Sufficient Grace Church Family,
Next week we will step into our church wide season of fasting and prayer. Pastor Caleb and I, along with our elder candidates Greg & Rafael, feel that God is moving in mighty ways within SGC and in our community. In Matthew 9:36-37 Jesus said, “When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.’” This is as true of South Hill, Graham, Roy, Fredrickson, Eatonville, Orting and Spanaway in 2024 as much as it was when Jesus walked the earth. The people around us are harassed and helpless from the enemy, their own sin, and the pains of living in a broken world. Jesus is the living hope that the world needs to hear.
As we prepare for Easter, I want us as a church family to be in earnest prayer that God would be bringing people to Himself. This includes us taking time to refocus our hearts’ attention on Him. It is so easy to get distracted by things around us that do not set our hearts’ focus on our Savior. This also includes those that are not in a relationship with Him. We want to see God making hearts that are dead in sin alive by His power and grace. That is why I’m calling for a church wide fast leading up to Easter. David Mathis describes fasting as “an exceptional measure, designed to channel and express our desire for God and our holy discontent in a fallen world. It is for those not satisfied with the status quo. For those who want more of God’s grace. For those who feel truly desperate for God.” This will be a way for us to collectively display our desire for more of God’s grace and our desperation for Him.
This fast will be to go without food from wake up until dinner time for the four Tuesdays leading up to Easter (March 5th, 12th, 19th, & 26th). After breaking the fast with dinner, we will have a pastor led prayer on Zoom from 8:00-9:00 pm. Going without food will allow us to take our normal meal times to spend in prayer asking God to move in us and save the lost in our community. Going without food will also provide regular opportunities as you feel hunger pains to be reminded that we are dependent on God. If you have any type of health condition that going this long without food would cause more than just discomfort, please choose something else to fast from as a way to participate with us. This could be TV, social media, caffeine, soda, sugar, etc.
I am so excited for what God will do in our church during this time. If you would like any resources on fasting, I would recommend Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney and Habits of Grace by David Mathis. If you have any questions, please reach out to me directly at noah@sufficientgracechurch.com.
To join us on Zoom for the four Tuesday evenings, check out our events page for the Zoom link:
https://www.sufficientgracechurch.com/events