1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,600 Thank you for listening to this message from Life House Church. 2 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:18,480 Let me just share a brief word with you. 3 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:23,800 We're going to go to Matthew chapter 18 and we're going to read verses 1 through 5. 4 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:24,800 Let's pray real quick. 5 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:30,080 Heavenly Father God, we thank you for this opportunity that we have to be in your word 6 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:31,080 and to just draw near to you. 7 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:35,720 I thank you that even because of the snow that we have technology that allows us to 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:36,920 connect with one another. 9 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:42,480 It allows us to share your word and allows us to just continue to be in community with 10 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:43,480 one another. 11 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:49,240 God, as we go over the scriptures this morning and as we go over the revelations that I have 12 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:54,320 received from you, from this word, God, we just pray that you continue to bring to life 13 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:55,320 your word. 14 00:00:55,320 --> 00:01:00,040 That whatever it is that you want us to know, to listen to, to believe, to hear, that you 15 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:01,840 will do it exactly where we are. 16 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:06,400 Though we love gathering together, your presence goes with us wherever we go. 17 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:10,520 So Father, we just thank you for loving us, for guiding us, for being with us even this 18 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:12,240 morning as we are separate. 19 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,760 And we pray that you just keep us all safe until we return again together. 20 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:18,600 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 21 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:25,400 Alright, so Matthew chapter 18 verses 1 through 5 said, At that time the disciples came to 22 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,400 Jesus saying, Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 23 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:34,120 Jesus called to a little child, set him in the midst of them, and said, Assuredly I say 24 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:39,680 to you, unless you are converted and become like little children, you by no means will 25 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:41,720 enter the kingdom of heaven. 26 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:46,960 Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom 27 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:53,320 of heaven, and whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me. 28 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:58,760 So when someone says you're acting like a child, it's not exactly a compliment, right? 29 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:03,760 But biblically, the Lord is telling us to pay close attention to the examples set by 30 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:04,760 children. 31 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:13,800 Because, you see, we as children of God are to boldly seek to be child-like, not childish. 32 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:18,560 In his short interaction in Matthew with the disciples, Jesus is giving a pretty sharp 33 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:19,560 correction here. 34 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:25,400 He's pointing out the distinction between their current behavior and the desired behavior. 35 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:30,560 And while the disciples are focused on their own agenda, Matthew calls a child him. 36 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,600 And Mark's gospel actually adds to this imagery. 37 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:38,400 He says that Jesus takes this boy into his arms. 38 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:43,840 So this childish argument about greatness should have been focused on being child-like 39 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:44,840 instead. 40 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:49,280 And you know, they have that same root, but there's a pretty clear difference here. 41 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:54,640 One of them is immature and it's self-righteous, but the other is innocent. 42 00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:56,120 It's trusting. 43 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:00,200 One of them is looking for something so much bigger and so much better, but the other one 44 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:04,520 is realizing that the best thing is right in front of them. 45 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:10,320 So as we're thinking about being child-like instead of childish, maybe it's that sharp 46 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:15,760 correction that we need or a reminder that although we may not be in our dream job, we 47 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:21,760 may not have the house that we want, we may not be at the school of our dreams, or maybe 48 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:28,600 we're just not where we want to be in life, but regardless, we should be close to him. 49 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:34,800 We should be pursuing him in its simplest sense, which means coming near, sitting on 50 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:40,960 his knee and resting on his chest, overall just finding comfort in him. 51 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:45,660 Because we as children of God are to boldly depend on the Father. 52 00:03:45,660 --> 00:03:47,000 Think about this. 53 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:52,080 When you have a little child that you are talking to or something, do you have to teach 54 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,040 them how to make a request? 55 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:56,040 No. 56 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:57,740 They will let you know. 57 00:03:57,740 --> 00:04:02,480 Even little babies who don't actually know what they want are still going to make sure 58 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,280 you know that they need something. 59 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:11,160 And when it comes to their request, you could be busy, you could be mid-task, mid-conversation, 60 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,360 and yet they'll interrupt. 61 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:14,880 They'll cut to the front of the line. 62 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:17,400 They'll assume they're your number one priority. 63 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:19,240 They'll run to you with their requests. 64 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:24,700 They'll feel free to talk and honestly, they'll even likely let down their guard and expose 65 00:04:24,700 --> 00:04:26,580 their true emotions to you. 66 00:04:26,580 --> 00:04:31,000 Sometimes whether a sibling stole their toy or they're hungry, they want something from 67 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,760 the checkout line, maybe they're just bored. 68 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:40,400 But the closest ones to them get this unfiltered request that is unbothered by whatever it 69 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:42,640 is that you are doing. 70 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:48,600 And likewise, we can have that same bold relationship with the Lord as our Father. 71 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:54,320 It's a childlike dependence that you and I can take everything humbly before the Lord 72 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:56,000 and He hears us. 73 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:01,400 Philippians 4, 6-7 tells us to be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and 74 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:07,520 supplication, but with thanksgiving to let your requests be made known to God and that 75 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:14,960 the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ 76 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:15,960 Jesus. 77 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:22,240 You know, if we set aside that childish mentality of seeking greatness, we see that God tells 78 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:28,080 us that greatness is actually found in this childlike humility of coming to Him and depending 79 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,200 on Him for everything. 80 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:35,680 Like all of those examples, one more thing that I've got to say to you is that children 81 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,560 of God believe what He says. 82 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:43,480 To act like a child is not just being vulnerable and defenseless, but rather it's to have the 83 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:47,620 bold faith and dependence on our Heavenly Father who knows much more than we do. 84 00:05:47,620 --> 00:05:52,200 And if we want to proclaim that we have received Jesus, then we can't treat Him like a novelty 85 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:57,200 item that we use when we need it and we just put it back on the shelf, but it's a reminder 86 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:03,520 that as we get to know Him, He'll be calling us to act with childlike faith. 87 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:07,760 And so as we're continuing through LH3, our prayer is that those three minutes are just 88 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:12,120 not becoming enough, that those conversations that you're having with your three friends 89 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:17,520 are beginning to bleed into conversations that you're having with other people because 90 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,920 you just can't wait to share what the Lord is revealing to you and telling you. 91 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,160 And that in these three months, that it's not going to stay there, but they're going 92 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:31,920 to be catalysts as you pursue that lifetime rhythm of pursuing the one who was and is 93 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:33,840 and is to come. 94 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:35,500 But how do we do it? 95 00:06:35,500 --> 00:06:39,780 How do we take what we know we should do as children of God and turn it into the things 96 00:06:39,780 --> 00:06:42,120 that we are doing? 97 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:46,600 Through LH3, our prayer is that it becomes obvious that you need Him. 98 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:51,600 You know how you get children or even your adult self to eat veggies and salads and other 99 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:56,120 healthy foods because you know that they're good for you, but you don't even really know 100 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:57,120 if you want to. 101 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:01,840 Well, it's a bit like the reminder that we need the bread of life. 102 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:06,840 We make excuses for surviving on those little nibbles like the verse of the day, which is 103 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:11,040 great, but scripture tells us that apart from Him, we can do nothing. 104 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:16,360 And as we've talked about today, we see that unless we become like little children, we 105 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:18,400 won't enter the kingdom. 106 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:19,880 And so we need to make it attractive. 107 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:25,440 Do you know why kids' toys are packaged in bright colors with all those try me features? 108 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,040 Well, it's because it engages their brain. 109 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:32,640 It causes them to look at something, to do a double take, to interact with it, and it 110 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,860 makes them engage in it more, makes them want it more. 111 00:07:35,860 --> 00:07:40,560 Kids even watch toy reviews, videos of kids opening toys and playing with them and making 112 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:44,960 comments and you know, it sounds silly, but if you've ever watched a product review, you've 113 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:45,960 done it too. 114 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:49,080 Essentially, what it's doing is piquing your interest. 115 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:54,840 It's making you want to know more, to see what it can do, to envision it in your own 116 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:59,360 life and it becomes something you desire because you've seen what it can do and now you want 117 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:01,440 it to. 118 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,360 So you understand that maybe, but it's still hard. 119 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:06,440 Well, okay, let's make it easy. 120 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:10,360 You know, I saw a video the other day about a woman who put her Bible in the middle of 121 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:11,360 her kitchen. 122 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:16,680 It was a place that she already spent a good amount of time preparing food for her family 123 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:20,840 and she found herself reading it more casually because it was somewhere she already was rather 124 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:25,240 than somewhere she needed to manually squeeze into her schedule. 125 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:30,640 I think sometimes that we forget that prayer and time with God is also to be threaded in 126 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:31,640 everything that we do. 127 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:36,120 I mean, first, Thessalonians will tell us that we're supposed to pray without ceasing, 128 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:40,960 which doesn't mean constant words, but it means just that constant awareness that we 129 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:44,800 have a Father that we can talk to, that we can learn more about, that we can draw near 130 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:46,560 to. 131 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:47,560 And maybe that's just it. 132 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:54,080 Maybe you need that physical reminder that somewhere, set somewhere to remind you to 133 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:56,240 do a task before another task. 134 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,120 So maybe like every evening you watch TV. 135 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,360 Well, what if you set your Bible in your seat? 136 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:07,240 And so you physically would have to pick up that Bible and move it before you watched 137 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:08,240 anything else. 138 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,960 But instead of putting it on a table, what if we put it on a lap? 139 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:17,320 What if we opened up the Word of God before doing absolutely anything else? 140 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,560 What works for you might not work for somebody else. 141 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:23,160 I mean, if you're not someone who cooks a lot, I wouldn't recommend you putting your 142 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:24,760 Bible in the kitchen. 143 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:25,760 But that's not the point. 144 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,480 The point is pursuing Him. 145 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:31,640 So lastly, let's make it satisfying. 146 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:36,800 You know how when you go to a doctor or the dentist, and I'm specifically talking kids, 147 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,240 when kids go to the doctor or the dentist, there's usually a treat for them at the end. 148 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,360 You know, sometimes it's a lollipop or a sticker. 149 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,600 Basically it's a reward for something that they needed to do. 150 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:52,280 Apparently, I never grew out of that because on New Year's Day, when my fiance, Ryan, and 151 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:56,400 my best friend, Aaron and I decided that we would start going to the gym, immediately 152 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,760 as we were leaving the gym, I saw this bin of candy. 153 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:04,840 And every single time I leave the gym, I grab one tiny little piece of candy. 154 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:05,840 Why? 155 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:11,240 Well, because it's something that I need to do, partnered with something that I like to 156 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:13,280 do, which is have a sweet little treat. 157 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:18,920 Now I don't recommend you grab a whole handful as you're leaving because that's not going 158 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:20,920 to help you. 159 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:27,040 But maybe you do need to add a little something to add and to make your time a little bit 160 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:29,720 more satisfying to get started. 161 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,800 So overall, my parting statement to you is this. 162 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:37,840 Acting like a child means boldly pursuing and trusting that he knows what's best for 163 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,560 us because he is our loving father. 164 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:47,000 And although we fail, although we fight, although we struggle, he will always be the one that 165 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:48,280 we can depend on. 166 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:52,080 LH3 is that way for us to intentionally pursue him. 167 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:57,440 And I encourage you to take advantage of that opportunity today and every day. 168 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,000 So thanks for tuning in this morning. 169 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,400 Since we didn't get to hug you, I would love to hear from you. 170 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:07,880 Feel free to leave us a comment and we just pray that you guys have an incredible week 171 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:09,880 and we will see you again next week. 172 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:10,880 God bless. 173 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:15,880 Thank you for tuning in to this message from Life House Church. 174 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:22,880 We pray that you were impacted powerfully by this message. 175 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:29,880 If you have been personally affected by our ministry and you would like to find a way 176 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:39,240 to partner with us as we love God, love people every day, visit our website at www.lifehousecog.com.