It's powerful in the sense that its origin is in the person of God. How could there ever be a stronger love anywhere than one that emanates from the very Godhead?
And God has perfected his love. As a matter of fact, God's love has eternally existed between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and he extends it to us apart from our merit, apart from us ever earning it, as an act of grace. So, when we think of God's love, it's powerful, but not only is God's love powerful; it's permanent. Here's the good news: you and I have access to the love of God through the performance of Jesus.
Here's the gospel. God the Son became a man. He lived the life you and I couldn't live, perfectly obedient to his Father. Then he went to the cross, and there he died the death you and I deserve to die, paying the penalty for our sin, breaking the power of sin over us. He was buried. If the story ended there, it'd be a good story but not a great story. But here's where it gets great. Guess what? Jesus isn't in the grave today. Jesus is risen bodily, physically. He's at the right hand of God the Father, ascended into heaven, and one day he will come back and rule and reign forever.
Based upon the person and performance of Jesus, God the Father offers us all the acceptance and love he has for his Son as a free gift. How do you and I describe the grace of God you and I have in Christ? This is my favorite definition of all. I had to go to a children's Bible to find it. This is from Sally Lloyd-Jones, _The Jesus Storybook Bible_. Here's how she defines it. I love this. What is the grace of God? It's an unfailing, never-stopping, always-and-forever love.
Friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, that's the love God has for you today. It's powerful. It's rooted in himself. It's as strong as he is strong. It's perfected through God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit through all of eternity, and it's permanent because it's not based upon your faithfulness, my faithfulness, your performance, or my performance. It's entirely rooted in the faithfulness and performance of the Lord Jesus.
Do you see the evidence of grace when you come in here? Do you see it in those seated around you? Here's what I want you to do right now. Turn to your neighbor and say to them, if you can in good conscience, "I see the grace of God in you." Go ahead and say that. Say to them, "You are loved." When you and I are united with Christ, that means all the love, all the affection, and all the acceptance that God the Father has for God the Son is ours in Jesus.
Now, if you've been following along lately, this is going to jog a Scripture passage. I think we read this almost every week, and I'm glad we do. You're going to think about the words of Jesus. Look with me in John 15, the vine and the branches passage that we talk about a lot here because I think it's so important.
John 15:8. Here's what's going on. Jesus says, **"By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you."** I want you to hear that this morning. I want you to get that not just with your head, but I want you to feel that in your heart. Jesus says to us:
**"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."**
Friends, this kind of love, a love from God that's powerful and perfect and permanent…this kind of love has radical effect in our lives. We would say it this way: _the grace that saves us is the grace that changes us_. What does that look like? Well, I'm glad you asked, because that's the second thing Barnabas notices in these new believers.
Look at verse 23. What was their response to the initiating love of God for them in Jesus? Look at what he says to them. It's a simple phrase. Barnabas, as he exhorts them, as he teaches them after he sees the grace of God, simply says, "Remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose." What does the word _remain_ imply? It's already happening. He's saying, "Keep doing what you're doing." What is that? "Remain faithful to the Lord with a steadfast purpose."
Now, there are two elements to this. I don't want you to miss this. There's a faithfulness of these new believers to Jesus, but there's also feeling. The heart is involved. There's an allegiance to Jesus, but there's also affection for him. It's both/and; it's not either/or. There is a loyalty to Jesus, and there's also love for him.
That's the right response that is inspired and empowered by God's love for us in Jesus. We're faithful to him above anyone and everyone else. We have feelings for him that are deeper than any feelings we have for anyone or anything else in all the world. Have you experienced that? I want to give you an analogy that might help you connect this.
If you're married in the room, I want you to think about your marriage relationship. If you're married, when you stood in front of your guests and recited those vows, you recited both of those things. Right? You said to your spouse, "I'm going to love you more than anyone else, and I'm going to be loyal to you until death separates us." So, imagine this scenario. We're going to use our imagination a little bit this morning, and I'm going to invite you into a space.
This December, Lord willing, if I'm still around, I will celebrate my thirty-ninth wedding anniversary with my wife Kara. All praise to Jesus and to the patience of my lovely bride. We have a favorite little place we go to for special occasions, a place called _The Fifth_ in Richardson, Canyon Creek. If you've ever been there, you know what I mean. If you haven't, go try it out sometime. It's not cheap, so save it for special occasions, but it's a sweet place.
In December, when it's cold, I want to make sure I get reservations in advance so I can be right by the fireplace. They have this beautiful fireplace. We're going to go out on December 18. We're going to celebrate our thirty-ninth anniversary. Now, imagine we've had our meal. I'm going to get steak. She's going to get salmon.
I want to honor her and be extravagant as best I can, but I'm sure going to let the people know we're here for an anniversary, so maybe I'll get that comped dessert they bring out. You know, "Hey…" Sometimes I go to restaurants and people say it's my birthday when it's not. I don't have anything to do with that. I repent of that. But not all of my friends have the same convictions I have, regardless.
It's that space between the dessert coming to the table… We've finished our meal, and we're just reflecting on 39 years of marriage. Imagine if Kara said this to me. "Dave, when I look back over 39 years, I just want to thank you for being faithful to me. I want to thank you for your loyalty. I want to thank you for your allegiance."
Imagine if I said during that moment, "You know, honey, thank you. It means a lot to me that you acknowledge that. I've just got to let you know it's been hard, because there have been so many times my heart has just not been in it, and it has taken every ounce of willpower I can muster just to stay with you at times. But I just want you to know I receive that. Thank you."
Now, here's what's going to happen. She's going to push away from the table. My wife is really cool in that she has a big truck. Now, she didn't buy the big truck. She received it as an inheritance, but she always keeps the key to the big truck, and when we go out for special occasions, we're going to go in her big truck. She's going to have the key already in her purse. She's going to walk out, she's going to get in the big truck, she's going to drive off, and I'm going to have two things in front of me. I'm going to have a long walk home and a lot of explaining to do when I get there.
Imagine the other scenario. Same image in your mind…right before the dessert comes, firelight in the background, candlelight at the table, romantic setting. This time Kara is reflecting on 39 years of marriage, and she looks at me and says, "You know, when I think back, I just want to thank you for loving me."
Imagine in that moment I say, "Honey, thank you for acknowledging that. It means a lot to me. I've got to let you know there have been a lot of women in and out of my life for the last 39 years…a lot of them. I've loved many different women, but I just want you to know, in those 39 years, of all of the women I've loved, I've loved you the longest."
Now what's going to happen? She's going to immediately go into the restroom, and before she can come back to the table, I am going to receive a text from our elders saying, "Hey, bud. We need to meet in the morning, and why don't you bring your laptop and your key to the office." Neither one of those is the right response to the type of love God gives us. Right? It's both/and.
We want to be faithful to the Lord Jesus. He's our Lord. He gets to determine the direction of our lives and all that we are, all that we say, all that we think, all that we feel, and all that we do. No one else has that place. Yet, it's not a dutiful, robotic, sterile relationship; it's one of love. He deserves, as a response to his love…his love actually produces it in us…a loyalty _and_ a love, faithfulness _and_ feelings, allegiance _and_ affection. How are you doing today?
Maybe you're here today and you say, "You know what? I'm really wrestling with the faithfulness part. Jesus really hasn't been the final authority in my life. He has become a means to another end." In other words, "I'm faithful to Jesus _so that_…" "I'm faithful to Jesus so I can be successful in business."
"I'm faithful to Jesus so I can have the kind of family I've always wanted." "I'm faithful to Jesus so I can have more and more friends within the Christian community." Folks, I've been here before. I've even thought at times in ministry, "I want to be faithful to Jesus so I can be effective in ministry." Who are you faithful to this morning above and beyond Jesus?
Maybe, for you, it's the other category. It's the affection. It's the feelings. It's the love. If you were really candid this morning, you would have to say, "You know what? I think I love my husband" or "I love my wife more than I love Jesus." "I think I love my kids more than I love Jesus." "I think I love my boyfriend" or "I think I love my girlfriend more." "I think I love my job." "I think I love my status."
There are two groups of people in the room this morning. I want to address each one of you. Some of you are here this morning, and when you see this dynamic of what it means to be united with Jesus… We have this love, this amazing love, this love we've defined as an unfailing, never-stopping, always-and-forever love. We have that love from God, and our response is, rightfully so, empowered by him, enabled by him, that we build our lives around him.
Some of you are here this morning, and you're saying, "Dave, I've never had that. I want that. That's why I've come. That's what I've been looking for. Everything else in life has left me empty and unfulfilled, and this feels to me like it's everything I was ever created for. What do I do?" Let me show you where this all began.
Look at this text one more time. I'm going to show you a brief snippet of a text. Here's how this all began. It comes to us from Acts 11:21. I'm going to use the New International Version. I think it's better in this case. Here's where it all began. **"…a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord."** That's what it takes.
Friend, here's the good news today. If you're coming from that place where you say, "I want this. I need this. This is it. This is what I've been looking for. How do I get it?" here's what you need to do. You need to believe. The grace is yours. God has already done all the work. Your response is to believe.
What does it mean to believe? There are three components to belief. You understand. You have knowledge of the facts. You understand that Jesus lived the life you couldn't live, died the death you deserve to die, and has risen from the dead. Those are the facts. Secondly, you give assent to that. You say, "Yes, I believe that's true." But there's a third element to belief that many of us miss, and that's personal trust. "I'm going to lean into what Jesus says to be true personally. I'm going to cash in my chips, and I'm going to put them all there." We trust in Jesus.
Then there's this other phrase: they turned to the Lord. Belief is faith; turning to the Lord is repentance. Both are connected in the right response to God's grace. Turning to the Lord simply means… It's this image of you're moving in one direction, and you shift and go in the opposite direction. Here's the idea. You've been living apart from Jesus. Some of you may even have been living in an antagonistic relationship with Jesus. You're indifferent.
So, to turn away says to the Lord Jesus, "I'm done doing this. I'm turning away from my sin, my independence, my autonomy. I'm turning to you, Jesus, and I'm trusting you to be all that you say you are. May I have your love?" Can I tell you what this morning? He's not going to turn anyone away. Will you turn to him, right now, right here? Why not today?
Right where you're sitting, right here, right now, talk to Jesus. It doesn't even have to be out loud. "Lord Jesus, I turn away from living life apart from you and all that entails, and I trust. When I turn away from that, I turn to you, trusting you that you are who you say. Will you forgive me? Will you free me? Will you send me the Holy Spirit?" If you've done that today, please let somebody know.
Now, there's another group of us in the room. If you look at these two components of loyalty and love of Jesus, you could look back on the course of your experience with him. You're a Christian. You could say, "You know what? It used to be so much more vibrant. It used to be so much more powerful. It was such a force in my life, and somehow, somewhere, over the years, my heart has gone cold. My allegiance has been found elsewhere, and I want to come back to it. What can I do?"
Here's what you can do. You can repent and believe. That's what you can do. The same thing we do to begin a relationship. If you haven't figured it out yet, this is the message of the Bible. The same way you and I come to know Jesus by receiving the grace of God through repentance and faith is the very same way we _grow_ in Jesus. We turn away from the things that distract our loyalties. We turn away from the things that put a damper on our love, and we turn back to him, and guess what we receive fresh this morning: his love.
Believer, would you do that today? Right here, right now, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the things that are keeping you from being loyal and loving toward Jesus. Be honest with him, and then turn back to Jesus. His arms are open wide. He has never left you. He has never abandoned you. He loves you in the same way his Father loves him. Will you do that?
Now, let's go back to our question. Here's our question: What was going on in Antioch? Why, for the first time in Antioch, were the disciples first called Christians? That's Acts 11:26. Why? Why did that happen? Here's my answer, and it's going to sound familiar to you. It's because of this: abiding in Jesus, they were making disciples.
All this began with them being described as _added to the Lord_. They had this new union with Jesus. When Barnabas shows up on the scene, he sees the grace of God, and he sees that they are loyal and they love Jesus. What we see going on from here is a missions movement that impacts you and me today.
Antioch was the powerhouse of missions in the early church. You and I are followers of Jesus today in Dallas, Texas (at that time, the ends of the earth), because of what was happening in Antioch. What they were doing was really, really simple: abiding in Jesus, they were making disciples. I love this story. I love that their allegiance to Jesus, their connection and commitment to him, was so profound, those who were looking on could no longer see them as a sect or denomination of Judaism of the day.
They looked at them and said, "This is something way different. We need a new name for these people. Let's call them _Christian_." Do you know what _Christian_ means? It means either Christ's family… In the ancient world, your whole household would have that _I-A-N_ back to it. So, if you are a Christian, you're part of Christ's household _or_ you are part of his party. What if we lived out of our "abiding in Jesus" relationship today and made disciples from that place? Wouldn't it be amazing if all of our neighbors and coworkers and friends identified us that way?
Kara and I moved into a new house here in Dallas about six years ago. We got the moving truck and unloaded for a day. We were tired. I got up the next morning, went to the office, and came back. I don't know what Kara did, but when I came home, there was a gift basket on my front door, a beautiful gift basket. I took it inside and wanted to show Kara. "Hey, look. Look at this." My first thought was "Maybe this is an HOA appeal, or who knows." You know, "Who knows why this is here."
We opened it up, and inside this gift basket were the most incredible homemade chocolate chip cookies you've ever had in your life, a really nice bottle of wine, and a note. The note simply said, "Welcome to the neighborhood. We're your neighbors. We look forward to getting to know you," and then they left their phone number so we could call or text them. As I'm looking at this, I say to Kara, "Oh, you know what? These are Christians. I guarantee you these are Christians. What do you think?" She said, "Oh, yeah, I think they are."
I said, "I'll tell you what. Let's play along. Let's set up an appointment. I want to hear the way they present the gospel to us. Now, let's not pretend we're not believers for too long. Let's at least get through the gospel presentation. Then we'll say, 'Oh, yeah, we're Christians too.' Are you good with that?" Kara said, "Yeah," but I know Kara. She has too much integrity to do that. So, I go to work the next day, come home, and she has a big smile on her face.
She said, "You're not going to believe this." I said, "What?" She said, "Our neighbors are Christians." I said, "Yeah, I knew that. How did you know?" She said, "Because I just walked up and said, 'I'm a Christian. Are you a Christian?'" That's my wife. "Yeah, I'm a Christian." Then, do you know what she said? She said, "You know what they asked me after I confirmed they were Christians?" I said, "What?" She said, "They invited us to go to church with them Sunday at Watermark." I said, "Of course they did."
What if our unbelieving family members, friends, neighbors, coworkers, people we work out with, people we shop with…? What if our identity with Jesus was so profound that when they introduced us to others, they would introduce us as _Christian_? "These are Jesus people. These are members of Jesus' party." They wouldn't identify us by our gender, by our ethnicity, by our vocation, by our political affiliation, or by our favorite sports teams. They would simply say, as they spoke of us, "I see Jesus in them. These are Jesus people." Let's pray together.
Father, thank you so much that our relationship with you is secure, stable, powerful, and permanent because of all that you are for us through Jesus. Jesus, may we be known by your name everywhere we go all the time. Lord Jesus, as we go out today and enjoy the rest of the weekend and we go to different places, would you, for your glory, Jesus, and for our joy, add to yourself our lost friends, our lost family members, our lost coworkers, our unbelieving neighbors? Would you do that? In your great name we pray together, amen.