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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’” Luke 18:10-12

Read: Luke 18:9-14
Listen: Luke 18

TODAY’S MESSAGE

In Luke, we see Jesus tell a parable about two men going to the temple to pray. One is a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The story’s purpose is to show the contrast between using other people as the standard for righteousness and throwing oneself on the mercy of God for forgiveness. The Bible talks about how everyone is broken, just in different ways. The tax collector was broken in more visible ways, but the Pharisee was broken in the less visible area of pride. Some brokenness is more visible than others.

It is never a situation where someone is totally whole helping someone totally broken. We all have our problems. Our goal in helping is not to have them become like us. It’s not to help them become wealthier, more educated, own more things or live in nicer areas. People with all these things are broken too. The goal is to walk with someone in humility, believing we all need Jesus deeply.

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

Meditate on the lyrics of “Resurrecting” as you sing with the Ada Bible Worship Team. Use these lyrics to help you to meet needs with humility, “The one who wore our sin and shame, now robed in majesty, the radiance of perfect love, now shines for all to see.”

2023 SPIRITUAL PRACTICES

Join us all of 2023 developing a different spiritual practice each month. SPIRITUAL PRACTICES are intentional regular activities to deepen our relationship with God and mold us to be more like Jesus.

August is PRAYER. Keep track of our spiritual practices at beyondtheweekend.org/spiritualpractices.

Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.