Sabbath, Study, Serve

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Joel 2: 12-13

From the Sermon:

________ can be described as ____________, or abstaining from something, for a set period of ____ for the purpose of ______. 

In the Gospel of Matthew (Matt 6:17), we find Jesus telling his disciples how to act ______ they fast, not if they fast. Jesus, too, is assuming that fasting would be a normal part of people’s spiritual lives.

Fasting, no matter what specific purpose it is undertaken for also ultimately, _____________.

We cannot use any spiritual discipline, including ________, to force God’s ___________. We don’t fast in order to win God’s approval. We cannot force God’s hand.

As we fast, we create _______________ for God’s voice, to seek what God is up to and ask how we can parter in God’s Kingdom in a powerful way.

Reflection Questions:

Why do we fast?

If fasting has such a rich history, why is not a more practiced discipline?

What if for 12 hours, half of one day sometime in the next week, we each fasted and were in prayer throughout that time seeking God’s vision for us as a faith community?

Prayer:

Lord, we know that if we have not practiced the spiritual discipline of fasting before that it can seem overwhelming. It can be so easy to get in our own way and make our own excuses as to why we can’t fast. Lord, help us get out of of our own way in order to enter into this joy of this particular discipline and draw closer to you. In your name we pray. Amen.