As we enter 2016, we mark the beginning of our second year together as Sound City Bible Church. We’ve all worked hard to re-launch this church in way that would be honoring to God, and in his grace to us, we’ve had a lot of gospel wins to celebrate together in our first year as a church family. God has been good to us, and in 2015 he has used the people of Sound City mightily to glorify himself. Go has healed us, grown us, challenged us, and encouraged us. A few evidences:
- Fourteen people professed faith in Jesus and responded in baptism.
- Leadership teams were put in place and bylaws were established.
- Through the generosity of the people, the church has beat budget every single month.
- Also through the church’s generosity, Kyle Hackett was able to be hired on staff to oversee our Sunday operations and student ministry.
- The children’s ministry team launched a new curriculum and has established a healthy, thriving children’s ministry.
- New community group leaders were trained, and four new groups launched.
We have been very blessed.
Just as we did last year at this time, we enter into this new year of 2016 with excitement, and with the expectation that God will do an amazing work in and through us, with the desire that many will come to know and live for Jesus, and that God will be made much of each and every day of this coming year, and in each one God gives us as Sound City Bible Church.
Additionally, we want to enter into this time prayerfully and with the upmost reverence for God, knowing that we will not be successful by any godly standard if we fail to recognize that all we will accomplish in 2016 will be because of the work that God sovereignly chooses to do through the Holy Spirit.
It is with this in mind that we want to invite you to join the elders in a church-wide fast from Monday January 4—Friday January 8 at 6:30pm, when we’ll gather together at the church for a time of prayer and the breaking of our fast. This will be a family style service that will conclude with a potluck dinner. Please bring healthy dishes since many breaking their fast will need foods that are easy for the body to digest.
A Four-Part Introduction to Fasting
For some of you, fasting may sound strange or scary. Because fasting can seem overwhelming, and hard to understand, we would like to help with that. We’d like to help you understand what fasting is, some of the ways it can be done, and what its purposes are. Primarily we’ll look at what we see in the Bible and what we can learn by looking at how God’s people have fasted in Scripture. Our hope in the sections to follow is to help you be faithful to this church-wide call to fasting, and the biblical call to fasting more generally. Use the parts of this guide to help you plan for our week of fasting together as a church in the coming days, and in any other way you see fit as you further develop the spiritual discipline of fasting.