By: Troy Blalock
Names have meaning and value. In fact, throughout the Bible, we see many instances when God bestows a new name upon someone. A name that gives rich and full meaning to that individual and to the work that God is going to do through them. For example, we see God, in Genesis 17, change the name of Abram to Abraham.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”
Genesis 17:1-5 ESV
As the story of the Bible unfolds, we begin to see how God changing Abram’s name to Abraham takes on incredible significance. Abraham did not physically father a multitude of nations in his lifetime. But this reality came true through the person and work of Jesus Christ and Jesus did come through the line of Abraham. This theme is developed throughout the New Testament in many extraordinary ways.
I use the story of Abraham to highlight the significance of names. I wanted our church’s name to have meaning and value. I wanted it to be something that connected us to the scriptures and I wanted it to be a name that helped our members in personal evangelism.
The True Vine
The imagery of the Vine comes out of John 15 as Jesus describes himself as the True Vine. I have always loved this beautiful and rich image. Throughout John 15 we see that believers in Jesus Christ must stay connected to and abide in Him for life and nourishment. That is our goal as a church! We desire to see all of our members abide in Christ and grow in Him.
Also, as we contemplated a name we wanted to make Jesus Christ front and center. Jesus is the cornerstone of the church and the church is founded upon Him. When people think of our church we want them to think of Him first.
So when choosing a name we were excited about using the image from John 15. An image that reminds us to abide in Christ and an image that centers our minds on Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of the church.
Evangelism
Throughout my journey as a pastor one of the primary struggles that I hear from believers is the difficulty that they have in sharing their faith. The reasons why are multi-faceted. In choosing a name for the church I wanted to select a name that could naturally help our members speak about the death and resurrection of Christ.
Often times in conversations people are asked where they go to church. When our members are asked I want them to be able to give an answer that goes beyond just the name of the church. I want them to be able to naturally talk about Christ. Perhaps the conversation could go like this:
Conversation Partner: What things do you like to do?
Church of the Vine Member: Well I like anything active. Being outdoors and playing sports. I spend a lot of time with my family and when I can I like to read a good book. I also spend a lot of time investing in my church, Church of the Vine.
Conversation Partner: That’s interesting. I’ve never really heard of a church named that before.
Church of the Vine Member: Yeah it is a bit unique. Ya know a church is really just an assembly or gathering of people. So we are a gathering of people that get together to worship Jesus. In John 15 Jesus is described as the True Vine, it is an image that Jesus uses to describe himself. In that image we are told that we are like branches and that we are to abide or remain in Jesus, the Vine, for life and nourishment. And incredibly we can have that life and ultimately find what we have longed for most in Jesus because he is the one that died for us and our sin on the cross and he was raised from the dead 3 days later gloriously defeating sin and death.
This is a simplistic example but I think you get the point. I want our members to have a natural on ramp to sharing the gospel simply through the name of our church. And the imagery in John 15, Lord willing, will help them do that!