Greetings everyone! So sorry for the long periods in between blog posts here. One week I was on vacation with my family. There are no excuses for this week. So sorry. I promise to do better.
It has been a really long time since I wrote about the blog series we’ve been on. I’ve been writing about the mission work and preaching exploits in the book of Acts. This blog series has been named Acts, The Missional Church. The last time I wrote about this, we talked about the church planting efforts in Antioch and other places. About how the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabus to Antioch to check it out. When he got there, he was encouraged and went to Tarsus to look for Saul. They traveled from there to Antioch and encouraged the church there.
Now, lets fast forward to Acts chapter 13. Barnabus and Saul were still in Antioch working with the church there. Now a few other brothers and they are working with the church and sharing the leadership roles. As they are worshiping, fasting, praying the Holy Spirit somehow makes it clear He wants them to send out Barnabus and Saul on mission work. The scriptures don’t clarify to whom the Holy Spirit spoke to. If it was just to one of them, to all of them, or if He spoke audibly to all of them. We don’t know. What we do know is He spoke to someone and they obeyed.
After they had fasted and prayed the church placed their hands on Barnabus and Saul and prayed for them. After that, they sent them off.
Putting hands on someone to pray for them is a biblical way of assigning a task to them and sending them off to accomplish that task. That phrase can be found all over the Bible. Elijah to Elisha. Paul to Timothy and to Titus. Just to name a few.
When mission teams have been assembled and trained, the sending church will often have send off for those teams. Often, the church will gather around them placing their hands on them to have a prayer. After the prayer, the team is sent off with the congregation’s blessing. They are sent off to do their task they had been assigned to do.
I hope and pray this makes since and has been uplifting and encouraging for you. Comments, thoughts, questions, etc are always welcomed.
God bless you all. Grace and Peace.
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