In His Presence

Only the humble believe him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that he does wonders where people despair, that he takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous.

And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly…. God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in.

He chooses people as his instruments

and performs his wonders

where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken.”

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas

Acts 17:26–28a (ESV)

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

“that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us...”

We Should Seek God

If God has revealed himself to us in creation, as he has, and if God sustains creation (including ourselves), and if God has determined the bounds of our habitations and our destiny it follows that we have an obligation to seek God out and find him.

that’s why we’re fasting

Indeed, such is the purpose of the general revelation:

God is not an impassive, absentee God but is near at hand. God is the sustainer of humankind, not some foreign deity, and has always been intimately involved in human life.

Garland, D. E. (2017). Acts (M. L. Strauss & J. H. Walton, Eds.; p. 179). Baker Books: A Division of Baker Publishing Group.

God has revealed himself so that we might seek him out.

Paul states clearly and emphatically in verse 27.

Acts 17:27 ESV

that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,

So it is as if he is saying: In our sin we are as blind.

Nevertheless, because creation is still there, we have an obligation to feel after God and find him, even though we cannot see him.

Declaring a Corporate Fast

We will fast through the period of Advent, the days leading up to Christmas, as a way of preparing our hearts fully for the coming of Christ. We will also fast as a way of preparing ourselves for the replanting of GCC in Stowe.

Has there ever been greater pressure not to pray or seek God?

Not just in private but even

in church life,

the pressure not to pray is great.

We’re all watching the clock.

Our overbusy,

over committed lives pressure us to get down to business in our Sunday services and gatherings, in our leadership meetings and small groups.

When do we linger together in God’s presence?

Do we ever wait together for him to work?

A prayer meeting in Antioch in Acts 13:1–3 became one of the most important moments in the history of the world.

Acts 13:1–3 (ESV)

1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

· With their prayers and fasting,

the church leaders said, God, we want your provision,

not our small plans.

· We want your abundance,

not our small-mindedness.

· We want more than we know how to ask,

more than we can think,

more than we could expect,

more than we can dream.

· We want you, God.

We’re not satisfied with our abilities

and experience

and what we can plan on our own and

do apart from you.

We want you and your leading. We don’t want to lean on our own understanding.

What if you really listened to God this Advent?

Consider the church at Antioch

“They were worshiping the Lord and fasting” (Acts 13:2).

· The Holy Spirit is about to speak to them, and when he does, it’s not because they were carrying out their normal routine.

· They were fasting for a particular reason. Godly fasting always has a purpose. They were seeking God in special measure.

· Fasting is an unusual measure, expressing special need for God. You don’t “fast” by accident or without purpose.

That’s just called going hungry. Fasting has a purpose.

So, they worship and fast, to seek God’s direction at this critical moment. They say, in effect,

· They said we will not be content with our own planning and what we can dream up on our own. We want more than we can ask or think.

Ephesians 3:20 (ESV)

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

· We want direction from God almighty, who makes foolish the wisdom of the world.

1 Corinthians 1:20 (ESV)

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

· We want guidance from the God who guides heaven’s armies.

We want counsel from the one whom none can counsel.

Romans 11:34 (ESV)

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his counselor?”

Instead of simply strategizing with their own common sense and doing the next thing in their own strength, they worship and fast and wait for God to direct them.

They embrace the glorious inefficiency of prayer in pursuit of heavenly effectiveness.

Why are we Fasting?

We are replanting a church in a new community.

We are hitting reset.

We believe that there is sin of which we need to repent

· Although nothing will change about the core of who we are and what we believe we want to be Spirit led to change all that he directs us to.

We expect that the enemy will provide a fair share of opposition to the bringing of a gospel light into this community.

We’re looking for more than a burst of enthusiasm but instead a long term penetration of the gospel through many creative forms of outreach.

We need to power of the Holy Spirit that will come through prayer and fasting to be the witnesses God calls us to be.

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Our desire is for God to receive the glory for all that is accomplished.

Our desire is to be a growing and thriving church in Stowe Pa, in spite of the growing godlessness in our culture.

· We want to be fully present to give and receive all that God has for us during Advent.

What is a Fast?

Fasting is voluntarily going without food — or any other regularly enjoyed, good gift from God — for the sake of some spiritual purpose.

Jesus assumes his followers will fast, and even promises it will happen.

Matthew 6:16 (ESV)

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Jesus doesn’t say his followers might fast, but “they will” Matthew 9:15 (ESV)

15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

· We fast in this life because we believe in the life to come.

We don’t have to get it all here and now, because we have a promise that we will have it all in the coming age.

· We fast from what we can see and taste, because we have tasted and seen the goodness of the invisible and infinite God — and are desperately hungry for more of him.

Radical, Temporary Measure

Fasting is for this world. When Jesus returns, fasting will be done.

It’s a temporary measure, for this life and age,

to enrich our joy in Jesus and prepare our hearts for the next — for seeing him face to face.

5. Fast from something other than food.

Fasting from food is not necessarily for everyone. Some health conditions keep even the most devout from the traditional course. However, fasting is not limited to abstaining from food. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “Fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose.”

If the better part of wisdom for you, in your health condition, is not to go without food, consider fasting from television, computer, social media, or some other regular enjoyment that would bend your heart toward greater enjoyment of Jesus. Paul even talks about married couples fasting from sex “for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer” (1 Corinthians 7:5).

Christian fasting turns its attention to Jesus or some great cause of his in the world. Christian fasting seeks to take the pains of hunger and transpose them into the key of some eternal anthem, whether it’s fighting against some sin, or pleading for someone’s salvation, or for the cause of the unborn, or longing for a greater taste of Jesus.

“Fasting is a way of saying with our body how much we need and want and trust Jesus.”

And when we fast we say: I love the reality more than I love the emblem.

Both feasting and fasting are worship for the Christian. Both magnify Christ. And, of course, both have their peculiar dangers. The danger of feasting is that we fall in love with the gift. And the danger of fasting is that we belittle the gift and boast in our willpower, our discipline.

At its best, Christian fasting is not a belittling of the good gift of food. It is simply a heartfelt, body-felt exclamation point at the end of the sentence: I love you, God. I need you more than I need food, more than I need life. John Piper

The Declaration of a Corporate Fast

We, the members and attendees of Grace Covenant Church, declare before God, the angels, the powers and principalities and the gathered church, a corporate fast for the time period beginning November 27 and continuing until December 25.

Our stated purpose for fasting is not because of spiritual emptiness but because we sense our own need, our need to repent of our personal sin, our need to repent of our corporate sin, and our need to have a hunger for God and His righteousness.

We will, in the period of this fast, lay down food and/or other gifts that God has given us to richly enjoy so that we may pursue God above the gifts that He has given.

And now we commence this fast with the promise of Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

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