We are getting ready for our first Open Door worship service tomorrow evening (plan to join us – Saturday – June 10th – at 6pm).  We are also getting ready for an experience of Sabbath, which we will all be invited into as we move into Sunday, after our worship service tomorrow evening.

We won’t worship together on Sunday morning, because instead we are inviting you to intentionally enter that day differently. We are disrupting our normal routine on purpose – so that we might intentionally think about entering into Sabbath time. Time set apart.  A day of rest.  A day of reconnection to the source of our life.

As we have thought about our Sabbath experiment, we have tried to set some parameters, some guidelines that could help each individual, each household live into Sabbath-time for themselves.  The hope is these guidelines will give you the freedom to explore a Sabbath keeping practice that is right for you within their broad bounds.  The first thing to do is to intentionally set some time apart.  If you can take from worship tomorrow until Sunday evening 24 hours later, that would be wonderful.  If a whole day feels impossible, set aside a smaller amount of time instead – just be intentional about it.  Then focus on these guidelines.

• Let your Sabbath be a day where the focus is much more on being than doing. Be present to the world as it is, rather than try to do something to change it.
• Let your Sabbath be time focused more on your relationships than your achievements – your relationships with God, with yourself, with the people in your life.
• Let your Sabbath be grounded in the present moment – don’t belabor the past or worry about the future – be present to the time, to the day and who or what fills it.
• Finally, let your Sabbath be one that leads you towards life and to goodness.

Take these simple boundaries
be rather than do,
foster relationship,
live in the present moment
seek goodness and life
and then run with it – live into the freedom of the time set apart.

Here are some ideas to get you started thinking about what your time on Sunday might look like.

• Explore.
  Go on an adventure.
  Do something you wouldn’t do otherwise.
  Mix it up.
  Let the day unfold before you.
• Rest.
  Think of the last time you felt really rested and at peace – what brought you to that state? Is there something in that experience that could help you shape your Sabbath day?
• Delight.
  Discover joy.
  Think of the last time you had a lot of fun – what were you doing? Who were you doing it with? Use this to help you think about the day as well.
• Play.
  Think back to your childhood – what was a way you liked to play? Is there something in your childhood play that could shape how you play now? If you loved legos – maybe you decide to build a model something just for fun. If you loved to experiment – maybe you go into the kitchen and try a new recipe or make something up on your own to share with someone you love just because. Maybe you pick up a basketball or a ball and glove for the first time in a long time. Maybe you find some unexplored nature and just follow where the path leads.
• Pray.
  In the midst of it all –
  not necessarily in a hand’s folded, head bowed kind of way –
  but in an aware of God’s presence,
  head upturned to the sun’s warm light,
  feel the gift of this life with each beat of your heart,
  each breath of your lungs kind of way.
  Take God with you on the adventure.
  Let God be your companion for the day.

We would love to see and share how we Sabbath on Sunday.  Do so by posting on social media using the hashtag below or email in pics or stories to the church office at officehpc@att.net.