New Wine Church

27th July 2025 - Sunday Evening Session

Reverend Dominic De Souza

Guest Speaker at Maximise Life 2025

Sermon Title: Church in the Mind of God – A Renamed People

Key Scripture(s):

Genesis 35:16-18

Description:

In a world full of labels - some inherited, some imposed, and some self-inflicted - this sermon is a reminder that you are not defined by the name you were given by pain, people, or your past. In Christ, you’ve been renamed.

Benjamin’s story is a powerful picture of this truth. Born in the shadow of sorrow, his mother named him Ben-Oni, meaning “son of my sorrow”, just before she died. But his father, Jacob, stepped in and gave him a new name - Benjamin, meaning “son of my right hand”. It was a name of intimacy, strength, and honour.

This moment shows us the battle over identity - and the breakthrough that comes when God, our heavenly Father, intervenes. The name Ben-Oni was rooted in grief and loss. But Benjamin carried a new story, a new destiny.

In this message, Pastor Dominic invites us to confront the labels we’ve allowed to define us - the subtle names we've accepted from our past, our pain, or the people around us. Names are powerful. They shape how we see ourselves, how we respond to God, and how we live each day.

But here’s the good news: God is in the business of renaming. Like Benjamin, your name doesn’t have to be tied to sorrow. You are not stuck with the identity pain gave you. The enemy may try to label you with dysfunction, defeat, or despair - but God names you by your destiny.

You are not the worst thing you’ve experienced. You are not what others have spoken over you. You are who God says you are: forgiven, redeemed, chosen, loved - and so much more.

In the deepest sense, this story from Genesis 35 points to Jesus - who took on the name of Ben-Oni in our place, so that we could be called Benjamin, children of favour and acceptance at the Father’s right hand.

Reflective Questions

  1. What names or labels have shaped your identity - and are they aligned with God’s truth?

  2. Have you ever allowed pain, people, or past failure to define you?

  3. How does Benjamin’s story speak to your own story right now?

  4. What would change in your life if you fully believed what God says about you?

  5. Are you living from your old identity - or from the name(s) God your Father has spoken over you?

  6. What false name do you need to “shake off” this week?

  7. Have you personally received the name “Child of God” through faith in Jesus? If not, see here.

Prayer

Father,

Thank you that you are the one who defines us - not our past, not our pain, not even our own opinions.

Thank you that in Christ, we are renamed, restored, and made new.

Forgive us for the times we’ve answered to false names - “unwanted”, “unworthy”. “not enough”.

We lay those labels down at your feet.

We bring every lie, every wound, every word spoken in hurt - and we ask you to rewrite our identity.

Today, we receive the name you’ve given us.

Help us to walk in that identity - not just in theory, but in reality.

Let our minds be renewed. Let our hearts be healed.

Let our words and actions flow from who you say we are.

We choose today to stop responding to the names the world has given us - and to start living from the name you’ve spoken over us.

In the mighty name of Jesus - Amen.