Beyond the Weekend: Parables
The stories Jesus told and what they mean for your life today.
Why did Jesus teach in stories? Because the deepest truths about God are often found in the ordinary moments of life.
In the parables, Jesus takes everyday things, a lost sheep, a dinner party, a farmer planting seeds and uses them to show us what God is really like and what it means to follow him.
This summer, we’re spending seven weeks in the parables from Luke’s gospel. Whether you’ve heard these stories a hundred times or this is your first time, you’re invited to come and hear them fresh.
June 27/28–August 8/9
Worship in Prayer
This year in Beyond the Weekend, journey through different biblical models of prayer—one each month. July’s focus is Worship.
Read: Psalm 95:1–7 | Listen: Psalm 95
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Psalm 95:6–7
The psalmist's voice rings out, calling people to attention. In ancient Israel, many of the Psalms are sung as God's people head toward the temple to prepare their hearts for worship. Psalm 95 opens with a burst of joyful noise, then slows to a reverent hush: bow down, kneel, come before your Maker. The psalmist’s words remind people of who God is—the great King, Creator of oceans and mountain peaks—and who they are: his flock, safe under his care. Their worship flows from the truth of who God is.
This month, we focus on worship in prayer. Worship is adoring God for who he is—his character, greatness, and love. Prayer can easily become a list of things we need God’s help with. Pausing to worship who he is reorients our hearts. When we bow before God in prayer—in song, in silence, or in words—we declare that he is our Maker, our King, our Shepherd. We remember who it is we pray to. Just as the psalmist called Israel to kneel before the Lord, we too are invited to come before God in awe and adoration for who he is. Through Jesus, we have direct access to the Father, and we can approach him with both confidence and reverence (Hebrews 4:14–16). Worship in prayer shifts our focus from our problems to his greatness, and that changes everything.
TODAY: Read Psalm 95:1–7 slowly as a prayer. For each truth about God you see in the passage, pause and tell him, "Lord, I worship you because you are _______.”
