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February 21: Our God Keeps His Promise

Read: Genesis 9:8-17; 1 Peter 3:18-22

⁸ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹ “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. ¹¹ I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹² And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: ¹³ I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷ God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

When we’ve experienced something traumatic, it’s hard not to worry that it will happen again. A person who has a serious illness might fear it will recur. A person who experiences an assault may find it difficult to walk by themselves or to trust other people. A person who is in a car accident may find driving to be a challenge. We, naturally, don’t want to experience the same thing again.

Unfortunately, with most traumas, we can’t guarantee they’ll never happen again. We might get sick again. We might be assaulted again. We might have another accident.

Despite the many traumas we have or might experience in this life, there is one we can know with certainty we will never go through: God’s judgment. To be sure, we know that each of us will die and face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). But, it is possible for us to know with certainty that though we die, we will escape God’s judgment.

Romans 8:1 tells us, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” God is faithful. He keeps his promises. For those who trust in Jesus, there is no condemnation. There is forgiveness; there is deliverance.

God keeps his promises. He told Noah that the rainbow was a sign of his covenant, his promise to never again destroy the earth by a flood.

Steven Cole wrote, “Just as there is nothing quite as beautiful and breathtaking as a rainbow, so there is nothing as glorious and beautiful as the many splendored grace of God (1 Pet. 4:10). Just as a rainbow allows us to see the various facets of pure, white light, so God’s grace enables us to see Him who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see (1 Tim. 6:16). Even if man forgets the meaning of the rainbow, God says that He will look at it and remember His covenant (Gen. 9:16).”

God destroyed the earth with a flood in the days of Noah. The only ones saved were those who joined Noah in the ark he had built. The day is coming when God will destroy the earth with fire. In that day, only those in Christ will be saved (2 Peter 3:4-10).

Seven times in Genesis 9:8-17, God uses the word “covenant”. He repeats it over and over to emphasize the promise he is making. Noah can be confident, and us too, that God keeps his promises. God promised not to send a flood again to destroy the earth and he will give eternal life to all those who believe in his son.

Jesus said in John 10:27-30, ^27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

During the season of Lent, as we consider ways our hearts and lives have wandered from God; as we seek to realign ourselves with his plans and purposes; we can be assured that if we have trusted in Christ, God’s grace and mercy has taken the sting of death and judgment away. We are no longer condemned. We are saved by grace!

Questions for Reflection

Do you have doubts or questions about whether you are truly saved? Ask God to show you the root of those? Have you trusted in Christ and his work? Are you still trusting in yourself?

Is there ever a legitimate time to doubt your salvation? If so, when?

If you were talking to someone who was struggling with doubts, what verses would you use to help him or her?

Readings for this week:

February 22:              Job 4:1-21; Ephesians 2:1-10

February 23:              Job 5:8-27; 1 Peter 3:8-18a

February 24:             Proverbs 30:1-9; Matthew 4:1-11

February 25:              Genesis 15:1-6, 12-18; Romans 3:21-31

February 26:              Genesis 16:1-6; Romans 4:1-12

February 27:              Genesis 16:7-15; Mark 8:27-30

February 28:              Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Mark 8:31-38

February 17: Ash Wednesday

Read: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 and Matthew 6:1-6

Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, ² a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.

¹² “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; ¹³ and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. ¹⁴ Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?

¹⁵ Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; ¹⁶ gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. ¹⁷ Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the period in the church calendar we call Lent. Lent is a period of six weeks that are set apart for drawing near to God and seeking him with greater focus and intensity. It is a time when many people abstain from food or some other activity to help them face the hold their sin has on their lives or to see where they have wandered from God and clung to something else. Disciplines of fasting and abstinence help us identify and detach from anything that is not from God.

The book of Joel describes a time in Judah’s history the people’s sin had become so great the Day of the Lord was on the brink. God sent a swarm of locusts and allowed incredible destruction to the land. It was a day of great violence and in Joel 2:1-2, we see God warn his people that the Day of the Lord is about to dawn; a day of darkness and gloom unlike any day ever before.

Yet, he declares in verse 12, there is hope. He calls to his people, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; ¹³ and rend your hearts and not your garments.” He calls them to repent. He calls them to return to him. And Joel reminds them that the Lord their God, “is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.”

Lent is a time for us to consider our lives. It’s a time to think about where our hearts have wandered from God; where our lives have drifted from what is right and best. It’s a time to invite the Holy Spirit to show us our true condition and to identify in us any sin that needs our attention. It isn’t that we dwell on how bad we are so much as we remember the depths we’ve been rescued from and hold our lives up to the light of the Holy Spirit to help us draw closer to Jesus.

God cares about our hearts. He wants us to be people whose hearts are tuned to his. He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. He is a loving Father who disciplines his children for our good. He is a loving Father who delights in us. He has forgiven us through the blood of Jesus and is now reshaping us into his image.

Because God cares about our hearts, we need to be careful with our motives for abstaining or fasting from something during Lent. Scot McKnight suggests that biblical fasting is not primarily to get something. Instead, it is a response to some catastrophic event or grievous or sacred moment or event. In the case of Lent, we are aware we are by nature sinful and continue to struggle with our sin nature. Our response is to fast or abstain from something for a time whether we get anything we hope or not.

God may not answer our prayer. God may not draw us closer to him the way we expect. God may do something completely different. But that’s ok. Our fast/abstinence is an act of worship in response to our heart condition and out of a desire for more of Jesus.

Coming back to Joel 2, the people had experienced an incredible disaster. Locusts were destroying everything. God warns them that the Day of the Lord is near and calls them to repent and to seek him through fasting. He calls them to right hearts; to change their ways; and to seek his face in prayer. God wants their undivided allegiance. He doesn’t want to share them with anything else.

In the end, God responds to the people’s repentance and does not bring the final judgment and destruction of the Day of the Lord upon his people. If you read on in Joel 3, you’ll see God speak through Joel of a future day when those events will take place.

Today, as we begin Lent on this Ash Wednesday 2021, let us rend our hearts not our garments. Let us return to the Lord and invite him to cleanse us from any unrighteousness. Let us look to our God who is gracious and merciful; who is slow to anger; who overflows with steadfast love.

The beauty of Ash Wednesday for believers in Jesus is that the blood of Christ has already washed us clean. The Holy Spirit has already been poured into our hearts and lives. Our reflecting on the cross and on our heart condition is not a “woe-is-me” exercise, but an act of love as we yearn to be made into Christ’s image. With Paul, we press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).

Questions for Reflection

Where in your life do you feel distant from God?

What distractions keep you from cultivating your relationship with God more intentionally?

Is God inviting you to “give up” or rearrange something in your life for this Lenten season to create more space and passion in your relationship with him? What will you do about it?

Readings for this week:

February 18:              Daniel 9:1-14; 1 John 1:3-10

February 19:              Daniel 9:15-25a; 2 Timothy 4:1-5

February 20:              Psalm 32; Matthew 9:2-13

February 21:              Genesis 9:8-17; 1 Peter 3:18-22

The following exercise is intended as a companion to the message “Inside/Out: Patterns We Experience When God Transforms Us – Part 2” preached by Pastor Rick Schupp on May 17, 2020. You can listen to that message here.

Find a quiet place, free from distractions. If silence and solitude is new to you, set a timer for five or ten minutes. This allows you to forget the time and settle into the quiet.

Take two or three deep breaths and place yourself in the presence of God. You might pray, “I’m here Lord” or something like that, God is already here, but it helps us center our thoughts on his presence.

As you seek to be quiet, you may hear voices, traffic, your breath, wind, distracting thoughts. Seek to let the noise go and the silence to deepen. Be with God.

If it helps, have a pad of paper next to you and jot down a word or two when a thought comes so you can let it go and come back to it later.

When the time is up, reflect on the time. What was it like for you to become still enough to hear the background noise? What feelings did you experience during the time of quiet? Why do you think?

Silence and solitude is the kind of exercise that becomes easier over time. It’s also the kind of practice that we will not usually see immediate benefits from; but if we persist, the fruit will make itself visible in time.

The following exercise is intended as a companion to the message “Inside/Out: Patterns We Experience When God Transforms Us – Part 1” preached by Pastor Rick Schupp. You can listen to the message here. The exercise has been adapted from the book Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton.

Find a quiet place and sit in a comfortable position – but one that allows you to stay alert!

Take a few deep breaths to help relax and release any tension.

Seek to be aware of God’s presence – which is closer than your breath.

When you are ready, imagine you are in the historical setting of Bartimaeus’ story (in Mark 10:46-52) or Elijah’s story (in 1 Kings 19:1-18) or you are in your own place of need. Read the story you’ve chosen slowly.

Mark 10:46-52 – See yourself as the person needing something from Jesus and calling out to him from the noisy crowd. How do you approach him? What do you do to get his attention? What do you say? What emotions do you feel?

Imagine that in response to your cry, Jesus turns to you. He looks you in the eyes and you are now face to face with each other. Allow yourself to realize you have Jesus’ complete attention (because you do!) and hear him speak to you, “What do you want me to do for you?”

1 Kings 19:1-18 – See yourself in the place of Elijah at the cave on Mount Horeb. Imagine the long journey to get to this place. What challenges have you faced? What are you feeling as you finally get to your destination?

Imagine that as you arrive and sit in the mouth of the cave, you sense God’s closeness and feel his presence. It isn’t threatening but comforting. You are in the presence of one who loves you deeply. In the nearness and the quiet, hear God speak to you, “What are you doing here?”

Share what’s in your heart. Don’t be afraid of emotion. It’s important to let yourself feel how deeply your desire goes. You may need to sit with the question and your response for quite some time before you have fully gotten in touch with your heart’s desire or have fully expressed it. Give the question and its answer all the time it needs. You may want to go for a walk with the question, lie in the grass and feel the warmth of the sun, curl up under a blanket, journal your response, engage in writing or artistic expression.

If you choose to journal, it might help to begin with the statement, “God, what I most need/want from you right now is…” and then let your thoughts flow.

When you have expressed your desire, take time to listen for Jesus’ response.  Don’t feel you have to do anything. Enjoy the intimacy and richness that come when we are able to “be with what is” in God’s presence.

Read: Matthew 27:32-44

³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. ³⁶ Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” ³⁸ Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ⁴² “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

If you’ve spent time around children in their teen years when their bodies are changing and their hormones are going crazy, you’ve probably seen how quickly they go from the heights of joy and happiness to the depths of depression and hopelessness in nanoseconds. Just as you begin processing the dramatic shift, they swing back the other way again!

The last week of Jesus’ life feels a little like that.

We started on Palm Sunday with the Triumphal Entry. Jesus came into Jerusalem to “Hosannas” and palm branches and praise. He was exalted and hailed as a king. There was a sense of expectation and hope. “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Just a few days later, everything has changed. There’s no call to arms. No political rallies. No moves toward rebellion and overthrow. That wasn’t Jesus’ agenda. Instead, there is a provocation at the temple as Jesus shames and confronts the despicable practices there. There are word-traps Jesus skillfully maneuvers. And there is a question of his own that the leaders are afraid to answer.

As the week goes on, the passions of Sunday fade. The religious leaders become bolder. And then, Judas Iscariot comes to them and agrees to lead them to Jesus that they can arrest him and put an end to their headache that is Jesus.

On that fateful Friday, after the sham of a trial before Annas and Caiaphas, Pilate is presented with an obviously innocent man by Jewish leaders bent on his execution. He tries deftly to avoid having to disappoint the leaders while not condemning an innocent man, but when he asks the people if he should release to them Jesus – the King of the Jews, or Barabbas – a hardened criminal, they pick Barabbas.

Incredulous, he asks what they want him to do with Jesus. The people who had praised him; the people who had laid down their cloaks before him; the very ones who had shouted, “Hosanna!” and waved palm branches; they lift up their voices and shout, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

The Christian life is an invitation to walk with Jesus. It’s an invitation to having His Holy Spirit fill us and guide us and develop in us the character of Christ. Paul says there is no greater treasure in all of life than knowing Christ. His greatest desire was to know Christ “and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:10-11).

The invitation to walk with Christ is not an easy one. Barbara Brown Taylor once said, “I want to stop about a day short of following Jesus all the way.” We want Jesus in the power of the resurrection, but not the sharing of his sufferings. We want the blessings and the glory and the triumph of Palm Sunday without the pain of betrayal and denial and crucifixion and death.

Thomas Keating wrote, “The spiritual journey is not a career or a success story. It is a series of small humiliations of the false self that become more and more profound. These make room inside us for the Holy Spirit to come and heal.” We have to die to ourselves daily. We have to take up our cross daily. We have to trust in Christ over-and-over; moment-by-moment.

As S. M. Lockridge, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in San Diego for many years preached, “It’s Friday…but Sunday’s comin’!” There is a cross before the crown. There is death before life. There is struggle and suffering before victory.

It’s Friday
The earth trembles
The sky grows dark
My King yields his spirit

It’s Friday
Hope is lost
Death has won
Sin has conquered
and Satan’s just a laughin’

It’s Friday
Jesus is buried
A soldier stands guard
And a rock is rolled into place

But it’s Friday
It is only Friday
Sunday is a comin’!

Take time to reflect:

We began our Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday (February 26). A reflection question that day was, “Where in my life have I wandered from God and gotten off the right path? What are the practices that will enable me to find my way back?”

Today, as you look at the cross; as you linger with Jesus as he suffers and dies; how would you answer that question today? How did Jesus walk with you through your Lenten journey? Where have you seen growth?

Are there any places in your life where you still feel distant from God? Any distractions that keep you from going even deeper with him? Pray and leave them at the foot of the cross. Ask Jesus for the strength to overcome by his Spirit.

Sunday’s comin’. We will celebrate soon. Ask Jesus to guide you in making a plan to build on what he’s started. Ask him to help you walk faithfully with him in light of his incredible love expressed on the cross.

Advent 2019

3^rd Sunday of Advent

Read Matthew 1:18-25

It’s difficult to imagine the Christmas story without angels. If Mary had woken up one day pregnant, without Gabriel’s advanced warning, can you imagine how she would have responded? Even knowing it was going to happen, what was it like for her to have to explain it to her parents? Did they believe her? Did an angel visit them too?

Then there’s Joseph. A righteous man. A carpenter. By no means from a wealthy family, but a man whose family was known for their character. When he hears Mary’s story, he must have been furious! How could his fiancée have an affair! How could she think he’d believe her! A child from the Holy Spirit! Was she crazy? A quiet divorce would minimize the shame and limit the damage to his father’s good name, but still…how could she?

But then, an angel appeared to him too. The angel confirmed “that that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”  Don’t be afraid to marry her! She will have a son and you shall call him “Jesus” – ישוע – “Yeshua” – which means “Yahweh saves”. This child will save his people from their sins.

Like Mary, Joseph obeyed the command of the Lord. He believed the angel and did what he was told. What did Joseph endure because he agreed to marry Mary? What was whispered behind his back (or to his face)? What did his parents think? We don’t know. We see him take Mary to Bethlehem to register in the census – even though she probably did not have to go. Perhaps he thought it would let them escape the gossip. They didn’t return until well after Jesus was born and they’d even spent time in Egypt (see Matthew 2:13-15; 19-23).

At the first Christmas, the birth of the new king was not attended by dignitaries (they would arrive later). There wasn’t even a doctor and probably no midwife. This obedient couple had to go door-to-door; inn-to-inn; looking for a place to give birth. Finally, one innkeeper gave them space to stay. They wrapped their newborn son in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger – an animals feed trough.

God sent angels to announce the child’s birth. He did not send them to Pharisees or priests. He didn’t let Herod in on the big event. He sent angels to the least likely and least expectant people around. He sent them to stinky, unclean shepherds. The humblest (at least in terms of status) and lowest of society. An angel of the Lord appeared to them. The glory of the Lord shone upon them. The birth of their Messiah, the King, had happened in Bethlehem! Go and see! “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

It’s been said, “All ground is level at the foot of the cross.” I love that. It means that human beings, in God’s eyes, are created equal. There isn’t any favoritism with God based on race or gender or nationality or anything. If you are wealthy and supremely gifted you are not better off, in God’s sight, than the person who is penniless and inept or somewhere in between.

Angels, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds confirm this truth. With whom do you identify most in the Christmas story?  Why?

What feelings, thoughts or emotions are stirred up in you when you think about the lengths to which God went to send Jesus?

How does the reality of the cross and Jesus’ intention to die for us impact your thoughts?

Advent readings this week:

• Monday – Psalm 42; Isaiah 29:17-24; Acts 5:12-16
• Tuesday – Ezekiel 47:1-12; Jude 1:17-25
• Wednesday – Zechariah 8:1-17; Matthew 8:14-17, 28-34
• Thursday – 2 Samuel 7:1-17; Galatians 3:23-29
• Friday – 2 Samuel 7:18-22; Galatians 4:1-7
• Saturday – Psalm 80; 2 Samuel 7::23-29; John 3:31-36
• Sunday – Isaiah 7:10-16; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25

2^nd Sunday of Advent

Read Luke 1:46-55

Advent is a season of joy, as we anticipate and prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This week’s Scripture passage is one of the most magnificent expressions of Advent joy to be found in Scripture, the song of Mary (Luke 1:46-55).  Her hymn of praise and joy was prompted by a visit from the angel Gabriel, who told her that she would bear a son who would be named Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus would be the Messiah, successor to the throne of David, that had been predicted and promised by the Old Testament prophets.  Mary would carry in her womb the Son of God.  Of His kingdom there would be no end.  What an awesome prospect! 

God chose Mary, a poor teenaged Jewish girl who lived in Nazareth and who was engaged to Joseph, a carpenter, to be blessed among women.  The angels would announce the birth of Jesus to shepherds, a humble group, looked down upon by many.  God exalts the lowly.

This song of Mary is traditionally known as the Magnificat, the opening word of the Latin text, which means to magnify. Mary’s song begins with the words My soul magnifies the Lord.  The focus of Mary’s hymn is her joyful thankfulness and praise to God for His marvelous attributes and actions, that had so deeply blessed her.  The blessing was not because of anything Mary had done, but because God Himself had chosen her. 

What is the lesson for us in the joy expressed by Mary? Whatever our income level; whatever our occupation; whether we are a student or a senior saint; true joy emanates from God, our heavenly Father, and it is enhanced by our love and appreciation of who He is and what He did for us in sending His Son to us.  Advent, the season of preparation is a great time for us to magnify our focus on our loving, heavenly Father, and to meditate on His provision for us through the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  In doing so, we can experience true joy as we anticipate the birth of our Savior. 

~ Pastor John

When life is difficult or there are challenges before you, what brings you joy?

Mary faced the prospects of convincing her fiancé she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit; the whispers of people who knew she had become pregnant before she was married; and yet, she is full of joy and praises God. Why? Have you ever experienced anything like that in your life?

This week as you read and prepare for the third Sunday in Advent, ponder joy. Where does it come from and how can you find more of it?

Advent readings this week:

•      Monday – Isaiah 24:1-16a; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
•      Tuesday – Isaiah 41:14-20; Romans 15:14-21
•      Wednesday – Genesis 15:1-18; Matthew 12:33-37
•      Thursday – Ruth 1:6-18; 2 Peter 3:1-10
•      Friday – Ruth 4:13-17; 2 Peter 11-18
•      Saturday – 1 Samuel 2:1-8; Luke 3:1-18
•      Sunday – Isaiah 35:1-10; Luke 1:46b-55; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11

March 6-April 21

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

After the sermon on fasting at the beginning of February, I received an email from one of our Salem family who has been struggling with fasting. In the email, the following was shared:

I have this vision that we as a church are caged lions.  We are powerful, and fierce, and beautiful. But we have forgotten what it is like to hunger.  To hunt for that which we need.  To actively seek out God.  We have become content with the Bible in our laps and the music on our radios, and though we could be so much more if we were free, we stay in our cage. Because the wild is scary.  And we don’t know what we are doing.  But what if we all stepped out of the cage, TOGETHER?  Would it not be less scary?  Would we not lean on each other, and help each other, and learn from each other?

Through prayer and discussion with the elders, we believe there is wisdom in this vision and that God is inviting us, as a congregation, to pursue him with renewed vigor; to take an opportunity to seek after him in fresh ways; to ask desperately for a renewed hunger, a renewed passion, a renewed desire for Him. To that end:

We invite you to choose a day each week during Lent to fast. It can be whatever day you want. It could be the same day each week or a different day depending on your life circumstances.

Fasting is voluntarily going without food — or any other regularly enjoyed, good gift from God — for the sake of some spiritual purpose. It is markedly counter-cultural in our consumerist society. For our fast, we are inviting our Salem family to join with us in fasting and praying that God would stir in us a deeper longing, a deeper hunger for Him.

We invite you to choose the kind of fast that you will utilize.

• Regular Fast – Traditionally, a regular fast means refraining from eating all food. Most people still drink water or juice during a regular fast.
• Partial Fast – This type of fast generally refers to omitting a specific meal from your diet or refraining from certain types of foods.
• Full Fast – These fasts are complete – no food and no drink for a period of time.

If possible, we invite you to participate in a regular fast for two or three meals. If you choose two meals, you might fast from breakfast and lunch and then break your fast with dinner. If you choose three meals, you would go a full day without eating. In a regular fast you could still drink water and juice.

If health concerns prevent you from a regular fast, we invite you to participate in a partial fast. Perhaps fasting from a specific food or food or from a specific meal would be a way you could join. Or you might choose an activity or something you enjoy like TV viewing or other media/internet use.

The point is to voluntarily refrain from something good in order to seek the giver of all that is good – God! We join with believers over the centuries in saying to God that we love him more than his creation. We too do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from his mouth (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4).

Each week, we will provide specific suggestions for fasting and prayer points for that week. If you have questions let us know – others may have the same questions. If you sense God putting something on your heart, share it with us. Others may be sensing the same thing. Let’s encourage and support one another as we fast.

David Mathis from Desiring God Ministries offers the following suggestions when beginning to fast:

Plan what you’ll do instead of eating.

Fasting isn’t merely an act of self-deprivation, but a spiritual discipline for seeking more of God’s fullness. Which means we should have a plan for what positive pursuit to undertake in the time it normally takes to eat. We spend a good portion of our day with food in front of us. One significant part of fasting is the time it creates for prayer and meditation on God’s word or some act of love for others.

Before diving headlong into a fast, craft a simple plan. Connect it to your purpose for the fast. Each fast should have a specific spiritual purpose. Identify what that is and design a focus to replace the time you would have spent eating. Without a purpose and plan, it’s not Christian fasting; it’s just going hungry.

Consider how it will affect others.

Fasting is no license to be unloving. It would be sad to lack concern and care for others around us because of this expression of heightened focus on God. Love for God and for neighbor go together. Good fasting mingles horizontal concern with the vertical. If anything, others should even feel more loved and cared for when we’re fasting.

So as you plan your fast, consider how it will affect others. If you have regular lunches with colleagues or dinners with family or roommates, assess how your abstaining will affect them, and let them know ahead of time, instead of just being a no-show, or springing it on them in the moment that you will not be eating.

We don’t pray to be seen by others, but sometimes our fasting becomes known and that’s ok. The important thing is that in our hearts our fast be for God and not the approval of people. Whether you choose to join us or not, would you return the commitment card with your intention checked (we don’t need your name on it!) so we have an idea of how many are fasting? There will be a box in the back of the sanctuary for this purpose.

We pray that God will be blessed by this offering of love and devotion. We pray that God will be honored by our desire to seek after Him. We pray each one who chooses to fast will find that God really does satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts and that he will stir a deep hunger in each heart for more of Him.

Pastor Rick and the Elders

Vacation Bible School!

July 9-13

1-3:30 pm at Salem Evangelical Free Church!

Register online at: myvbs.org/salemefc