Message: The gospel according to Luke
Text: Luke 18:9-14
I’m glad that I am so good:
Pharisee prayed to himself about someone else. Comparing himself to these 6 people was his only way to feel good about himself.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "…we must ask ourselves whether we often have not been deluding ourselves about our confession of sin to God - whether we have not instead been confessing our sins to ourselves and also forgiving ourselves. And is not the reason for our innumerable relapses and for the feebleness of our Christian obedience to be found precisely in the fact that we are living from self-forgiveness and not from the real forgiveness of our sins?"
Praying for someone or about someone?
Have mercy on me because I am so bad:
Mercy is the 1st cousin to grace. Included is not being able to: pay, earn it, fight back, keep up…I surrender.
Who do you think is the worst person in our church? Look around, who is the worst person in our sanctuary today?
What person in your life is your biggest spiritual hindrance?