Media Fast

Psalm 1.

¹ Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.

That is the opening sentence of the book of Psalms. It introduces a wonderful collection of songs and poems and prayers. And it is those verses that is behind what Cornerstone Church is doing in the first week of Feb. 2014.

We are having a ‘Media Fast’.  All those things that so take up our spare time and drive our life we want, where possible, to refrain from so that we can mediate on the word of the Lord.

So the idea is not just to Fast from those things but to use the time to read the word of God; to meditate on the word of the Lord and to pray. And to do that on our own and together.

Let me spell it out clearly.

Fasting from What and Why?

We are fasting from unnecessary interaction with media outside of what might be required for us to perform our daily work.

What’s not necessary?

• Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter etc.
• TV, Radio, YouTube, and other Video downloads.
• Video, Console and Smartphone gaming.

Why?

We want to use the time we have freed up through fasting to focus on God’s Word in the Book of Psalms and enjoy fellowship as a church family as we do it together.

What are we doing together?

• Morning Prayer meetings and Psalm reading.

Venues will be available in Kingston, New Malden and Chessington with two sessions in each 6.30am-7.00am and 7.00am-7.30am each day.

• Afternoon Prayer meetings and Psalm reading.

Monday and Thursday 12.00-12.30pm and 12.30-1.00pm

• Evening meals with Psalm reading and prayer.

Meal venues will be available in Kingston, New Malden and Chessington. Various times will also be available starting from 6.00pm, 7.00pm & 8.00pm. These times will last no more than 1.5 hours.

• After meal spring cleaning of The Hub.

Tuesday and Thursday 9.30pm-10.30pm

• Breaking the fast. On the evening of Friday 7^th

We will be watching a film together at Bedelsford School.

What can I do with all the spare time?

• Catch up on Psalm reading.
• Memorize a Psalm or two.
• Listen or read from the suggestions below.
• Listen to some Christian hymns.
• Invite some around after the meal to discuss what you are learning or listen to a biography together.

Listening:

• The Bible Experience. This is a dramatic reading of The Bible.
• John Piper Biographies. John has done a number of talks on Christians we should know about. These are inspiring lessons from the past – www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/biographies

Reading:

• A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Don Carson. This is one of the best books on prayer.
• Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century: JC Ryle. Short biographies of men that rocked our country with the gospel.
• Five English Reformers: JC Ryle. Short biographies of men who died to bring the Bible truths to this country.

I truly believe that if we do this we will be like the person Psalm 1 goes on to describe.

³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither –
whatever they do prospers.

⁴ Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

⁶ For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

By Pete Woodcock