And A Little Child Shall Lead Them" - Pastor Adam Hicks

Devotional

Day 1: Baptism’s Ripples and Childhood Imagination

The waters of baptism carry echoes of childlike wonder—the same anticipation that imagines sins floating away like oil on water. This act isn’t mere ritual but a doorway to reclaiming the raw trust of youth. When Jesus welcomed children, he honored their unfiltered curiosity and unguarded hearts. Baptism invites us to shed cynicism and embrace the mystery of transformation, much like a child expects the impossible. The kingdom belongs to those who approach God with wide-eyed faith, unafraid to ask bold questions or dream wild dreams. [39:57]

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Luke 18:16-17, NIV)

Reflection: What part of your faith feels overly “adult”—polished or cautious? How might you approach God this week with the unfiltered honesty of a child?

Day 2: Persistence Unmuted—Asking Like a Playground Beggar

Children ask relentlessly, unbothered by rejection or logic. The persistent widow’s nagging echoes a child’s refusal to accept “no,” trusting that persistence might yet sway the answer. Jesus links this tenacity to prayer, urging believers to pester heaven with the same shameless hope. Cynicism silences our pleas, but faith thrives in the space between “not yet” and “maybe tomorrow.” What if holy stubbornness—not resignation—fuels our deepest petitions? [57:29]

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: ‘In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, “Grant me justice against my adversary.”’” (Luke 18:1-3, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you stopped asking God for something out of resignation? What one thing will you boldly bring to Him again today?

Day 3: Rich in Fear, Poor in Trust

The rich young ruler clung to security, his wealth a buffer against uncertainty. Children, by contrast, trust provision instinctively—juice simply appears when Mom shops. Jesus’ call to surrender mirrors baptism’s plunge: releasing control to float in the arms of a Father who feeds sparrows and clothes lilies. The kingdom demands unlearning adult calculations to recover a child’s reckless dependence. [01:06:26]

“When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.” (Luke 18:22-23, NIV)

Reflection: What “adult” worry—financial stability, reputation, plans—keeps you from following Jesus with childlike abandon?

Day 4: Blind Men See, Cynics Squint

The blind beggar’s cry—“I want to see!”—mirrors a child’s shameless demand. Healing required both physical sight and heart-level vision to recognize Jesus as Messiah. Adults often settle for half-sight, analyzing faith through life’s disappointments. Yet Jesus honors raw desperation over polished theology. To see the kingdom, we must admit our blindness and plead for wonder to replace weary skepticism. [56:09]

“What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. (Luke 18:41-43, NIV)

Reflection: Where has life’s “data” made you spiritually nearsighted? What would it look like to ask Jesus for fresh eyes today?

Day 5: Megalodons, Messiahs, and Mended Worlds

Isaiah’s vision—wolves grazing with lambs, children leading armies of peace—thrives on holy imagination. JJ’s prayer for resurrected megalodons mirrors this: a child’s faith that God’s “yes” might rewrite reality. Cynics dismiss such hope as naivete, but the kingdom belongs to those who trust the Maker to mend brokenness in ways logic can’t contain. What if our prayers dared to be as audacious as a child’s birthday list? [01:00:35]

“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:6, 9, NIV)

Reflection: What “impossible” healing or hope have you stopped praying for? How might you bring it to God again with a child’s defiant hope?

Sermon Summary

Isaiah paints the messianic future with a healed creation and a re-ordered world where “a little child will lead them.” The vision fixes on shalom and childlike safety, not conquest, so the future looks like peace and wonder rather than spectacle or force. Jesus takes up that Isaian platform in Luke, announcing a ministry of healing and release, not domination. Luke then sets Jesus on the road to Jerusalem, and Jesus knows the cross is coming; yet Jesus still stops for children. The child becomes the lens: “Let the children come to me… the kingdom of God belongs to such as these,” and entry comes by receiving like a child.

Luke 18 starts to cohere when the child stands at the center. The persistent widow sounds like a child who refuses to quit asking, a holy nagging that faith sanctifies into prayer. The Pharisee and the tax collector expose the difference between curated self and honest self; the childlike heart tells the truth, while the polished self performs. The rich ruler shows what adult life often breeds, a tight grip born of fear, a calculus of outcomes that cannot stomach open-handed trust. The disciples illustrate unseeing caution, trying to protect Jesus from suffering; the blind man names the real need, “I want to see,” and then sees with both eyes and heart.

Jesus turns the whole chapter so the child teaches the adult. The child embodies persistence without cynicism, honesty without spin, trust without a spreadsheet, and wonder without embarrassment. The kingdom appears not as a prize earned but as a gift received, the way a kid receives a hand on the head and a blessing. The call presses right into the anxiety of parents and the fatigue of grown hearts: rise to the occasion for the little ones, and let their posture tutor faith. The lilies and the birds keep preaching quiet provision, and Jesus keeps asking for trust.

The final word sounds like a dare and a promise: “Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” Christ turns that line into theology. With Christ, impossibility is not a wall but a door, and childlike faith is how the handle turns.

Key Takeaways

1. The kingdom belongs to childlikeness. [56:47] Receiving is the posture, not achieving. Childlike faith is not gullible, it is open-handed and ready to be blessed. Jesus makes time for children while walking toward the cross, showing that childlike dependence is not a distraction from mission but its doorway. The kingdom arrives where trust outpaces control. [56:47]
2. Holy persistence reshapes prayer. [53:17] The widow’s drumbeat sounds like a child’s “please” that will not quit. That kind of endurance pushes back against adult compliance and learned helplessness. Faith is given permission to bother God, not because God is reluctant but because hearts are formed by asking again and again. Perseverance is how desire gets purified. [53:17]
3. Humble honesty outruns polish. [53:45] The tax collector’s bare confession beats the Pharisee’s résumé. Children blurt the truth before they learn to edit it out of fear. God meets truth with mercy, not performance with applause. Repentance becomes freedom when comparison dies. [53:45]
4. Trust loosens the grip of wealth. [54:02] The rich ruler’s sorrow shows how fear handcuffs the heart. Adult life trains souls to manage risk and call it wisdom, but Jesus calls it to trust. The child sleeps because someone bigger is watching. Freedom begins when provision is received, not hoarded. [54:02]
5. Real sight grows from wonder and surrender. [56:09] The blind man names the deepest need, to see, and then sees with both eyes and heart. The disciples show how fear can keep vision narrow, even when standing next to Jesus. Childlike wonder opens the horizon to what God is actually doing. Surrender clears the eyes for glory. [56:09]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[37:18] - Opening and lighthearted intro
[38:51] - JJ decides for baptism
[43:07] - Isaiah 11 read aloud
[47:22] - Let the children come
[52:18] - Persistent widow and holy persistence
[53:45] - Pharisee and tax collector
[54:02] - Rich ruler and the cost of trust
[55:24] - Passion predicted, disciples do not see
[56:09] - Blind man asks to see
[57:04] - Receiving the kingdom like children
[58:46] - Cynicism named and childlike persistence
[69:17] - Recovering wonder, whimsy, and trust
[72:10] - Anything can happen, child

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Luke 18:15-17 (ESV)
15 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Isaiah 11:6-9 (ESV)
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. 9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Observation questions

In Luke 18:15-17, how does Jesus respond to the disciples’ attempt to keep children away from him? What does he say about the kingdom of God?
Isaiah 11:6-9 describes a future where predators and prey coexist peacefully. What specific imagery involving children is used to illustrate this vision?
According to the sermon, how does the story of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8 mirror a child’s behavior? [53:17]

Interpretation questions

Why might Jesus use a child’s posture (receiving, trusting) as the model for entering the kingdom of God? How does this contrast with adult tendencies like control or self-reliance?
The rich ruler in Luke 18:18-23 walks away sorrowful when asked to give up his possessions. How does his response reveal the tension between “adult” fear and childlike trust? [54:02]
The blind man in Luke 18:35-43 asks to see and is healed. How does his request reflect a childlike honesty about his needs compared to the disciples’ resistance to Jesus’ mission? [56:09]

Application questions

Where in your life do you feel the pressure to “perform” or curate your image (like the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14) instead of being honest about your struggles? What would it look like to approach God with the raw honesty of a child this week? [53:45]
The sermon mentions how adult life often trains us to “manage risk and call it wisdom.” What is one area where you’re clinging to control or security (finances, relationships, plans) instead of trusting God’s provision? How could you practice open-handed surrender?
Reflect on a time when cynicism or past disappointments made you hesitant to pray persistently. What would it look like to “bother God” with your requests again, like the persistent widow or a child asking repeatedly? [57:48]
The sermon describes childlike wonder as seeing the world with awe and imagination. What mundane or routine part of your life could you view with fresh eyes this week as a gift from God?
Baptism was described as a moment of childlike trust and imagination. [40:23] How might reconnecting with your own baptism (or faith journey) inspire you to reclaim a simpler, more trusting relationship with God?

Sermon Clips

70s

#AllThingsPossibleInChrist

“``And I believe, beloved, that is what God is trying to tell us today with Christ. What things are possible? All things are possible through Christ. Anything can happen with God. Anything can be with God. Anyone's story can turn around. Even the worst of us can become the best of us, Saul to Paul. We see that in our narrative. We see that in our stories. We see that in our lives. So this morning, I wanna ask each and every one of you to think about the childhood. Think about that. Maybe when's the last time you thought about yourself as a kid? And then look at yourself now and see how the what would the younger you say to the older you? And what can you learn from the younger?”

72s

#FindYourChildlikeWonder

“because Jesus can lead a whole lot of places. And sometimes we get led to places we don't wanna go, and we get led to people we don't wanna see. So I wonder if there's some things that we what Jesus is asking us to reclaim from our childhood that the world took away from us as we were growing up. What if Jesus is asking you today? I want you to find your sense of wonder. To look at the world with new eyes and be amazed by everything. Be awed by what you see around you? What if God wants you to find your sense of whimsy again, silliness again? Those things that made you you that other people might not have understood or liked and therefore tried to, like, purge out of you and maybe succeeded. What would it look like if you were genuinely yourself today without being afraid of what anyone else thinks about you?”

76s

#BeGenuinelyYou

“There is something about the genuineness and the the realness of a child. They are what they are. And you know what? Sometimes they have to learn. Oh, well, maybe I need to temper this. Maybe I need to temper that. But they are still genuinely who you are. And I feel that sometime over time, societal pressures changes that for us, and we are more and more afraid to be who we are. Because, oh, well, people don't like that. Oh, no. You're a little too loud. You ask too many questions. Oh, that person that that person's a little weird. All those things serve peace us and tell us who we're when there's only one being in all of creation that should tell us who we're supposed to be. God alone knows. God alone determined. God alone decree. God alone can tell me who I am and who I am not.”

62s

#ChildlikePersistence

“I wonder if that makes us more compliant. I wonder if that makes us more willing to accept bad things because we're not willing to be persistent about seeking. And I wonder if in my life, I've lost that persistence that a younger Adam had. That willingness to ask again and again and again. Because even though we're like, look. Instead, the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Like, we tell each other stuff like this all the time. Right? Like, why do you keep asking? It's never going to happen. But you know what? Child Adam goes, it might though. How do you know that on the hundred and seventh time that I've asked, it's not going to happen? Because we don't have enough data to get cynical.”

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And A Little Child Shall Lead Them" - Pastor Adam Hicks | Jul 4th 2026