Subject: Will you fast with us?

We are starting a 21 Day Fast tomorrow as a church to prepare our hearts for Easter. Over the next 21 days, we are choosing to beautifully disrupt the normal rhythms of our lives to tune our attention to God. Will you fast with us?

(Click Here for 21-Day Devotional)

What is fasting?

Fasting is an ancient practice of removing ourselves from something we depend on, often food, to remember your satisfaction comes from God.

Why are we called to fast?

— We are called to fast for repentance. (Joel 1:13-14)

— We are called to fast in honest grief. (2 Samuel 1:11-12)

— We are called to fast to break the cycle. (Philippians 3:12-14)

How should you fast?

Your first step in joining us on this journey is to choose how you will fast during this time. Look back over the last few weeks and consider something that is just a normal, everyday part of your life that you depend on regularly. Where are you finding your regular comfort and satisfaction?

‌This is not a time to only remove sinful behaviors but is a challenge to remove something that is a normal, daily need that may even be a good thing. This is to remind yourself that your true satisfaction comes from God. This is why I want to encourage you to fast from something as mentioned above but also, for at least a portion of these 21 days, consider also fasting from food if your health allows for it.

You can fast from food for a set amount of time each day or for a certain part of the day (sunrise/sunset). Remember that this is not a sort of “holy diet” but a time to remember where your ultimate satisfaction comes from.

As you fast, ask the Lord to accomplish His will in your life individually and in the church corporately. That His work would be abundantly clear and evident in you and us. Please pray with us that God would be seen as the God that He is, worthy of worship and praise. Please pray for new and renewed opportunities for to be a part of His kingdom work here in our neighborhood.

Finally, consider a few warnings as you approach this time of fasting with the church. Beware of trying to use this fast to manipulate God toward your goals, instead use it as an opportunity to lean into His will for your life. Beware of allowing your fast to bring pride rather than humility in your heart. Beware if this does not disrupt your normal rhythms, this should be uncomfortable.

We have provided a booklet to help guide you in preparing your heart during this time. Pastor Scott has been preaching about different spiritual disciplines on Sundays. If you have missed a Sunday in the past three weeks, click here to listen to the Preparing Our Heart series. Participating in the fast and utilizing the booklet daily is a great step to putting these teachings into practice.

(Click Here for 21-Day Devotional)

Subject: Let’s Prepare Our Hearts

Hey (insert person name here),

I know it feels like Christmas was just yesterday, but we’re already starting to talk about Easter at NCC. While we try to make every day a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, Easter is special because many people will show up at church who don’t have a relationship with Him.

That’s why we need your help. We need you to pray for the people God will be sending to us this Easter. We don’t want to get so caught up in planning a great experience that we neglect to pray for God’s blessing. Here are some specific areas where we’d love for you to join us in prayer:

• Pastor Scott as he prepares the message, sets the theme, and leads our staff.

• Our Children’s Director, Anna Brucculeri, as she works with volunteers to minister to our kids this Easter.

• Our Associate Pastor, Andrew Todd, as he ministers with the teens and young adults this Easter.

• For our many volunteers who will be serving during Easter and the weeks beyond.

• For people who are far from God who will be walking through our doors this Easter. We pray especially that God will soften their hearts toward our message and that they will hear the gospel clearly and accept it.

• For wisdom and strength to deal with difficulties as they arise.

• Paxton Todd, our Creative Communications Director, as she designs our graphics, organizes our promotion efforts & rallies volunteers.

• Our elders, Artie Muller, Dave Hurst, and John Spiciarich, as they lead our church through this season. We pray that their focus is continuously on Jesus and what’s best for the church.

• For Valerie Solimine, our office admin, as she works on administrative details.

• For JOY to fill all of our hearts as we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus!

• For God to open the hearts of many and for them to come to know him!

Thank you so much for praying for us! We’re looking forward to seeing how God answers these prayers in the coming weeks.

________

Looking to get more involved or serve for Easter? Great because we need your help!

Here’s some serving opportunities to be praying about.

• Buying candy and Easter eggs, but going the extra mile to fill them.

• Volunteering to serve on Easter. We will be having two services so we will need double the help!

• Serving at our Easter Trunk Hunt. This is our annual Easter Egg outreach event and we will need a lot of help for this event to go over well.

• Making an Easter basket for a kid in need. We will be making Easter baskets again this year for kids in a homeless shelter near by the church.

More details coming on these opportunities, but start praying and thinking about how you can help serve this Easter!

** I forgot to mention the worship team and our leader in the Preparing our Hearts email, so I created an email to go out next day to fix my mistake and make it up to Tim — who I never meant to leave out. Here’s how I made it up to him:

Subject: Let’s Pray for Worship

Dear (insert name here),

We invited you yesterday to start praying over the Easter season, but we didn’t mention a BIG part that also needs prayer — our worship team and our worship leader, Tim Raupp.

Theres a lot of behind the scenes planning and hours of practice that goes into making our worship experience. Tim ultimately gives God the glory and desires to bring you to the throne room of God every Sunday.

Be in prayer for Tim and the worship team as they start planning and preparing for Easter. Pray for new hearts willing to join the team. Pray for growth in their relationship with God. Pray that their focus never leaves Jesus. Pray for no technical difficulties. Pray for God’s guidance and blessing as they plan for Easter.

We believe that the worship team plays a vital role in creating a welcoming and worshipful environment for our congregation, and we are committed to supporting and nurturing this ministry. As such, we are also calling out to those who feel called to join our worship team.

If you have a passion for music and a heart for worship, we invite you to consider joining our worship team. We welcome singers, instrumentalists, and technicians who are dedicated to using their gifts to glorify God and bless others. Whether you are an experienced musician or just starting out, we believe that there is a place for you in our worship team.

If you feel a nudging from the Spirit to join the worship team, take that next step and please call or text Tim at (phone number went here-that’s how he wanted people to communicate with him). He’s looking for more people who have a desire to use their musical skills, talents, and abilities to serve the church community and to honor God through worship.

Let us lift up our worship team in prayer and invite new members to join us in this meaningful ministry. Thank you for your continued support and love for our church.