Embracing Childlike Faith in Our Spiritual Journey
Summary
In this sermon, the pastor emphasizes the importance of adopting a childlike faith to truly understand and follow God's vision for the church. He shares a conversation with Corey, where he encapsulates the vision for the year as becoming nerdy, passionate, humble, open, and earnest like children who have unwavering faith and sacrificial love. The pastor warns against the dangers of pride, cynicism, and prioritizing personal opinions over the teachings of Jesus. He encourages the congregation to respond by breaking off these hindrances and embracing a childlike posture.
The pastor shares a personal experience of being pushed off a trail while riding a horse, using it as a metaphor for the importance of positioning oneself to see and understand God's teachings. He emphasizes Jesus's invitation to those who are weary and burdened, contrasting it with those who have made their faith an intellectual exercise or have conformed to societal expectations. The pastor also reflects on the significance of Capernaum as a hub of Jewish intellect, noting that despite their knowledge, the people of Capernaum failed to fully grasp Jesus' teachings.
The pastor further explores the concept of childlike faith, highlighting a passage where Jesus praises God for revealing His truths to little children while hiding them from the wise and learned. He explains that Jesus had just finished contrasting the lack of understanding among the Jewish cities with the surprising openness of their historical enemies. The pastor also shares a personal story about a funeral where the most moving moment was when the daughter and sister of the deceased spoke, drawing a parallel between this experience and Jesus' relationship with His Father.
The pastor emphasizes the importance of repentance and making amends, using the example of Zacchaeus and the disciples who left everything behind to follow God. He highlights that God reveals Himself to those who are humble and childlike, rather than the wise and learned. The pastor concludes by stating that the wise and learned often miss out on discovering more of God, while the ordinary people, sinners, and the least of these are able to experience God by simply trusting and following Him.
The pastor concludes the sermon by reflecting on the behavior of his wife's horse and draws parallels to the challenges faced by the church and families. He identifies pride and sophistication as contributing factors to spiritual blindness, leading to a hardheartedness that prevents people from recognizing what Jesus is doing in their lives. The pastor expresses concern that many individuals, including those loved and served by the congregation, are slowly losing their childlike faith and distancing themselves from anything earnest, expectant, or joyous.
Key Takeaways:
- The pastor emphasizes the importance of adopting a childlike faith to truly understand and follow God's vision for the church. He warns against the dangers of pride, cynicism, and prioritizing personal opinions over the teachings of Jesus. This childlike faith is not about being naive or immature, but about being humble, open, and earnest in our relationship with God. ([12:45])
- The pastor shares a personal experience of being pushed off a trail while riding a horse, using it as a metaphor for the importance of positioning oneself to see and understand God's teachings. This story serves as a reminder that our perspective and position can greatly influence our understanding and reception of God's word. ([22:30])
- The pastor explores the concept of childlike faith, highlighting a passage where Jesus praises God for revealing His truths to little children while hiding them from the wise and learned. This emphasizes the idea that intellectual knowledge alone is not enough to truly understand and experience God's kingdom; it requires a humble and trusting heart. ([34:15])
- The pastor emphasizes the importance of repentance and making amends, using the example of Zacchaeus and the disciples who left everything behind to follow God. This serves as a reminder that true repentance involves not just feeling sorry for our sins, but also making a conscious decision to turn away from them and follow God wholeheartedly. ([45:50])
- The pastor reflects on the behavior of his wife's horse and draws parallels to the challenges faced by the church and families. He identifies pride and sophistication as contributing factors to spiritual blindness, leading to a hardheartedness that prevents people from recognizing what Jesus is doing in their lives. This serves as a warning against allowing our pride and sophistication to blind us to the work of God in our lives. ([58:20])
Study Guide
Bible Reading:
1. Matthew 11:28-30 #!!24:28!!#
2. Luke 19:1-10 (Story of Zacchaeus) #!!18:18!!#
Observation Questions:
1. In Matthew 11:28-30, who is Jesus inviting to come to Him and why?
2. What does the story of Zacchaeus tell us about the kind of people who are open to Jesus' message?
Interpretation Questions:
1. What does it mean to "become like a child" in the context of these passages?
2. How does the story of Zacchaeus illustrate the concept of becoming like a child in faith?
Application Questions:
1. In what ways have you been trying to control or intellectualize your faith, rather than approaching it with childlike openness and trust?
2. Can you identify a specific area in your life where you need to "come to Jesus" as a weary and burdened child, seeking rest and guidance?
3. How can you demonstrate a childlike faith in your interactions with others this week?
4. Reflecting on the story of Zacchaeus, is there a situation where you need to make amends or take a step of faith? What might that look like?
5. How can you cultivate a posture of humility and openness in your daily life, similar to the "nerdy, passionate, humble, open, earnest church kids" mentioned in the sermon?
Devotional
Day 1: Breaking Off Cynicism
God desires to free us from the cynicism that hinders our faith and relationship with Him. This cynicism often stems from a hardened heart and a bias towards worldly sophistication, which can prevent us from experiencing the fullness of God's love and grace. It's crucial to respond to God's revelation with humility and repentance, asking Him to break off our pride and align our hearts with His teachings ([26:01]).
Matthew 18:3 - "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Reflection: In what ways has cynicism affected your relationship with God and how can you invite Him to break it off?
Day 2: Becoming Like a Child
God's vision for us is to become like children in our faith - humble, open, earnest, and full of wonder. This childlike faith allows us to experience the kingdom of God in its fullness, breaking away from the pride, arrogance, and intellectualism of the world ([28:49]).
Mark 10:15 - "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
Reflection: How can you cultivate a childlike faith in your daily life?
Day 3: Resisting Spiritual Blindness
To resist spiritual blindness, we must strive to be humble, hungry, and open. The heart, not the head, is the home of the gospel. We must not shut ourselves out from the gospel by relying solely on our intellect, but instead open our hearts to the simplicity, trust, and innocence of a childlike faith ([21:25]).
Psalm 119:18 - "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law."
Reflection: How can you resist spiritual blindness and open your heart more to the gospel?
Day 4: Trusting God Fully
Those who are humble and open to God's teachings are the ones who truly experience His kingdom. They are the ones who repent, make amends, and trust God to take care of them. To truly experience God's kingdom, we must become like children in our faith, trusting God fully and leaving everything behind ([18:18]).
Proverbs 3:5 - "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
Reflection: In what areas of your life do you need to trust God more fully?
Day 5: Living in God's Presence
Jesus knew His Father not just by studying about Him, but by living in His presence, listening to His voice, and imitating Him. We too can discover more of God by living in His presence, listening to His voice, and engaging with Him. This is the way to truly know God and experience His kingdom ([20:10]).
John 15:4 - "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."
Reflection: How can you cultivate a deeper relationship with God by living in His presence?
Quotes
"There is a blindness that threatens our church and it threatens our families and it's a blindness I think of this like current cultural moment... they are pride and they are sophistication that lead to a kind of hardheartedness that ultimately I think blind us from what Jesus is doing right in front of us." [06:06]
"I really believe that God wants our church to become nerdy passionate humble open earnest church kids who don't fear anyone but God, kids who walk with staggering faith and kids who are known by sacrificial love and kids who are a voice of hope for the tired and the hopeless." [28:49]
"We must be positioned to see and Jesus is crystal clear on how you position yourself to see the thing that God's doing. He's super clear and point blank, there's no other way to interpret this. Become like a kid, become like a kid, become like a kid." #!!23:50!!#
"Jesus says, 'I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you've hidden these things from the wise and the learned and you revealed them to little children.' This is fascinating because it's one verse in a long line of verses where Jesus keeps saying, 'You want to see, do you want to see? Become like a kid, become like a kid.'" #!!09:08!!#
"Therefore whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." #!!15:56!!#
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