“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” — Titus 2:11–15

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Note: To learn more about fasting, be sure to check out this explanation on our website.

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Hello Delta Oaks,

As you know, our church is a local part of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC). We dearly love the OPC, but that doesn’t mean that we think it’s the “Only Perfect Church.” In fact, the OPC itself has a warm history of working alongside and encouraging other faithful, Gospel-preaching churches.

One result of that is the OPC’s involvement with the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC). NAPARC is not a church, but it provides member churches a place to share advice, offer encouragement, study issues, and pray together, with a common goal of glorifying God and building up the body of Christ.

To that end, NAPARC is suggesting that we consider setting aside a day of prayer and fasting on Wednesday, April 22, with a simple goal: To pray for the faithfulness of officers in the church, that they would honor Christ in their service to Him & His body.

Why does NAPARC think we should be praying about this? To start, this is something we should always pray for! As Jesus commanded, “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matt. 9:37). We should long and beg for men who can preach, teach, lead, and serve in this harvest. And indeed, God gives to our ministers, elders, and deacons the same command as He gave to Timothy: “set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity… Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching” (1 Tim. 4:11, 16).

Sadly, there is an added urgency for this kind of prayer today.

At their annual meeting last November, NAPARC lamented the fact that, in recent days, there have been “a number of ministers who have fallen into grievous, sexual sin and have had to be removed from office.” While this number may not be large, any number greater than zero is a tragedy, as well as an opportunity for us to humble ourselves and ask for mercy from our God. As your Session, we see this as an opportunity worth taking at Delta Oaks.

I realize calling for a day of prayer may not be a normal experience in our church, still less a day of fasting! We are not laying out any laws here; we simply want to invite you, as you are able, to join with brothers and sisters across North America as we humble ourselves beneath the mighty hand of God, that He may lift us up (1 Pt. 5:6).

May God have mercy upon us and all His church, that all church leaders would honor Christ in faithful service to Him.

Sincerely,

Pastor Ben

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Hey! Would you like to learn more about the practice of fasting in our church? Be sure to check out this explanation on our website.