P.D. Weekly Email

Hello Great Family,

This Sunday we are going to look at the calling and commissioning of Barnabas and Saul in Acts 13:1-12. We are also going to be doing a very similar thing as the early church did in this passage…We are going to ask the elders to come and lay hands on James and Savy Beaupied as an act of commissioning them to serve as missionaries overseas (we are also going to give you an opportunity to give a ”love offering” to assist them in their journey).  I wish I could claim that I organized all these things to coordinate so perfectly but truth be told the Holy Spirit did all the arranging.

This is a wonderful opportunity to share why we do things like have the Elders lay hands on people and pray before sending them out to serve.  I plan to talk about this on Sunday but here is some good information from the “Desiring God” website about laying on of hands…

In Acts 6:6, when the church has chosen seven men to serve as official assistants to the apostles, “These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.” Here we find a kind of commissioning ceremony. The visible sign of the laying on of hands publicly marks the beginning of a new formal ministry for these seven, recognizing them before the people and asking for God’s blessing on their labors.

So also, when the church responds to the Spirit’s directive, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2), then “after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off” (Acts 13:3). Like Acts 6:6, this is a formal commission performed in public, with the collective request for God’s blessing on it.

With both the laying on of hands and anointing with oil, the elders come before God, in special circumstances, with a spirit of prayer and particular requests, but whereas anointing with oil asks for healing, the laying on of hands asks for blessing on forthcoming ministry. Anointing with oil in James 5:14 privately commends the sick to God for healing; the laying on of hands in 1 Timothy 5:22 publicly commends the candidate to the church for an official ministry. Anointing sets the sick apart and expresses the need for God’s special care. Laying on hands sets apart a qualified leader for specific ministry and signals fitness to bless others.

Like fasting, the laying on of hands and anointing with oil go hand in hand with prayer. Because of the way God has made the world, and wired our own hearts, on certain special occasions we reach for something tangible, physical, and visible to complement, or serve as a sign of, what is happening invisibly and what we’re capturing with invisible words.

I hope you will be here Sunday to experience the church doing the very things the early church did as we seek to honor God by following His Word.

Reminder, there will be a box at a table in the lobby where you can make a cash donation to the Beaupied family as a “love offering”. Participate as you are capable and feel led.

God Bless,
P.D. (Psalm 139)