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• All spiritual practices are meant to transform us into people of love. • When we mistake the 'how' (spiritual practices) for the 'why' (becoming people of love) in our spiritual formation, we do not bear fruit. • Our maturity (or fruit) as apprentices of Jesus is evidenced by love practically expressed through service. • To become a person of love is to be a first-fruits of God’s Kingdom on earth. • We step toward this by serving where we are, starting today

Sabbath isn’t just a day to stop, rest, and throw a feast in community. Ultimately, it’s a holy day — set apart for and dedicated to God himself. Early Christians called it “the Lord’s Day.” It’s a weekly day of worship by which we cultivate a spirit of worship all week long.

Sabbath is not an onerous day for dour religious duty, but a life-giving day of delight — a weekly party. It’s a full day set aside to celebrate our life with God in his world. And it’s designed to be done in community, not alone. Few things are more provocative in the modern world than communities of joy.

We hear about Sabbath rest and we imagine sleeping or taking a day off to chill. But Sabbath rest is a form of resistance. There are powerful forces — both external and internal — that war against a Sabbath spirituality. To sabbath will require that we resist.

The word “sabbath” means “to stop.” In Genesis, God worked for six days but then rested on the seventh. In doing so, he built a rhythm into the fabric of creation. When we live in alignment with this ancient rhythm, we find peace and joy, but when we fight it, we fracture our souls.