Acts 13

After the Holy Spirit calls Barnabas and Saul off to do the Lord's work, the church sends them off. They go to Cyprus and defeat a magician (still can't believe his name is Bar-Jesus), which causes the proconsul (governor) to believe.

Then they head to Antioch in Pisidia, where they were received by the rulers of the synagogue to provide words of encouragement. So Paul (name change!) preached, starting with the exodus from Egypt, 40 years of wandering in the desert, the promised land of Canaan, the judges, Samuel the prophet, the first king Saul (interesting for Paul to talk about king Saul), king David who's lineage would eventually lead to Jesus, John the Baptist, and finally the ministry of Jesus.

The Jews were so inspired by this private sermon that they begged Paul and Barnabas to speak during the next Sabbath. During the next Sabbath, nearly the whole city gathered to hear the Lord's word. However, now the Jews saw the huge crowds and got jealous. Then they flipped and started criticizing Paul, to which Paul responded that because the Jews deemed themselves unworthy of eternal life, the disciples will start turning to the Gentiles. And the Gentiles rejoiced.

Saul's Name Change

But Saul, who was also called Paul...

(Acts 13:9)

This is the first time Saul's name changed to Paul. From here onwards, he is identified by the name Paul rather than Saul.

Rather, it occurs pretty often in Scripture.

Simeon who was called Niger...

(Acts 13:1)

Did people in the past have two names? Is it a nickname? I'm not quite sure.