Give It Up! Say No to Pharisaical Following

It is with some trepidation that I begin this Lenten teaching series that we are calling, “Give it up! Say no to pharisaical following.” If you have not read the gospel stories in the Bible, you may not know that the Pharisees were not only known as the most religious people of their time, they were also the ones Jesus reserved his harshest criticism for.  Whoa!  How could that be? Isn’t Jesus all about criticising sin and sinners? Shouldn’t Jesus and the Pharisees been on the same page?  What was Jesus trying to teach these religious people? That’s what we want to look at, as we journey together through this Lenten season. 

Prayer: Jesus, I want to follow you today.  Please help me, not to try to become more religious, but to follow you.