One of my favorite stories is the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector.

Through this story, Jesus makes it abundantly clear how we're to come before God.

May we today begin a fresh revival of humility in the church,

as we humble ourselves before God today in prayer and honest worship.

I want to encourage you to be open and vulnerable as you approach the Lord today.

Welcome to the First 15 podcast. Our scripture for today comes from Luke 18 verses 10 through 14.

Scripture says,

Two men went up into the temple to pray.

One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus,

God, I thank you that I am not like other men,

extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing far off,

would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat

his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.

But the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

The ministry of Jesus was one of life-giving transformation. His life, death, and resurrection

ushered in a completely new way of relating to God, the way of grace. One of the best examples

of Jesus' shifting paradigms comes in his parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.

Again in Luke 18 verses 10 through 14, two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee

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