Childlike Faith: Learning, Trusting, and Waiting - Joseph Vondenstein

I appreciate another opportunity to be

here before you in DJ's absence and

bring you a portion of the Lord's word.

You'll open me once again to Mark

Mark 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10, which was our starting

verse.

Mark 10 starting in verse 14.

But when Jesus saw it, he was greatly

displeased and said to them, "Let the

little children come to me, and do not

forbid them. For of such is the kingdom

of God. Assuredly I say to you, whoever

does not receive the kingdom of God as a

little child will by no means enter it."

And the past few months DJ has been

doing his series which he is called

shadows of substance which he is showing

examples throughout the scripture of

people who were in a way reflections of

Jesus or or telling things to Jesus

maybe pieces of prophecy maybe his

characters and all these different

situations where Jesus was shown or part

of Jesus an aspect what was going to

happen in the part of the Bible. And I

think

in a lot of ways God puts those things

for us to notice. He puts those things

in the Bible in those scripture for us

to see the similarities so we can

understand his hand in this in in that

time. And I think he does the same thing

in our lives where he puts relationships

in our lives. He puts people, places,

things that happen so we can see the

relationship between us and him. And

what I want to focus in on this morning

with you is the similarities in our

relationship with children. Whether that

means through raising them or just being

around them, talking to them, our

relationship with children and God's

relationship with us. Because as we are

told here, verse 15, assuredly I say to

you, whoever does not receive the

kingdom of God as a little child will by

no means enter it. We talked a little

bit about that this morning in Bible

class on accident. But it's very clear

that God has a special love for

children, for their innocence, for their

humility. And sometimes in scripture, we

are told that we are God's children or

we we are to become God's children or we

are to become like children

like we read here in Mark. So we're

going to look at some examples of what

we can learn from that dynamic, what we

can learn from that relationship, and

how that can help us to be better

Christians.

Turn me to Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 2 starting in verse 41.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

It's talking about Jesus here. His

parents went to Jerusalem every year at

the feast of the Passover. And when he

was 12 years old, they went up to

Jerusalem according to the custom of the

feast. When they had finished the days,

as they returned, the boy Jesus lingered

behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his

mother did not know him. [snorts] But

supposing him to have been in the

company, they went a day's journey and

sought him among their relatives and

their acquaintances. So when they did

not find him, they returned to Jerusalem

seeking him.

Now so it was that after three days they

found him in the temple sitting in the

midst of the teachers both listening to

them and asking them questions. And all

who heard him were astonished at his

understanding and his answers. So when

they saw him they were amazed. And his

mother said to him, "Son, why have you

done this to us? Look, your father and I

have sought you anxiously." And he said

to them, "Why do you seek me? Did you

not know I must be about my father's

business? But they did not understand

the statement which he spoke to them.

Children have an immense desire to

learn. And we see that not only in the

baby G or in the child Jesus. We see it

in the child Jesus, although he might

have been a special case, but we can see

it in children around us. I see it in my

little brothers all the time. They're

always asking me questions anytime I'm

working on my truck. My little I got a

little 11-year-old brother. He's asking

me, "What's that part? What's that do?

What's that for? Why is it broken? He's

trying to learn. He's trying to gain

more knowledge. And many of you have,

many of you have raised children. My

mother's a teacher. She gets the same

thing all the time. Asking questions,

trying to figure out about the world

around them. A lot of the toys, the

books, the things you buy them is so

they can learn, so they can grow, so

they can understand.

Children are born with that innate

desire to learn and that desire to grow.

As we become adults, often as many

Christians are, as we become adults and

we go and we move and we grow, we often

lose that desire to learn. We kind of

become stagnant. We become complacent

with life. We understand that these are

the way things go. Maybe we look at our

Bible as something we already

understand, we've already read, and we

don't maintain that desire to continue

moving forward, to continue asking

questions and growing. Turn me to Lukeap

11.

Luke 11. I'm going to start in verse

one.

Now it came to pass as he was praying in

a certain place when he ceased that one

of his disciples said to him, "Lord,

teach us to pray as John also taught his

disciples." So they said to them, so he

said to them, "When you pray, say, Our

Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done on

earth as it is in heaven.

Give us day by day our daily bread, and

forgive our sins, for we also forgive

everyone who is indebted to us. Do not

lead us into temptation, but deliver us

from the evil one."

What's happening here? The disciples are

asking him a question. Why? Because they

need to learn. They need to understand

how they pray. The disciples needed to

learn many things, not just this, but

this example that Jesus gave them, we

still pray today and we break it down to

understand what are the parts of prayer.

What is he doing? He's thanking God.

He's praising God. And he's asking him

for different things. We use this prayer

to study and understand how we should

make our prayers now.

The disciples were very much, you know,

they were they were babes in Christ.

They were they weren't they weren't

Christians at this point but they were

still coming to understand a lot of the

things and so they had to have that

desire to learn.

We as Christians have to learn these

things too. We have to make an effort to

put in to teaching not only not only our

children to pray but teaching new

Christians to pray as well and all sorts

of different things whether it's whether

it's praying whether it's giving whether

it's singing how the church works

leadership all these different things

all this effort we put in to teaching

and we have to teach our kids to pray at

dinner we have to give them

opportunities in worship service that

learning has to happen but before that

learning has to happen there has to be a

desire to seek out learning

No. And children possess that desire.

And that's something we have to make

sure we don't lose. If you're turning to

Acts chapter 8,

Acts 8 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 8, I'm going to start in

Acts 8 · chapter mention

verse 29.

And the spirit said to Philillip, "Go

near and overtake this chariot." So

Philip ran to him and heard him reading

the prophet Isaiah and said, "Do you

understand what you are reading?" And he

said, "How can I unless someone guides

me?" And he asked Philillip to come up

and sit with him. The place in the

scripture which he read was this. He was

led as a sheep to slaughter and as a

lamb before the sheer is silent. So he

opened not his mouth. In his humiliation

his justice was taken away. And who will

declare regeneration? For his life is

taken from the earth. So the unic

answered to Philip and said I ask you of

whom does the prophet say this of him or

of some other man? Then Philip opened

his mouth and beginning at this

scripture he preached Jesus to him. Once

again, we have another example of a man

who had the desire to learn. We know we

teach very often that the plan of

salvation is you have to hear the word.

You have to believe it. You have to

repent of your sin, confess, confess

that Jesus is the Christ. You have to be

baptized. Well, that hearing that is the

desire to learn. You have to want to

learn so you can go learn. And then

another example in Acts chapter 17.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 17 starting in verse 10.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

Then the brethren immediately sent Paul

and Silas away by night to Berea. When

they arrived, they went to the synagogue

of the Jews. And these were more

fair-minded than those of Thessalonica

in that they received the word with all

readiness and searched the scriptures

daily to find out whether these things

were so. Therefore, many of them

believed and not also a few of the

Greeks.

>> And also not a few of the Greeks,

prominent women as well as men.

>> So we use the example of Bita as well.

These Bereans

receiving the word of readiness,

searching the scriptures daily to find

out whether these things are true.

As Christians, it's important for us to

seek out truth not just because we have

it, but because we can often forget it.

We can often, you know, forget aspects

of it or forget little bits and pieces

in the scripture because we might have

grown used to coming to church twice a

week, three times a week. We might have

grown used to to reading our, you know,

[clears throat] what's what's before

class, but but not much else.

Children go and they seek out answers.

They seek out knowledge. They seek to

grow and to learn more about the world

around them all the time. And we see

that in them in our interactions with

them. And it is important that we

continue to seek it and to not lose that

desire as well. We have to humble

ourselves and realize we don't always

know everything that's going on. We

might have read every verse and heard

every Bible story, but we still need to

maintain that desire to learn and that

zeal that wants to grow. Otherwise, we

will lose that knowledge.

Turn with me to Joshua chapter 1.

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

Go through chapter 1. I'm going to start

in verse 9.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and

of good courage. Do not be afraid nor be

dismayed, for the Lord your God is with

you wherever you go.

The next point I would like to look at

is fear. We need to learn as Christians

to put aside our fears or rather to

learn and understand the true scale and

importance of our fears and what we're

afraid of. This phrase do not be afraid

like we see here

or similar phrases in scripture appear

over a hundred times

which I would say points to in an extent

to how much God cares not only about us

but about our feelings, our stressors,

what's on our mind, what is bothering

us, what is making our day-to-day life

hard. God cares about us and what we're

afraid of. Turn with me to Matthew

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

at chapter 6. I'm going to start in

verse 25.

Therefore, I say to you, do not worry

about your life, what you will eat, or

what you will drink, nor about your

body. what you will put on it is not is

not the body more than food. Is not life

more than food and the body more than

clothing? Look at the birds in the air

for they neither sow nor reap nor

gathering of barns yet your heavenly

father feeds them. Are they not of more

are you not of more value than men?

Which of you by worrying can add one

cubit to his stature? So why do you

worry about clothing?

Consider the liies of the field, how

they grow. They neither toil nor spin.

And yet I say to you that even Solomon

in all his glory was not a red like one

of these. Now if God so clothe the grass

of the field, which today is and

tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will

he not much more clothe you, oh you of

little faith? Therefore do not worry,

saying, "What shall we eat? What shall

we drink? Or what shall we wear? For

after all these things the Gentiles

seek. For your heavenly Father knows

that you need all these things. But seek

first the kingdom of God and his

righteousness, and all these things

shall be added unto you. Therefore, do

not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow

will worry about its own things.

Sufficient for the day is its own.

So we see here, it's very clear what

Jesus is telling us. He's telling us

that God takes care of us and he wants

us to know that. He wants us to be

mindful of that. the fact that he is

thinking of us. He is taking care of us.

He wants to take that burden off of our

shoulders so that we can focus on what

is important, the reason he put us here,

which is loving him and serving him and

being showing his example. And we're

supposed to love him deeply for that,

that he cares for us and that he wants

to take care of us in the same way as as

a parent and child dynamic. children,

you know, and in awful situations they

have to, but for the most part, children

don't have to worry about where their

next meal is going to come from. They

don't have to worry about where their

clothes are going to come from or what's

going to happen next because they have

parents who are going to take them to

school and take them back. They're going

to take them to church and they're going

to make sure they've got food and make

sure they've got clothes and and make

sure they have relationships and and can

be in, you know, sports or

extracurricular activities, whatever

they're going to do. Parents have an

innate desire to take care of their

children to make sure that they're

healthy and they're okay. Make sure that

they can focus on the things they need

to focus on, which is growing and

learning and gaining skills to go off

and later become a successful adult. The

same way God wants to take care of us

and let us take the time and the

opportunity to focus on what matters,

which is growing our relationship with

him and learning about him and spreading

the gospel. Those are things he wants us

to be worrying about and thinking about,

but often everything else gets in the

way and everything else can be a

distraction. We're we're very often

worried about our our job or or our

money or our relationships or, you know,

I know my trucks are always breaking

down. That's always something on my

mind. There's always something that's

worrying us and nagging us that's that's

pushing us. And God doesn't want us to

be distracted with all those things. He

wants us to understand that those fears,

those fears, he's going to take care of

them. Maybe not in the time frame we

want them to be taken care of, maybe not

the way we want them to be taken care

of, but they're going to be taken care

of.

You turn with me to Mark chapter 4.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

[cough]

Mark chapter 4, I'm going to start in

Mark 4 · chapter mention

verse 35.

On the same day, when the evening had

come, he said to them, "Let us cross

over to the other side." Now when they

had left the multitude, they took him

along in the boat as he was, and other

little boats were also with him. And a

great windstorm arose and the waves beat

into the boat so that it was already

filling. But he was in the stern asleep

on a pillow. And they awoke him and said

to him, "Teacher, do you not care that

we are perishing?" Then he arose and

rebuked the wind and said to the sea,

"Peace, be still." And the wind ceased.

And there was a great calm. And he said

to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is

it that you have no faith?" And they all

feared exceedingly and said to one

another, "Who can this be that even the

wind and the sea obey him?"

They're saying here, "Teacher,

[clears throat] don't you care if we

drown? Don't you care if we are dying?

Don't you care if we are going to

perish?" And he arrives and says, "Have

you no faith?" We do the same thing to

God whenever we stress and we get eaten

up and we get worried over all these

things that seem to be confronting us

and attacking us in our life. And we are

we are full of fear, right? What does

God tell us? He says he's going to take

care of it. And we're doing the same

thing to him. We're we're saying, you

know, God, please, don't you care? Can't

you help us? He's He's going to take

care of it. He's going to handle it

because he's told us that he will.

And see, to Jesus, when he wakes up,

it's no big deal to him. It's not an

issue to him. He's not worried. He's not

stressed because he knows that there's a

solution. I find myself often when I'm

worried about something or I'm stressed,

I have to tell myself, you know, think

how am I going to feel about it in five

or six months from now? How am I going

to look back on it? I know for a while

me and Emma were looking for a house and

that was very stressful because it was

very hard to find one that was good. And

we were looking for I think about four

or five months. And now that I'm past

it, I can look back and I say, you know,

look how stressed I was for all that and

for what, you know, it didn't it didn't

amount to anything. It didn't help the

process at all. We got through it and it

got over and now it's done. We have to

have the mindset to understand that it's

going to be taken care of. We just have

to get through it now. We have to

maintain that relationship with God. We

have to maintain faith with him in him.

And then Acts chapter 27

Acts 27 · chapter mention

Acts

Acts 27 · chapter mention

chapter 27. I'm going to start in verse

21.

But after long absence from food, then

Paul stood in the midst of them and

said, "May you should have listened to

me and not have sailed from Cree and

incurred this disaster and loss. And now

I urge you, take heart, for there will

be no loss of life among you, but only

of the ship." For there stood by me this

night an angel of the God of whom I

belong and of whom I serve, saying, "Do

not be afraid.

Paul, you must be brought before Caesar.

And indeed, God has granted you and all

those who sail with you. Therefore, take

heart, men, for I believe God will I

believe, God, that it will be just as it

was told me.

However, we must run around into a

certain island.

These men were afraid. Once again, we

have another example. The ship was same

thing. The ship was drowning. It was

going to go down. There was a big storm.

And Paul says, you know, God's going to

take care of us. And through this

dynamic, through understanding, you

know, God's looking down at us and

telling us, you know, we don't need to

worry about these fears. We see that

reflected in the way we're looking down

on children, right? What are the things

that children are afraid of? They're

afraid of, you know, the dark. They're

afraid of clowns or they're afraid of

the dentists, right? And to us, those

don't seem like big issues. Those those

don't seem like big things to be afraid

of. But to them, in that moment, it's

everything. It's terrifying. They'll

scream and cry and flail because that

thing is consuming their mind with fear,

with angst.

But on our scale, you know, as grown-up

people, we look down and we say, you

know, that's not a big deal. We're going

to get over it. We're going to get

through it. And that's the same way God

looks down at us when we're stressing

about things that seem bigger than life,

that seem bigger than us, that seem like

we can't get past it. The scale of our

fears is similar with how we look at

children's fears and how God looks at

our fears. So, we need to keep that in

mind. We need to keep, you know, we need

to keep perspective to understand how

big these things really are and

understand that they will be taken care

of and that it's not going to be the end

of our lives.

You turn with me to Proverbs chapter 22.

Proverbs 22 · chapter mention

Proverbs chapter 22

Proverbs 22 · chapter mention

and in verse six,

train up a child in the way he should go

and when he is old, he will not depart

from it.

The training of a child

probably teach most of you. I haven't

learned it as well yet, but it will

teach you patience. That is for sure.

And I think that's something we need to

learn from children and and from God the

way he looks at us as children is

patience. You turn with me to James

James 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

[clears throat]

James chapter 1 starting in verse one.

James 1 · chapter mention

James, a bondervant of God and of the

Lord Jesus Christ through the 12 tribes

which are scattered abroad. Greetings,

my brethren, count it all joy when you

fall into various trials, knowing the

testing of your faith produces patience.

But let patience have its perfect work

that you may be perfect and complete,

lacking nothing.

Verse three, I'm going to read it again.

And knowing the testing of your faith

produces patience. The testing of our

faith. My mother has told me many times.

She says when you first have a baby,

when you first have a kid, it's those

first maybe a year, year and a half when

they're still in the crib. Said for so

much of it, it is just a battle of will.

That baby doesn't want to go to sleep

and it's going to scream and it's going

to holler. It's going to want something.

But you have to show it. You're not

going to cave in. You have to show that

baby, you know, I'm going to be more

patient than you. I'm gonna have I'm

gonna be more stubborn than you and

you're going to do this the way I'm

telling you it's going to be done. And I

think about God a lot about that when

he's looking at us in our lives. How

stubborn I am in in maybe my sins or or

my problems. How stubborn the Israelites

were and turning back again and again

and again. You know, how eternally

patient God is and and how patient he is

with us and the mistakes I know I've

made time and time again. We have to

learn that from children

as well.

right here. I've already read it, but it

says, "Count all joy when you fall into

various trials, knowing the testing of

your faith produces patience." We have

to understand that the trials of life,

the trials of our children which we

raise, we have to teach them to be

patient through those and we have to be

patient through them as well because

they're difficult and strenuous and we

can't we can't snap on a dime. You turn

me to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 6

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

right behind this book.

Just one book back. Hebrews chapter 6.

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

Hebrews chapter 6 6 starting in verse

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

11.

And we desire that each one of you show

the same diligence to the full assurance

of O until the end, that you do not

become sluggish, but imitate those who

through faith and patience inherit the

promises. For when God made a promise to

Abraham, because he could swear by no

one greater, he swore by himself,

saying, "Surely blessing I will bless

you, and multiplying I will multiply

you." And so after he had patiently

endured, he obtained the promise.

Right? So Abraham right here is an

example. Abraham waited till his wife

was 90. He was 140 to have his first

child. He waited and waited and waited.

I don't think anyone's been more patient

than that. I I know I've never waited,

you know, 90 to 100 years for anything.

I doubt any of you have either.

But that was a trial for Abraham wanting

to have a child. and he had to wait and

hold on to his patience to inherit to

that promise.

And then another example would be Psalm

27.

Just turn with me there.

We sing this one a lot. Psalm 27

starting in verse one. The Lord is my

light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the

strength of my life. Of whom shall I be

afraid? When the wicked came against me

to eat of my flesh, my enemies and foes,

they stumbled and fell. Though an army

may encamp against me, my heart shall

not fear. Though war may rise against

me, in this I will be confident. One

thing I have desired the Lord, that I

will cease, that I may dwell in the

house of the Lord all the days of my

life, to behold the beauty of the Lord,

to inquire in his temple. For in the

time of trouble, he shall hide me in his

pavilion. In the secret place, his

tabernacle, he shall hide me. He shall

set me high upon a rock. And now my head

shall be lifted above my enemies all

around me. Therefore I will offer

sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle. I

will sing. Yes, I will sing praises to

the Lord. Hear, oh Lord, when I cry with

my voice. Have mercy also upon me and

answer me. When you said, "Seek my

face."

My heart said to you, "Your face, Lord,

I will seek. Do not hide your face from

me. Do not turn your servant away in

anger. You have been my help. Do not

leave me nor forsake me. Oh God of my

salvation, when my father and my mother

forsake me, the Lord will take care of

me. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead

me in a smooth path because of my

enemies, not deliver me to the will of

my adversaries, for false witnesses have

risen against me, and such as breathe

out violence. I would have lost heart

unless I believed that I would see the

goodness of the Lord in the land of the

living. Wait on the Lord. Be of good

courage, and he shall strengthen your

heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. A lot

of these psalms are King David waiting.

King David asking God, "Can you help me

get through this difficult time?"

Whether he's out waging war, he's having

problems in his personal life, whether

he's being hunted by King Saul. And a

lot of these psalms, he's asking God for

patience, for strength, for help, and

he's acknowledging that he has to wait.

The skill, the virtue of patience that

we have to learn, that we have to teach

our children

is is crucial to our life to being

successful adults and to being

successful Christians. We have to wait

on God to help us with our worries, with

our fears, and to help us learn, to help

us get through these struggles.

So in conclusion, as we look at the the

dynamic between children, between

ourselves, whether that's the parent

child relationship or just out us out

and about, [clears throat] it's

important to see how God places people

in our lives, the way he's placing

relationships to see that we look at

children very similar to the way that he

looks at us. We need to understand

that the things we're worried about are

not forever. They're not massive, but

not the end of the world. We understand

that God's going to take care of it. We

need to understand that that innocence,

that desire, the hunger for knowledge is

beautiful. It's there's a reason God put

it in them. And we need to imitate it.

We need to become like them in that

manner. And we need to learn to be

patient, whether that's from raising

them or from dealing with their

struggles and patience. We need to

understand the ability to wait and let

things simmer, to let things happen, to

let God's plan fold out in the way he's

going to have it work. We need to learn

all three of those skills. So in

conclusion, if you have perhaps never

become a Christian, if you are not yet a

child in Christ, you don't you're not

afforded salvation, you've got bigger

things to worry about, you're not going

to invitation now, or if you are a

Christian who is already a child of

Christ, you've fallen away, you've not

attended to your self and your

relationship with God as you should,

have that opportunity as you've heard,

you believe, then you can repent of your

sins, you confess Jesus, and you be

baptized and stay in