Reveal Week 6 - The Cycle of Grace

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139

Over the Reveal weeks we have covered, considered and challenged a huge range of topics and issues. As we came to consider the cycle of grace (see Mark Stibbe, From Orphans to Heirs) we recognised that throughout the sessions we have, in different ways, already well covered the elements of the cycle relating to 'Acceptance' and 'Sustenance'. However, that is only half of the story. We realised that now it was time for us to move forward through the cycle and take on the challenge of 'Significance'. In other words, we had spent many weeks considering our journey from slavery to sonship, from orphan to heir, and we had spent a lot of time seeking God and asking Him to reveal to us more of what he has done for us in adopting us as children. Now was the right time to think about what significance looks like as children of God. 

We started the night by gathering people in the hall in seated groups of 7, with refreshments of course. After explaining the cycle of grace for a few moments we asked the groups to move one chair in to the middle of the circle and take in turns to sit on the seat. As they were in the middle the other people in the group would pray for them, prophesy over them, encourage them with words and testimonies, and hopefully help them to understand that they are significant and loved. We intentionally gave no other guidance in terms of time limits or orders, and once the groups got started they spent a significant amount of time with each person, tailoring the time for each different person. 

It was fantastic to see peoples reactions. At first some were shy, sceptical or uncertain. However, as the groups moved through everyone individually you could sense a lift in the room, as people began to hear just how significant and special they are in God. You could hear people sharing stories about how someone's actions or conduct had inspired them. Testimonies of times people had been there when they needed a friend, or had shared a word in the past that had made a difference. Prophesies, pictures, encouragement and words of knowledge were all being freely released and proclaimed over 40 people from Scunthorpe Baptist Church and you could see the impact it made.

It became clear very quickly that this was a significant time for many people and so we decided to dedicate almost the entire evening to people receiving affirmation and blessings. However, significance is not the last section of the cycle of grace. There is also the need to move forward again to achievement. With this in mind we asked everyone to gather in a circle, and proclaimed that as children of God we have access and rights to more of His kingdom than is currently being realised, and so we need to pray again for healing, release and revelation. As everyone gathered around one by one people began to move in to the middle and ask for prayer. Each time someone would pray on behalf of the group, and together we stood believing that now as significant children of God we would begin to see or 'achieve' great things for God. The sense of unity, love and faith in those moments was both tangible and in many ways overwhelming.

It is impossible to know all of the words, prayers and prophesies given to everyone who was at Reveal that night, but I am certain that as people left for home they all had a fresh sense of just how precious and significant they are to God, but also to each other as a family at SBC.