Riverbank 2024: Truth be Told Session

TRUTH BE TOLD!

CONNECT - for mid-week/Home League groups

Fellowship Session - Riverbank

Introducing the themes of the Riverbank Women's Conference 2024.

Summary

Make Bible promise jars.
Share a favourite Bible promise.
In Christ we have found the real truth.

Invite participants to come prepared to share a favourite Bible promise
Collect jars with lids, craft materials, coloured paper, pens or pre-printed Bible promises to create Promise Jars
Choose a phrase to use for the Telephone Game
Decide on two truths and one lie to share with the group to model this game
Prepare to play ‘You say’ official music video by Lauren Daigle

Riverbank is an annual women’s conference run by the Family Ministries Department. Its name has its origin in Scripture:

‘On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there.’

(Acts 16:13 NLT)

When Paul and Timothy landed in the city of Philippi, instead of finding a group of men with whom they could share the good news of Jesus, they encountered the first women’s fellowship recorded in the New Testament. They met Lydia, a businesswoman dealing luxurious purple cloth, together with a group of women. As a result of this encounter with Paul and Timothy, Lydia and her household were converted!

We want to invite you to the Riverbank to meet with other women and discover a place to:

encounter God in worship
engage in Christian teaching
explore our God-given potential

‘ … you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

(John 8:32)

For more information about the Riverbank Women’s Conference visit: www.salvationist.org.uk/events/riverbank

GAMES

The Telephone Game

This game demonstrates how easily a truth can be distorted when passed on from person to person.

Whisper a complex true statement into the ear of a participant and ask them to pass the message on, whispering to the next person. Check on the final message and compare it to the initial message.

Use one of these silly phrases or create your own:

Two tiny toads ate fat flying flies
Dogs dig holes for big bones
Twelve tumbling purple people pulled turnips
The funny bunny hid the sickly sweeties in the green grass

Or use a Bible promise:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed

Two truths and a lie

One person states three statements about themselves to the rest of the group. Two of the statements should be true and one should be a lie.

Everyone else then guesses which statement they think was the lie. Once everyone has made their guess, reveal which statement was the lie.

Take turns to share two truths and a lie.

CRAFT

Promise Jar

The Bible contains 8,810 promises! These could keep us going for 24 years if we read just one promise a day! These promises are God’s truths which we need to hear.

Provide a jar, decorations and either pre-printed Bible promises or a list of appropriate Bible verses, coloured paper and pens. Encourage participants to create their own Promise Jar and fill it with Bible verses on small pieces of coloured paper.

Members will then have their jar to take home, and each day they can choose a promise and remind themselves of God’s truth.

Invite participants to share their favourite Bible promise and, if they feel able, what it means to them.

John 8

‘Truth be told!’ This phrase might make you think of the TV hit series Gavin and Stacey. Stacey’s best friend, the blunt and extraordinary Nessa, is frequently heard to preface many significant, or not so significant, statements with the words, ‘Truth be told …’ Arguably the most memorable time was in the Christmas special when she said to [spoiler alert!] Gavin’s best friend Smithy, ‘Truth be told … I loves you.’

Truth can sometimes feel absent from the world we live in. We live in a world where fake news, artificial intelligence, deep fakes, scams and schemes and so much more can conceal truth and dupe us into believing almost anything. We can be left feeling confused and fearful, scared to engage from fear of being tricked.

And yet truth can be so empowering. ‘The truth will set you free’ is a common saying in the world of academia, promoting the view that knowledge is powerful. However, this phrase has not come to us from the world of education but from the Gospel according to John, recounting words spoken by Jesus and referencing a higher truth that cannot be learned in a classroom.

John 8:32 says:

‘Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

To put this verse into context, Jesus had just finished speaking in the Temple where he outlined the differences between himself and his listeners.

‘You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins’

(John 8:23-24)

And the outcome?

‘Even as he spoke, many believed in him’

(John 8:30)

Jesus went on to say,

‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples’

(John 8:31)

True discipleship is more than intellectual agreement; those who are really followers of Christ will hold to his word, only accepting his teachings as truth which in turn will direct one’s actions. True followers of Jesus believe he is who he claims to be – the long-awaited Messiah – and that he speaks truth about God and the Scriptures.

Verse 32 addresses those true followers present at the time, but also us disciples today:

‘Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

The concept of freedom would have held many meanings for those listening to Jesus. The Jewish people did not consider themselves to be enslaved at the time, but they were living under the rule of the Roman Government. They enjoyed some degree of autonomy but they would have been keenly aware of the Roman presence around them in the form of soldiers, governors and kings appointed by the emperor.

When Jesus said the truth would set them free, he was not talking about political freedom; he was meaning a freedom to live in relationship with himself, free from all the trappings of sin, free from condemnation, free from the power of death and free to live within the family of God.

Luke 4:18 tells us that Jesus came to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and we are encouraged to take hold of this freedom and live within it, as people who are free. The Bible encourages us to take hold of all of God’s promises, promises that are true and can be trusted, and to rest in the certainty of God’s provision, love, grace and mercy. The world may try to convince us of many things, about who we should be, how we should look, what we should be doing; but in Christ we have found the real truth.

REFLECT

Take some time to reflect on God’s truths, his promises, while listening to Lauren Daigle sing ‘You say’ – a song that references the truths the world would have us believe, but then reminds us of the words Jesus wants to whisper in our ears. Truth be told.

‘You say’ by Lauren Daigle