Sabbath
We are so grateful for the work of Practicing the Way for developing material to help us grow in our discipleship to Jesus and also to make it accessible to us for free. They have developed an awesome 4 week curriculum, which we will be following for the month of October.
Here is our plan:
Andrew will be preaching a series on the Sabbath and we would love to invite you to try a version of the sabbath. We believe that when you are intentional about your relationship with Jesus, He will show up in very beautiful and unexpected ways.
You join with your home group, a community you choose if you are out of town, a group of friends, or by yourself and watch the weekly videos from Practicing the Way. (You can watch them before you meet or during, but we have found it most effective to watch together.) Then you discuss the material and try doing a sabbath…then get together the next week to see how it went. This will be a simple 4 week commitment.
To be ready and jump all the way in, consider purchasing or downloading the Sabbath Guide book and Downloading the Sabbath Meditations. You may also want to go ahead and order the book Sabbath by Dan Allender.
If you are planning to walk through these four weeks with a random group in your town, alone, or with a home group, you will want to join the Practicing the Way Chapel Group to get access to all the videos you will use for discussion. Follow this link and join our group.
Guide Books
Sabbath: Companion Guide
Buy the paperback book here!
Sabbath: Companion Guide
Download the free digital guide here!
Sabbath Meditations
Download the free digital guide here!
Reading Recommendations
Sabbath: The Ancient Practices
Dan Allender’s lyrical book about the Sabbath expels the myriad myths about this “day of rest,” starting with the one that paints the Sabbath as a day of forced quiet, spiritual exercises, and religious devotion and attendance. This, he says, is at odds with the ancient tradition of Sabbath as a day of delight for both body and soul. Instead, the only way we can make use of the Sabbath is to see God’s original intent for the day with new eyes. In Sabbath, Allender builds a case for delight by looking at this day as a festival that celebrates God’s re-creative, redemptive love using four components:
- Sensual glory and beauty
- Ritual
- Communal feasting
- Playfulness
Now you can experience the delight of the Sabbath as you never have before―a day in which you receive and extend reconciliation, peace, abundance, and joy.
Buy the paperback book or kindle version here!
Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting
This refreshing book invites the reader to experience the wholeness and joy that come from observing God’s order for life—a rhythm of working six days and setting apart one day for rest, worship, festivity, and relationships. Dawn develops a four-part pattern for keeping the Sabbath: (1)ceasing—not only from work but also from productivity, anxiety, worry, possessiveness, and so on; (2) resting— of the body as well as the mind, emotions, and spirit—a wholistic rest; (3) embracing—deliberately taking hold of Christian values, of our calling in life, of the wholeness God offers us; (4) feasting—celebrating God and his goodness in individual and corporate worship as well as feasting with beauty, music, food, affection, and social interaction.
Buy the paperback book or kindle version here!
The Sabbath
Elegant, passionate, and filled with the love of God’s creation, Abraham Joshua Heschel’s The Sabbath has been hailed as a classic of Jewish spirituality ever since its original publication-and has been read by thousands of people seeking meaning in modern life.
Buy the paperback book, hardcover book or kindle version here!
Subversive Sabbath: The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World
This book pioneers a creative path to an alternative way of existing. Combining creative storytelling, pastoral sensitivity, practical insight, and relevant academic research, Subversive Sabbath offers a unique invitation to personal Sabbath-keeping that leads to fuller and more joyful lives.
Buy the paperback book or kindle version here!
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World
Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness as a root of much evil. Within the pages of this book, you’ll find a compelling emotional and spiritual case against hurry and in favour of a slower, simpler way of life.
Buy the paperback book, hardcover book or kindle version here!
Podcasts
Week 1: Stop
What does it mean to stop in an ever-moving, always quickening, “just a bit more” culture? In this first episode of the Sabbath series, John Mark Comer, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin take a deep dive into the spiritual significance and soul-wide implications of stopping.
Listen to the episode on Apple podcast here!
Listen to the episode on Spotify here!
Week 2: Rest
When you hear the word rest, what comes to mind? Relief? Pressure? Familiarity? Foreignness? In this second episode of the sabbath series, John Mark, Bethany, and Bryan answer two ever-present questions: what is rest? And why is rest so hard?
Listen to the episode on Apple podcast here!
Listen to the episode on Spotify here!
Week 3: Delight
In a delight deficient culture, what does it look like to delight in God? Is delight different from happiness? What does delight have to do with practicing the sabbath? In this third episode of the sabbath series, John Mark, Bethany, and Bryan dive into the third movement through the lens of one core reality: God is joyful.
Listen to the episode on Apple podcast here!
Listen to the episode on Spotify here!
Week 4: Worship
What do you worship? And are you sure? Often times we have a narrow view of what worship is. We think that worship is just singing songs at the front end of a church service, but how do we orient our whole lives toward worship? In this fourth roundtable discussion, John Mark, Bethany, and Bryan discuss the fourth movement, the climax, of sabbath.
Listen to the episode on Apple podcast here!
Listen to the episode on Spotify here!
Luminary Interview: Tish Harrison Warren
In previous episodes of the Rule of Life podcast, listeners tune in to a roundtable discussion as well as audio-snippets from luminary thinkers, pastors, and apprentices who are following Jesus in the every day. Featured in the Sabbath series (season 1) is luminary thinker, Tish Harrison Warren.
Listen to the episode on Apple podcast here!
Listen to the episode on Spotify here!
Luminary Interview: Andy Crouch
In this final episode of season one of the Rule of Life podcast, you will hear an interview with luminary thinker, Andy Crouch. Topically, this conversation covers a wide range – touching on topics like the spiritual implications of labor saving devices, modern magic, Sabbath, and the truth about human desires.
Listen to the episode on Apple podcast here!
Listen to the episode on Spotify here!