Have you ever caught yourself thinking that God’s mercy shown to someone else is simply unfair? This reflection on the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18) looks at the signs that we have started leaning on our own righteousness, when our confidence before God rests on our good behaviour, and we quietly rank everyone around us. The speaker tells of a neighbour who turned to God in his final hours, and of a woman who chose forgiveness where no one would have demanded it of her. Listen if you want a confidence built not on yourself, but on a good Father who hears and forgives.
The Pharisee and Tax Collector
Teach Us to Pray
Of all the spiritual practices the disciples could have asked Jesus to teach them, they chose this one: prayer. Jesus himself not only taught them how to pray, but through stories and parables he showed how humble and persistent prayer can change reality. “Breaking through to heaven”, that’s how John Ortberg described prayer, and that’s what we’ll seek to learn alongside Jesus’ disciples during Lent.
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15 sermons
