Series: Best Summer Ever
Sermon Title: Summer is For Freedom
Passage: Luke 13:10-17 

Reno Campus
Pastor Dave Pretlove

Carson Campus
Pastor Dusty Braun

Sparks Campus
Pastor Jericho Toilolo

Campus Announcements / Service Moments

Reno Campus

• Costa Rica Missions trip interest meeting
• Surge Camp volunteer

Carson Campus

• Costa Rica Missions trip interest meeting
• Surge Camp Volunteer

Sparks Campus

• Surge Camp volunteer

Sermon Title: Summer is For Freedom
Passage: Luke 13:10-17, Deuteronomy 5:12–15 

SERMON POINTS: 

1. Summer is a Chance for Some Sabbath Rest.
   Exodus 20:8,11
   Leviticus 23:3
   Leviticus 25:3-5
   Matthew 11:28
2. Sabbath Declares Freedom from What Tries to Control You.
   Luke 13:12; 16
   Tim Keller – “God ties the Sabbath to freedom from slavery. Anyone who cannot rest from work is a slave – to a need for success, to a materialistic culture, to exploitative employers, to parental expectations… Sabbath is a declaration of freedom.”

3. Sabbath Grounds You in the Freedom of the Gospel.
   Luke 13:16
   Galatians 5:1

4. Sabbath Is a Foretaste of Final Freedom.
   Luke 13:13
   

 

GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Where do you feel most free in this season of life—and where do you still feel stuck?

• Supportive Scripture: Luke 13:10–17
• Follow-up: What would it look like for Jesus to “lay hands” on that stuck place in your soul this summer?

2. How have you historically viewed Sabbath—burden, bonus, or lifeline? Why?

• Supportive Scripture: Deuteronomy 5:15
• Follow-up: In what ways could embracing Sabbath be an act of resistance against what tries to control you?

3. What keeps you from entering into real rest? Be honest.

• Dallas Willard wrote, “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day.”
• Follow-up: How might God be inviting you to slow down—not just physically, but soul-deep?

4. Think about your weekly rhythm. Where does intentional, soul-restoring Sabbath currently exist—or where is it needed?

• Supportive Scripture: Mark 2:27
• Follow-up: What would a life-giving Sabbath rhythm look like for you?

5. What voices or pressures in your life make you feel like you’re never doing enough?

• Supportive Scripture: Galatians 5:1
• Follow-up: How might the practice of Sabbath help recenter your identity in the gospel rather than performance?

6. How do you normally measure a “successful” week or summer?

• Pete Scazzero reminds us that emotionally healthy spirituality is impossible without slowing down for Sabbath.
• Follow-up: How can you redefine success this summer in light of spiritual freedom?

7. What are you longing for that only Heaven will ultimately fulfill?

• Supportive Scripture: Hebrews 4:9–11 – Sabbath is a foretaste of the final freedom Christ offers us in eternity.
• Follow-up: How does your longing shape your present trust and rest in God?

8. What’s one thing you can say “no” to this summer so you can say “yes” to God’s invitation for freedom?

• Tim Keller once wrote, “Sabbath is about restoration, not restriction.”
• Follow-up: What might change if your summer goal was soul restoration, not activity maximization?

 

PERSONAL REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

Day 1:

Reflective Question: Where have you been waiting for God to move, but it feels like He hasn’t?
Scripture: Luke 13:11
Meditative Prompt: Let yourself name the ache. God doesn’t rush past your pain. He meets you there.
Breathe this prayer: “Lord, I bring You the space between hope and heartache.”

Day 2:

Reflective Question: What assumptions have you made about God’s character based on His timing?
Scripture: Isaiah 30:18
Meditative Prompt: Waiting doesn’t mean abandonment. Delay doesn’t equal distance.
Breathe this prayer: “Jesus, reframe my view of You while I wait.”

Day 3: Letting God Re-author the Story

Reflective Question: What version of your story are you still trying to write yourself?
Scripture: Proverbs 19:21
Meditative Prompt: God’s story doesn’t cancel your pain; it redeems it.
Breathe this prayer: “God, rewrite my disappointment into something eternal.”

Day 4: 

Reflective Question: Where have you been trying to “push through” instead of making space to grieve?
Scripture: Deuteronomy 5:15
Meditative Prompt: Sabbath is the invitation to stop pretending and start healing.
Breathe this prayer: “Father, I rest—not to escape pain, but to meet You in it.”

Day 5: 

Reflective Question: Are you afraid to ask God for anything because of past disappointments?
Scripture: Mark 9:24
Meditative Prompt: God isn’t offended by your honesty; He’s drawn to it.
Breathe this prayer: “Jesus, hold my fragile faith while You heal my heart.”

Day 6: 

Reflective Question: Has disappointment hardened your heart in subtle ways?
Scripture: Hebrews 12:15
Meditative Prompt: Sabbath invites you to lay down resentment so joy can grow again.
Breathe this prayer: “God, uproot bitterness so freedom can flourish.”

Day 7: 

Reflective Question: What would it look like to praise God not for the outcome—but for His presence?
Scripture: Luke 13:13
Meditative Prompt: Praise is not the denial of pain—it’s the defiance of despair.
Breathe this prayer: “Jesus, teach me to stand again—and praise You from here.”

 

SCRIPTURES TO MEDITATE ON:

• Psalm 62:5–6
• Matthew 11:28–29
• Hebrews 4:1
• Exodus 33:14

 

RESOURCES:

• ARTICLE | RENOVARE’ | DALLAS WILLARD | SABBATH IS AWAY OF LIFE
• ARTICLE | AVAIL | TROY MAXWELL | REST IS A WEAPON
• BOOK | DALLAS WILLARD | THE GREAT OMISSION
• BOOK | SHELLY MILLER | RHYTHMS OF REST: FINDING THE SPIRIT OF SABBATH IN A BUSY WORLD
• BOOK | JOHN MARK COMER | RUTHLESS ELIMINATION OF HURRY

 

MONTHLY SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE:  Solitude and Silence

Entering Silence to Experience Spiritual Freedom
By Pastor Rob Hans

“Solitude is a formative place. It is a place of power. In solitude we become aware of our false self. But we also begin to hear the voice of the true God, who calls us beloved.”
— Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

We live in a culture of noise, movement, and constant mental grind. I know in my own life, I often feel like I run a mental or physical marathon every week.  Even in our spiritual lives, we often equate transformation with activity. However we often see the example in the scriptures of transformation with elimination of something: moses was forced into the desert, zachariah was forced into silence, paul’s eyesight was eliminated for a season. I like to call it restoration by way of elimination. But the invitation of Sabbath, and the freedom Jesus offers in Luke 13 isn’t to do more. It’s to stop. To be seen. To be healed. And sometimes, that healing begins in stillness.

In the story from Luke 13:10–17, a woman bent over by years of affliction doesn’t ask for anything. She doesn’t speak a word. Jesus sees her, calls her forward, and restores her. Her healing begins in sacred stillness and that’s the posture we’re reclaiming this week.

The Role of Solitude & Silence in Sabbath Freedom

Adele Calhoun defines solitude as “the creation of an open, empty space in our lives by purposefully abstaining from interaction with other human beings, so that, freed from competing loyalties, we can be found by God.”

Silence then becomes the atmosphere of that solitude. Not a mere absence of sound, but a posture of listening, humility, and rest. It’s the spiritual discipline that makes room for God to unearth buried wounds, clarify desires, and ground us again in His sufficiency.

This aligns beautifully with Sabbath as an act of freedom—freedom from:

• Performance and perfectionism
• The need to earn God’s love
• Internal chaos and external noise
• Bitterness born from disappointment

This week, you are invited not to “figure things out,” but to be found by God in the quiet places. Freedom is not discovered through striving, but through surrender.

What to Expect in This Practice

Over the next five days, you’ll step into simple, guided experiences of solitude and silence—anchored in Scripture, focused on rest, and open to the Spirit’s voice. Each day includes:

• A key Scripture
• A spiritual focus
• A practice of silence or solitude
• A reflection prompt to process gently with God

You don’t need to be good at this. You just need to be willing to show up.

 

Day 1: The Pause That Frees You

Focus: Simply stop. Begin the journey by making space.
Scripture: Luke 5:16 – “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Practice:

• Find a quiet space for 10 minutes. Set a timer.
• Sit in stillness. Let your breathing slow.
• No agenda. Just “be” before God.

Reflection Prompt:
Where am I afraid to stop? What rises to the surface when I do?

Day 2: Naming What Tries to Control You

Focus: Silence exposes what controls you.
Scripture: Deuteronomy 5:15 – “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt…”
Practice:

• Sit silently for 10–15 minutes.
• In that quiet, gently ask: “What owns me right now?”
• Write down anything that surfaces: expectations, fears, distractions.

Reflection Prompt:
What am I carrying that God never asked me to?

Day 3: Let God Speak in the Silence

Focus: God often speaks in whispers, not shouts.
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:12 – “…and after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
Practice:

• Begin with 5 minutes of silence.
• Then read this line slowly: “Jesus, I am here.”
• Wait and listen. Pay attention to any nudges, peace, or impressions—not just words.
  Reflection Prompt:
  What did I sense God showing me in the silence?

Day 4: Restoring Your Soul’s Posture

Focus: Silence grounds your identity in grace, not striving.
Scripture: Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God.”
Practice:

• Spend 10–15 minutes in stillness. Breathe deeply.
• With each breath in: “Be still…”
• With each breath out: “…and know that I am God.”
• Let this become your soul’s rhythm.

Reflection Prompt:
Where has striving replaced trust in my relationship with God?

Day 5: Freedom to Delight Again

Focus: In silence, joy returns.
Scripture: Luke 13:13 – “She straightened up and praised God.”
Practice:

• Go outside alone for 20 minutes: no phone, no music.
• Walk slowly. Notice beauty. Let delight rise.
• Say aloud once: “Thank You, Lord, for this breath, this life, this moment.”

Reflection Prompt:
Where might God be inviting you to eliminate something to encounter greater restoration?

 

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:

We live in a grind it out, white-knuckle-it-til-you-make-it culture—and it has repercussions. I love being busy. Most days, it’s harder not to be. Whether it’s because of our work demands, the full family calendar, or that inner voice that whispers, “If I’m not doing something productive, I’m not valuable,” we keep moving. Fast. Rest feels risky. Slowing down feels wasteful. Stillness can feel like failure.

Some of us don’t stop moving because we don’t like who we are when things get quiet. When the noise fades, we’re left alone with our thoughts, and maybe—just maybe—we’re afraid of what they’ll say.

We are a people who don’t let grass grow under our feet—and then we wonder why we feel so weary, anxious, fragmented, or numb.

Even now, many of you reading this are planning summer road trips, Tahoe beach days, and long weekends at the water park. And don’t get me wrong—those things are good. But here’s the question I want you to wrestle with:

What if what your soul most deeply needs this summer isn’t a vacation or celebrations, or memories, but rest?

Summer gives us margin for it. The question is: what will we do with that margin? Will we fill it with just more noise and movement masked as leisure? Or will we carve out space to actually rest—heart, mind, body, and soul?

In Luke 13, Jesus heals a woman who had been bent over, crippled for eighteen years. He does it on the Sabbath. And everyone watching loses their minds because He “broke the rules.” But Jesus saw the Sabbath differently. He saw it as a time not just to cease from labor—but to bring restoration, to declare freedom, to lift burdens.

This summer could be more than just time off. It could be time set apart—where you encounter the kind of healing, clarity, and freedom your soul has been longing for.

When we stop working, striving, achieving, and performing—we’re making a loud statement to the lies that try to control us:  “You don’t own me anymore.” Really, the Sabbath is an act of resistance and rescue. It pushes back against the tyrants of success, status, and image. 

Every week, when we choose rest, we’re preaching the gospel to our own self and souls. The gospel says that your worth isn’t earned—it’s received. In your stillness, God is working. When we Sabbath, we remember: Jesus has already done what we keep trying to do. So we rest—not because we’ve earned it, but because He’s given it.

So what’s your next step? For some of you, it’s canceling a few plans and trading a packed calendar for quiet mornings with Jesus. For others, it’s silencing the inner critic that tells you rest is laziness. For others still, it’s simply stopping long enough to ask God what rest might look like for your season of life. Let Sabbath be more than a suggestion. Let it be a sacred rhythm that reconnects you to God, to freedom, and to who you truly are.

By Rob Hans | LifeChurchNV