Future Church Brisbane
Join Luke Kennedy and friends at Future Church in Brisbane, Australia.
Talks from our gatherings as well as deeper discussions and Application panels around the practicals of Following Jesus.
Future Church Brisbane
Sabbath Application Panel: How are you doing it?
What if taking one day off could transform your entire week? Our insightful panelists—Jared, Josh, Claudia, and Millie—share their compelling stories about the profound impact of incorporating the practice of Sabbath into their hectic lives. Listen as Jared recounts his return journey from Japan and how severe burnout led him to rediscover the importance of rest, while Josh and Claudia talk about balancing their move to Brisbane with finding a church community that aligns with their values. Millie also joins the conversation, shedding light on her pivotal role in establishing the youth community at Future Church and her personal struggles and triumphs in spiritual practices.
Ever wondered how to manage the chaos of daily distractions to achieve true rest? Our guests dive into their journeys of rediscovering the Sabbath, offering practical strategies that have helped them manage technological distractions. Jared reflects on his business challenges in Japan, Josh discusses the balance of raising a young child while maintaining spiritual focus, and Millie reveals how she overcame spiritual stagnancy. They share actionable tips, from creating digital boundaries to engaging in soul-filling activities, all aimed at fostering a more focused and spiritually fulfilling life.
Join us for a heartfelt conversation that emphasizes the importance of stillness, community, and reflection. Learn how intentional Sabbath practices can enhance mental health and spiritual well-being, whether you're a busy parent or navigating single life. We wrap up with a powerful reflection on gratitude for the Sabbath and the rejuvenation it brings, encouraging listeners to integrate this practice into their lives for lasting benefits. Don't miss this chance to explore how you, too, can embrace the rest and renewal that Sabbath offers.
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Let's welcome these guys. This is like the cutest panel we have done. Thanks, luke, that was because of you yeah, everyone.
Speaker 1:Good, okay, so today is the last day we're going to be sharing in this round about the concept of Sabbath. So yeah, here we are, and today we're going to do a little bit of an application panel. Application panel is basically we get to the end of a teaching series and we talk to people about how they're implementing that in their lives. So what we're looking for today is like perfect answers and everything is fine. Now, I said to them I think part of the goal of this is that we don't have it all worked out, and that's kind of a good thing. And we're on this journey together and we just love to hear people's stories how they're doing it, what's working, what's not working, how do you do it with a baby boy and all of that. So, yeah, amazing. So why, yeah amazing? So why don't you just introduce yourself real quick if you don't know?
Speaker 3:Sure, my name's Jared. Good to meet you guys, jared that fast or you want.
Speaker 1:That was pretty fast. Yeah, hey, Jason.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, so my name is Jared. Yeah, I just came back to From England, From England, from England, originally, right. So from England moved to Australia in 2001,. And then I was living in Japan, like Luke, for about 16 years and just got back to Brisbane in October, got three children Oldest one's, winter, who's somewhere around 13. Youngest one's, eight. And yeah, amazing, yeah, but I was eating too much, amazing and yeah. Amazing yeah.
Speaker 4:I'm not spouting too much. Amazing, cool, yeah, cool. Hey everyone, my name's Josh. This is my wife, claudia, and our little boy, leo. We've got a new baby on the way as well, so we're excited for that, yay.
Speaker 4:So originally we're from Rockhampton. We've come down end of 2020 and I feel like we adjusted quite quickly Like we love it here in Brisbane, kind of jumped around a few little churches here in Brisbane trying to find, you know, one that really connected with our values. I feel like that was a cool journey in and of itself, because we grew up in a church and then when you get in the same church and so when you move, it kind of puts into question well, what are we looking for in a church? And then when you get in the same church and so when you move, it kind of puts into question well, what do we, what are we looking for in a church? So that was a cool, you know, journey and we've yet landed here at a future. We're very happy to be here. I've been here for a couple of months now. I think we started coming around February or something.
Speaker 1:So it feels longer. Hey, don't let you guys have been around for ages, but no, it's great. We love it. It's fantastic, amazing Thanks. Thanks for sharing with us, and this is. You all know who this is. Come on.
Speaker 5:And I have.
Speaker 1:Could you introduce yourself by speaking or by dance? Interpretive dance, maybe Both? Both Okay, sorry.
Speaker 5:I'm Amelia, but you may call me Millie. As many of you know, I've been a part of Future for 18 months now. Goodness, like about that long. I serve on team here and I have the great privilege and honour of being a part of the upstarting of our youth community as well. So, yeah, very, very honoured for that.
Speaker 1:Love that Amazing. So all right. So let's jump into this sabbath, all right? Strange concept, old concept, um, it's strange to us modern day folks, but it's a. It's a? Um beautiful concept. Jared, why did you start sabbath? What was the?
Speaker 3:catalyst to you. Yeah, so I had a um, pretty uh. I kind of dealt with burnout was a short version of it. I started a business over in Japan, a manufacturing company, which just kind of took over my life, a little bit like some financial issues which we're trying to not make permanent issues, so we're just working really hard and the business kept growing, getting bigger, which meant more work and stress, and it really burnt me out to the point I was in hospital like that bad, which is a bit weak, but I was vegan, but I couldn't believe it, it's just my body.
Speaker 3:We got through such a stressful time and the business started to do well. A lot of it was related to Corona being a stressful time and the business started to do well. A lot of it was related to Corona being a tourism business and then having no tourists. And then we redid the business and just as it started to get good and there was no longer a financial burden, that's when my body just kind of gave up in hospital.
Speaker 3:So I flew back to Australia thinking you know, maybe it's a good time for me to find a different way to kind of treat work and family and weekends and church. So yeah, so I've been looking, I've been going on that path, like Luke gave me some great advice, me and Luke when he came back and he's all about the Sabbath, which me was very you know, I thought Jesus didn't like the Sabbath kind of teaching in my mind from the Bible. But the more I look into it the way Jesus lived and the way that they went through it and then just really starting to apply it in my life, it made it, was it obviously made a great, massive difference in the way we live. Still figuring it out, but, yeah, for me it's been a real blessing for me and my family. So, yeah, yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thanks for sharing. Man. That's a really amazing story and, yeah, glad you're here with us. We'll wrap for you guys. Josh, did you grow up hearing about Sabbath or did you have some preconceptions coming in to Sabbath and to this teaching so?
Speaker 4:both Claudia and I grew up in Christian households, and so church was always a thing that we did on Sunday. You know, as a kid you kind of just go along with what your family does on a Sunday, which was church, and back then we kind of grew up in a Baptist church and so obviously their values are slightly different to some of the other denominations as well. But we had a Sunday morning service as well as an evening service, and you kind of went to both. It was just what you did, and so you'd get dressed up in a suit and tie and go to church, and so that was kind of all we always knew, what we knew, and so Sunday has always been a special day in that we go to church. But I think, naturally, as you get older and you have friends and other things that they're doing on Sunday that you want to be a part of.
Speaker 4:You kind of go through a journey of like, well, why do I go to church on a Sunday? And it gets to the point where it's just ticking the box of like I'm a Christian, I go to church on a Sunday. Cool, we'll do that, let's get on with our weekend, whereas I feel like this sermon series has been really special for us because it's trying to reestablish that six and one rhythm that you've been speaking about. And especially, you know, life with a little one is very busy. There's always you know always things to do and you know plans to change and things like that. So it's kind of a nice day to just slow down the pace, get ourselves in a right place, focus on what really matters in life. Um re, you know, align our focus on jesus and and take that with us through the week it's pretty much it awesome, I'm awesome, amazing.
Speaker 1:And and what about for you, millie? How's the general series been and has it changed some conceptions for you? Or, just before we get into the practical, what has been your, how did you come to it, and then maybe some things that have changed in your thinking.
Speaker 5:That's great. So towards the beginning of the year I kind of hit a spiritual stagnancy where I just wasn't, nothing was moving, nothing was happening, felt very like luster, didn't feel connected to the Lord at all, and I found that a lot of it had to do with the fact that I had forsaken a lot of the rituals that make up being a Christian a lot of the time, and I feel like that has a lot to do with losing a lot of like the practices at work for 2000 years in particular as well, I feel like the whole term of relationship over religion can't like really impacted me, because I lost the religious aspect of everything as well, and what I've learned in particular is how much it's yeah, I agree how much it actually is relationships through religion. Like religion doesn't inhibit me. Those rituals are there for a reason. They're great, they're wonderful.
Speaker 5:Yes, maybe some things didn't work in the past and we went a little too far over. But yeah, you mean like religion as in the habitual practice of something? Yeah, like, just just like fasting and prayer and reading the bible, like like being a christian basics.
Speaker 5:Yep, that's it. Yeah, so I found that I kind of, more than doing those things, I kind of was relying on these great spiritual moments, which are so wonderful and so needed, but in practice they don't always sustain our soul.
Speaker 1:Sure, yeah, sure. So it's about like. So you had a strong area of like experience with God, but not necessarily the practices that were keeping you in between all of that. I think a lot of us could relate to that. Right, we've grown up with that. Um, it's a bit of and and on the extreme side of that can be a bit of a hype train when you're like, let's get into the presence of god, let's feel it, let's feel it and this is all wonderful. If it's on top of spiritual practices that actually sustain your lives, um, that's a wonderful thing. But without that, um, yeah, can be a little up and down. Hey, so let's talk about the practical then. How are you guys doing Sabbath? I know Jared and I family, you know we've been friends for a very long time, but even through Sabbath we've gotten a lot closer. How are you guys doing Sabbath, craig?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we're trying to to. I mean it's a work in progress, right so, and I've got older kids, so it's. You know, there's certain plans I have for those kids, like phone use, which is which is, uh, we're still negotiating through with a family. But, um, yeah, we are trying to switch off and relax and slow things down a lot. So we're starting with a big meal on the Saturday night.
Speaker 3:Try and make it our big meal of the week Pray, talk more as a family. You know it's easy to Our dinners like I always felt a bit guilty. We're not like the family that sits around at the table holding hands like during the week and doing that like habitually. So we like to have a bit more family time on the Sabbath and really talk about God more, and you know, so, yeah, normally start with a big meal and then, just on the day, we try and do lots of hikes and walks this is a quick overview On the Sunday. So after church we'll try and go for a walk and just do things with the kids and be together. Yep, as much as possible?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, just starting saturday night big party and then into sunday coming to church, yeah, and doing something outside the house, away from yeah screens and devices.
Speaker 3:Yeah, board games, just like stuff more connecting with the kids, you know so bringing more God into it, bringing less devices and being switched off, but you know, just being more connected. Have you had any pushback?
Speaker 1:with your older kids.
Speaker 3:Oh well, yeah, a little bit. No, I think it's been. I think overall it's been quite good. Okay, as long as we've got some, we're not saying turn your devices off, sit there in a chair. You know we're trying to be have other, more interesting things to do as well. So, yeah, just take a bit of planning. But yeah, good. But where I want to be, I think is where I want to take it.
Speaker 1:You know it's still a bit of a work in progress, you know, so you just do whatever you need to do. By the way, we're, we're all fine here. Um, okay, so you got a bit of a vision for it yeah yeah cool, and I think one of the things that I really love doing is is kind of like doing that together.
Speaker 3:It's really cool way yeah, it's good to get other families or friends over and just chilling out and a bit more. I think it can always be like, oh, if you invite someone to your house, maybe, like come over, it's like an hour or two, like very packaged, and then they're gone, and it's been nice to be a little bit less like on a schedule, yeah, um. So say, come over like on one o'clock and chill for, like lunch, dinner, you know like just a bit more time and and I I think that's been really good for getting to know people better as well. So, yeah, and less less worried about the house being perfect as well, just being a bit more chill, yeah, I mean, that's good yeah, I think that's a big difference between hospitality and entertainment.
Speaker 1:Entertainment's often about, um, how good your facilities are, um, hospitality is more about the heart, of making people welcomed and you can. You can create hospitality and you know almost any situation if you have that heart. So I think that's. In the West, we do entertaining well, but I think as a church, we've got to get back to doing hospitality well and that means you know whatever we have, using that to create space for others to feel welcome and at home. So, yeah, you guys do a great job with that Amazing Josh, you've lost it, that's okay.
Speaker 4:You may pop back in a second, depending on how Leo goes.
Speaker 1:Do whatever you need to do. Do you want to just share about how you guys have been doing Sabbath and what it kind of looks like? Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 4:I feel like, for us, sunday's the day that kind of makes most sense for us, um, you know, saturday is a day where we try and clean up the house as best we can without Leo kind of making a mess straight immediately afterwards, um, and do all like the groceries and those kinds of things, planning things out, and then Sunday, having it as an intentional day of rest as best we can. And so, you know, we wake up on a Sunday. Some of the things that we put in place are no social media, no movies or TV shows that aren't, I guess, christian in nature, or we might watch a documentary or something like that, and I feel like putting that in place has freed up a lot of mental space. You aimlessly just start scrolling through Instagram or something like that, whereas on Sunday, if we think we don't do that thing, it kind of brings attention back to why we're not doing it, and it's because it's Sabbath.
Speaker 4:Similar to like fasting. You know, if you're, if you're going through a period of fasting and then you're hungry, I'll get some food. I can't because I'm fasting. Why am I fasting?
Speaker 4:It kind of it out as well, but it's like we're genuinely more excited to come to church when we've started the morning like that intentionally, with this being the day of rest, because it's like the main event of the day that we look forward to, and then, yeah, from there I feel like some of the best things that we've done with having Leo is you can't necessarily have a strict schedule when you have a baby, because you know he may need a nap or he may not have his nap, and so it's learning to be very like adaptable as best as we can. But some of the things that we love doing is trying to go out into nature, so we'll go to, like the botanical gardens or something like that, where you know Leo can crawl around, we can kind of just acknowledge nature and it really kind of centers us around God, like how creative and amazing God is. He's created all of this for us to enjoy and just enjoy it, without the distraction of phones, you know, being present, talking those kinds of things as well. Any appeals for that?
Speaker 2:I think. So we've been talking about Sabbath probably over the last couple of years, but from this sermon series, that's the first time that we've really started trying to put that into practice. And I think, like I hear conversations about like oh, is that okay if we do this? Or like, should we do that on Sabbath? And I guess, like, where we want to just be really intentional about you know what we are letting or not letting ourselves do, but not letting it get too legalistic, not letting it get like this is the day where I can only do this. So I think, yeah, those restrictions are freeing in that sense, and they're just kind of based on personal conviction, like I think it is quite a personal journey and like over those conversations between, um, yeah, josh and I, that's just kind of discovering, hey, like what's what's considered holy, what's kind of considered more of a distraction? Let's focus on the holy stuff, let's keep today for God and, yeah, I feel like we've been really enjoying that kind of approach to it.
Speaker 1:Wonderful Love that. So do you think you talked about removing distractions? That's been a big part of it. I think that's a great way to think about it. The phones, like you guys, are fairly like up on socials.
Speaker 2:I see you got the sessions going a little bit um we have so we're kind of a little bit so facebook and instagram we tend to put like timers, but we're going fast for social media. So that's cool start of this year. We were like no social media, just delete the app app and find it very, very freeing. So I think we've kind of re-downloaded, but with restrictions.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, cool. Digital Sabbath is something that's been talked about, not in Christian circles now, but like just in the broader, like community Digital Sabbath is like I think a lot of people are getting on that train, which is funny. It's a bit of a hijacking of like a Bible concept, like trying to do it without God, but like that's the Western experiment, right, god's principles without God. But when we bring God into that, a lot of those things really make sense. And I love what you said about like it's not about finding a list of rules to put on everyone. It's about you guys praying and thinking what is the distraction in my life that I need to take out so that I actually can focus on God, and doing that purposefully for a period of time each week as a practice, and you might fail sometimes. Have you guys had any failures or just been smooth sailing? Listen, see you, see you, robin, sometimes.
Speaker 4:Hey, if you guys had any failures, they've just been smooth sailing listen, I feel like we don't have a set schedule like this is what our sabbath looks like. As I said, like with leo, kind of putting a bit of spanner in the work sometimes. Um, have we? I feel like we've been. We've tried to be quite intentional throughout this sermon series, which has been cool, it's's just. Every day has looked different, like every Sabbath has looked different, like last week, for instance, we went out to. What did we do? We went to the Greek festival, which was amazing, and just got to enjoy some nice food and things like that. But again, just trying to still find even though we went to, like an event, event, it was still finding little pockets of time to be grateful and, and I guess, experience sabbath on sunday yeah yeah, cool, amazing and so millie, a single person um doing like your life is, is um got a lot of stuff happening right now.
Speaker 1:Uh, what's your sabbath kind of looking like and and how's it been going?
Speaker 5:I mean, I love what you guys just said about the digital Sabbath. I struggle so much with social media, especially TikTok, because I'm a Gen Z and I just sit there and I just doom, scroll and doom scroll and it's like the next one, and so I also, at the beginning of the year, put time limits on all my socials. But, like the Gen Z that I am, I just enter the password and I go approve for 15 more minutes and that's how it is usually. So I actually had to get my housemate to lock it because I can't be trusted, and that's just me being honest, being real. So that's something that I've done and implemented in like all of my life, because it is a problem as well. But in particular for Sabbath, I just try and just get rid of the entire app because I just know I almost want to be first thing in the morning on my phone checking messages as per usual.
Speaker 5:But I typically take my Sabbath on the Saturday just because I find Sundays start to get hectic after church for me, just in prepping for the week as well, like meal prepping, and also I have rehearsals sometimes as well. So, yeah, I take Sabbath on the Saturday and I try and do things that are going to fill my cup, that remind me of again what life is about. So I try and engage with the word and listen to worship music and I love going out for a coffee with a really great friend, like my friend Laurie here. We love going out for coffee together and we talk about our lives and God and what we're doing, and I just allow myself to actually be present in the day, be present in the moment. Oh my gosh, he's over there.
Speaker 5:Um, yeah, really allow myself just to be where I am and like be in my body as well, like to feel everything that's going on and let God speak into what's going on as well. Because, again, I have a really bad habit of when God wants to deal with something with me, I'm just like I don't want to deal with that right now. I'm too busy. So it's been a really great opportunity for God to highlight a lot of the areas in my life that he wants to transform, that he wants to work on as well, and how much he wants to be a part of it all as well. So it's been wonderful, that's great.
Speaker 1:So when you turned off your phone, did you first feel some phobia about that or some fervor?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was just is like where's my phone, what's?
Speaker 1:going on. So it's like a real addiction which is like which is probably to be fair we're all laughing because we're all laughing with you, because we're all addicted. That's real. So turning the phone off is probably the easiest way to start. I think if you want to find out a way to start, like getting rid of distraction and creating space for God in your lives, like we're going to do the box in our house where all the technology just goes in a box and it goes in a shelf, so our kids will just find it. So I'll just go around the house and I'll just start touching it. And even if Kaylee will just find the iPad and just start putting in the passcode she doesn't know the passcode, but it's just fun She'll just spend like half an hour trying to put in the passcode and now it's locked for seven days. That's probably a good thing, you know. And now it's locked for seven days, that's probably a good thing, you know. So take that one away and then she'll wander around and find another one. And you know we find if we just remove the distraction, we're more likely to look at each other in the face and actually talk.
Speaker 1:Now here's the thing that someone brought up to me is I'm not sure about Sabbath, because it kind of seems like Sabbath is kind of like shutting ourselves off from the world. What if I'm not like available to have good relationships and things like that. And this is where I think it's really important Talk to us a little bit about like Sabbath is not. I think Sabbath often starts with us, but that's not the end goal. Sabbath is actually a community event. It's not a personal event. It's for us together.
Speaker 1:So the future of Sabbath for us looks like probably for a lot of our community groups it will probably look like once a month or something, we're actually going to do it together and be together and eat together and celebrate together, pray for each other, bless our children, spend time together. It's about community, not about individualism. Okay, so we've got to be careful of our Western eyes for that. But, yeah, talk to us about like your own thoughts on that, gerard, like it's not shutting yourself off from the world, but it's about doing community. Well, yeah, well, I think time, like slowing things down.
Speaker 3:For me is important, because I was someone who's always I worked pretty hard. I guess, like maybe some people would say addicted by my wife, addicted to work, a little bit, like, I will work. You said a real slave driver. As a boss, too, I've got a slave driver. No, no, she's got a certain amount of, you know, lifestyle. She wants demands. Gabe, it's not true, she's. She's home with my son, so he's sick, but no be, who knows, it might be fear that makes you work so hard. I don't know what that is, um, just, but, uh, I definitely would read a lot and because I've since like 2013, I've kind of worked for myself. You can never do enough work Uh, and you're always thinking like, okay, I got the more. I think it is a bit maybe fear that makes you work that hard.
Speaker 3:Um, so I I'd find like I'm always trying to do something. So if it's on Sunday after church, if I'm reading something, or I'm good at turning off work, but I'd just be filling myself with like podcasts, I'd be in the shower listening to a podcast. There wouldn't be any silence. If I'm going for a walk, I'm listening to worship music, which sounds good, but it's just like there's always something like all the time on, but I can't just be like by myself and be still and I think I think that's what's been good for me, cause I thought I'm listening to worship music. That's okay, you know, but it's good. I mean, you know, but it's good. I mean enough wrong with worship music, but it's just like constant on and then everything's like scheduled, scheduled like uh, two hours of church, I'm going to do this and this and this. I mean it's just, it's just like.
Speaker 3:I think we're trying to condense. It felt for me. I'm trying to condense like everything um, um into its slot so I can do everything like be fruitful and all things at all times has always been like my life scripture, so then I'd be trying to like fit too much in and for me, sabbath has just been a release of just like go to church and be at church and don't worry about time for like the day and don't don't be so constantly trying to like, achieve, maybe, or like or or fix issues, but just release and just let you know. Just yeah, for me, just being still and doing nothing, I think it's been the most uh, one of the most powerful things I've done so. I love coming to church in the morning and spending a few hours here without like, oh no, we've got to get to this next appointment or something. It's been. It's been really powerful, um yeah. So I think for me that's. That's probably my major point. I've had to get into my life Awesome.
Speaker 1:We're going to finish in a few moments but, josh, do you have any thoughts on people who are like considering starting, or maybe like they, they like the concept but don't know how to start what? What would you suggest, especially with young families? What would be a good way to start, like today, for next weekend?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think that's definitely a good question. I think the first thing that comes to mind for me is something in my own devotional journey that I've tried to implement is spending time before I start praying and reading scripture, but just being still, like I'll set my timer for like a couple of minutes, maybe three minutes or something, and I'll just ponder on the verse, like be still and know that I am God and in that moment, like I'm the amount of thoughts that you have racing through your mind. It's very easy, you know, as you were saying, like to listen to things that you know might be a message, might be worship and things like that that fill you, but it's so many sources of input that we don't have time to really ponder on what it is. So I think, firstly, just being still giving yourself time to just be quiet, be still With little ones.
Speaker 4:I find the best time for devotions and things is before he wakes up.
Speaker 4:So setting my alarm a little bit earlier, being intentional with starting the day so that I'm in a right place, and then, when he does wake up, I'm in a better headspace to be present with him, as opposed to hearing him crying and being like, oh, I've got to get out of bed, Like he's probably going to feed him or something. So I think slowing down the morning is definitely a good one. You know your classic, as we've been speaking about reducing phone time as well being present with your family Throughout the week. You've got so many things on work and might be going to the gym or doing a devotion or things that are good things for you, but being present with your family and praying with and over your family, being grateful for what God has blessed you with and I find that puts you naturally in a better headspace to be able to carry out the day, even though it may look different to what you would like it to look like or intended it to look like, it makes you, yeah, be more present. That's probably what I'd say.
Speaker 1:Yep, I love that. Amazing, that's really awesome. Great. And what about for you? Millie Single people here? Sometimes Sabbath can feel a bit lonely Like am I going to do this, sit at home by myself? I love what you talked about getting out with friends, sharing God together. What would you say for single people? How could you create community together, as you do Sabbath?
Speaker 5:My biggest piece of advice to start with would be don't isolate, don't hide away or feel like you need to be by yourself for Sabbath. I think I started off doing that and then I just it wasn't working at all. I just got. I felt less than I did when I started. But hanging out with friends it's okay, to go get a coffee on the Sabbath, it's okay to go and see people or do things that you love, because God wants to be a part of those things as well.
Speaker 5:And I've just found that that's what I do on the Sabbath is I make it a day to reconnect with all the important things in my life that sometimes can get lost throughout the week. Like actually cooking a meal and just cooking it and enjoying it, and like sitting down and just eating it and being present. While you do that as well is another really great thing to do. If you are staying home, going out for a coffee with a friend, it's a really great thing just talking and catching up, and I think as well, just, yeah, just don't isolate, don't feel like you have to be alone. There is a community here. We're here to do life together. We're here to be with each other, to do this together and so make the effort, push yourself out of your comfort zone as well, to be like hey, I'm doing Sabbath, do you want to come join me maybe?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 5:As simple as that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think for us, azim and I, I think we felt like this teaching series has been good, but I almost feel like it would be better for us just to invite people to come and do Sabbaths with us so you can actually just see it, because you will like it when you see it, rather than just hearing about it. And I think that's probably the future is inviting others in to come and experience with us what it looks like to be totally engaged and undistracted and non-anxious for a period of time and to be totally engaged and have God in the middle of that. It's pretty cool. So, yeah, some people said, like what's the best way to start? I can't do 24 hours? Fine, then don't do 24 hours.
Speaker 1:Just Saturday night, have a big party meal, make that your best meal of the night of the week and then come to Sunday morning, be with people, turn your phone off, be with people, be around people, pray, worship and then finish at lunch. That would be a great foundational start for your life. If you did that, your mental health is going to go up. It just will. You will be feeling better and I really believe god to take that little bit of time and really multiply that back to you. So, um, I just want to say a big thank you to these guys for sharing. Can we say thank you to them? Sharing your lives with us appreciate it. Um, do you want to pray for us?
Speaker 3:oh, yeah, I'd love to um. Yeah, lord, thank you for this amazing series. Um, on the sabbath, god your rest, and thank you, lord, that even you rested after, after six days, lord, and I pray that this will be something that we will make a serious part of our lives going forward and that we won't lose the uh of the Sabbath in our lives and the lives of our children. I pray for many great memories for this church. I pray for lots of great, deeper friendships to be made through this journey, lord, and I pray that we're just getting started and that you're just going to bless us as we make this a serious part of our community here. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
Speaker 1:Amen.