Faith Like A Child Series

Faith Like a Child - 1

MY GOD IS FOR ME

December 1, 2013

Today were starting a Christmas series called “Faith Like a Child.” I want to use a foundational verse which comes from a very important story in Mark 10.

Jesus was talking to some children and there were a lot of parents who wanted Jesus to bless their kids or just touch them. But the disciples became really upset about this. They were like, ‘Hey, wait a minute; this is the Son of God! He’s way too important; so get your kids away from Him!’

And Jesus didn’t like that at all. In fact, Mark said Jesus was indignant, He was really upset and He said, ‘No, no, no, no, no; let the little children come to me!’

And then Jesus said something I believe is really important for us. In Mark 10:15, Jesus said ~

15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

We must receive the Kingdom of God like a child. Jesus was implying we should have a very child-like faith and trust in God.

And so, for the next four weeks, I want to look at four of the different attributes of God from the perspective of a child. Today, we’re going to talk about the goodness of God. A child might say, “My God is for me.”

Over the next weeks, we’re going to look at the fact that ~

“My God is with me.”

“My God forgives me.”

And in week 4, we’ll look at the Omnipotence of God, as a child would say, “My God can do anything!”

Unless you have faith like a child you can’t experience all that God wants us to experience.

So, today we’re looking at the fact that a child might say, “My God is for me.”

Most children who grow up in the church world, and hear the stories of the Bible, usually have a very simple faith, which is good, in the goodness of God. We teach them songs like, “Jesus loves me this I know... ... for the Bible tells me so!” Or “Jesus loves the little children, red and yellow, black and white they are precious in His sight!” And the little children, they just take on this real simple child-like faith, “My God is good and my God loves me and my God is for me!” And they have this great, simply child-like faith . . . until — one day something happens, something they didn’t want and didn’t expect.

I’ve known kids who believed in the goodness of God and then their parent’s start to always argue . . . so the child kneels down by his or her bed and prays, “God please help my mommy and daddy to get along, to stay married.” And then, mom and dad divorce and the child starts to wonder, “Where was God in that? If God was for me why did that happen?”

Or, the kid has a really special relationship with her grandma, Nana, Mimi or Granny or whatever she calls her – goes into the hospital. And she prays and prays and prays and knows God is going to heal her, but Nana doesn’t come home. And she starts to wonder, “Where’s God in this?”

And sometimes the child gets sick or injured and it rocks their world. They can’t do what they always wanted to do, and they pray, and the church prays, but their sickness stays, or they realize they can’t do what they wanted to do, and they wonder, “Where’s God? What did I do?”

And tragically, sometimes some people conclude, “If God is good and if God is for me, why are all of these things happening? So, God just isn’t for me,” or “I suppose God isn’t really good.”

And the reality is this — some of you are there right now! You grew up and you called yourself a Christian and some things happened and now you say, “I’m not really sure what I believe.”

Or some of you, you may just kind of be here today, but you’re really not sure where you stand on all of the religious stuff and is God there? Is He real and if God is real, is He good?

I watched a video which may speak to many of you. It was written and presented by a teenager. Let’s look at it . . .

VIDEO

So, that’s just to bring encouragement to you on the first Sunday of Advent! Do you feel better? But — here’s the reality — this is where a lot of people are at right now! How can I presume God is really for me and loves me?