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
The Path
Read: Luke 8:1-18 | Listen: Luke 8
A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Luke 8:5
Jesus shares this parable at the height of his traveling ministry. News spreads fast about the Galilean casting out spirits and healing diseases. Rumors even spread that he forgives sins! Everyone is curious. As the crowd around him grows, Jesus shares this parable. A farmer went out to sow seed. It fell on different soils, each yielding various results. Jesus pulls this analogy from his surroundings: fields dotting the landscape. The first soil is the hard path, incapable of yielding crops due to traffic and birds. Later, his disciples press him on the meaning of the parable. He tells them that the hard path represents those who hear God’s Word but cannot receive it because of theft! Satan has kept the Word from their hearts.
Jesus’s parable highlights a grave reality that we must not forget. The natural soil of our hearts is hard and unreceptive to God’s Word. There is a scheming seed snatcher who opposes God’s Word taking root in our hearts. We see this in the people we care about who hear the gospel yet resist its truth. Our responsibility as Jesus’s followers is to share the gospel and pray for God’s miraculous intervention to break up the soil of their hearts.
TODAY: Bring to God someone who needs to hear and his Word. Pray for them: “Gracious God, I recognize we are in a spiritual battle. Please break up the soil of ________’s heart that they would be receptive to your Word and the gospel of Jesus. Help me be faithful in sharing you with them.”
Want to learn more about spiritual battle? Check out our previous sermon series, “Enemies of the Soul,” HERE.
