Week Seven Laying on of Hands for Blessing, Commission, and Appointing As a community we have such a wonderful access grace through each other. Today we are looking at three other areas where, when we lay hands on each other and agree in Jesus name, grace flows. A. Laying hands and blessing 22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 “‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ Q : Share with each other what you like about this formal blessing from scripture. Q : Why is it significant that they often laid hands on individuals when blessing them? Q : Are you in the habit of laying hands of family, friends, and others to and speaking deep hope over them? Why or why not? B. Laying hands and commissioning 2 One day as these men [the leadership of Antioch]were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” 3 So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way. Acts 13 Q : When Paul and Barnabas faced challenges on their missionary journey how would the dramatic nature of their calling and releasing have helped them? Q : How do we change our mindset from aimless travellers to missional people who are “going” in our every day endeavours? Q : What kind of things would we expect to see happening in our lives if we were more missional in purpose? C. The laying on of hands for appointing 5 This proposal [to appoint seven people as deacons] pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. Acts 6 Q : Why is good spiritual leadership so crucial in a church? [consider the verse as well] Q : How do we navigate the humanity of spiritual leaders versus their office and their role? How high an expectation can we place on spiritual leaders and how does a ministry team reduce some of the pressure we place on leaders? Q : When has a spiritual leader made a deep impact in your life? Group Exercise : Take some time today to pray prayers of blessing over each other. .