Imagine a life where every action, choice, and pursuit is driven by a profound, unshakeable love. As we apprecntice with Jesus, we’ll uncover the heart of what it means to follow Jesus: a love so deep and transformative that it changes everything. The foundation of our spiritual journey is not merely obedience or discipline, but love—love that responds to the divine love God has shown us first. We’ll explore how every aspect of our spiritual formation, from practicing the disciplines to making disciples, must be rooted in this love. It’s not about mere compliance or duty; it’s about being so captivated by Jesus’ love that we desire to be with Him, become like Him, and do what He did. This love compels us to grow in our apprenticeship with Jesus and to invite others into the same life-changing relationship. We’ll discover that when love is the driving force, our spiritual practices become more than rituals—they become a vibrant expression of our devotion. Join us as we dive into the radical, all-encompassing love that is the true essence of discipleship.

The Obstacles to Growth Survey of over twenty thousand Christians across the globe and identified busyness as a major distraction from spiritual life.

1. Christians are assimilating to a culture of busyness, hurry and overload
2. God becoming more marginalized in Christians’ lives
3. A deteriorating relationship with God
4. Christians becoming even more vulnerable to adopting secular assumptions about how to live
5. More conformity to a culture of busyness, hurry and overload. 

Sabbath: A sacred time for intentionally attuning our whole selves to that which is most eternal and true.

-Tyler Staton

“You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life”

–Dallas Willard

“If the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy”

-Corrie Ten Boom

Creation

Genesis 2:2-3 – On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:8-10 – Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work,  but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. 

The Sabbath Year

Leviticus 25:2 – Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year.

The Year of Jubilee

Leviticus 25:8-10 – In addition, you must count off seven Sabbath years, seven sets of seven years, adding up to forty-nine years in all. Then on the Day of Atonement in the fiftieth year, blow the ram’s horn loud and long throughout the land. Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you

A Covenantal Sign

Exodus 31:13 – Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.

“Sabbath is a time to do nothing, so we can receive everything” –Eugene Peterson

Israel’s Failure to Keep the Sabbath

2 Chronicles 36:20-21 – The few who survived were taken as exiles to Babylon, and they became servants to the king and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. So the message of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate until the seventy years were fulfilled, just as the prophet had said.

The Blessing of the Sabbath

Isaiah 53:13-14 – Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. Then the Lord will be your delight.

God’s Gift of the Sabbath

Mark 2:27-28 – Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

"Sabbath is not a reward for hard work. Sabbath is a gift that precedes work and enables us to work” –Rich Villodas

Jesus’ Healing on the Sabbath

Luke 13:10-11 – One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 

Luke 13:16 –  This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?

Sabbath on Sundays

Hebrews 4:9-11 – So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest.

“Pathological busyness, distraction, and restlessness are major blocks today within our spiritual lives” –Robert Rolheiser

Rest in Jesus

Matthew 11:28-29 – Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Four Ingredients for Sabbath:

1. Stop
2. Rest
3. Delight
4. Worship