It seems like rules can really be quite helpful. They can help us learn...they can help us perform up to our very best...they can even help us transform ourselves into people who do, look, and act better. So when you think about it...rules should be a good thing, right?

Well not so fast...hold up for a second. There is a problem with rules. There were a group of people in the New Testament called the Pharisees...and the Pharisees lived and judged based on a set of religious and social rules. In their minds...the better you followed the rules...the better you were. The problem is, whenever he talked to or about the Pharisees, Jesus made it pretty clear that he was wildly unimpressed with their rules. In fact - he said that unless our "righteousness" surpasses that of the pharisees, we would never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

How can that be? The Pharisees were as religious as it gets! How in the world can our righteousness surpass theirs? And why is it that God isn't impressed with our rules? And if he isn't impressed with our rules - how do we impress him? Find out this Sunday as we continue with our new series, "Freedom from Religion."