A Kingdom Of Children Series

A Kingdom Of Children, Mark 10:13-16

SHARPBegin a 5 part series of sermons on Kingdom of God (define it); explore it; today, find out who can enter kingdom GENERAL ACTIONTurn to Mark 10:13-16 (read it); passage tells us a few things about the kingdom; zeroes in on one main point POVEntrance into the Kingdom of God requires child-like faith; can’t work, buy, inherit your way in TRANSITION STATEMENTLets look more closely at passage and see what we can discover about the Kingdom

POINT 1The attraction to the Kingdom, v.13a POINT 2The distraction within the Kingdom, v.13b-14a POINT 3The transaction into the Kingdom, v.14b-16

SUBPOINT 1.1Jesus was real with the people; People are attracted to what is real, authentic; they desire it; Illustration of girl going to bed; not only real, but He accepted them SUBPOINT 2.1The disciples were standing in the way; forbid the people to bring the children to Jesus; He became “indignant” = “angry”; good reason, they were in opposition to key facet of the Kingdom SUBPOINT 3.1Jesus said the Kingdom belongs to the little children; not literal; made up of people who are teachable, moldable, dependent; yet 1 primary characteristic: trusting

SUBPOINT 1.2Acceptance is an attractive quality of the Kingdom; world seeks to separate and label, Kingdom seeks to accept and unite; John 3:16 – “whosoever” SUBPOINT 2.2God determines who is worthy of the kingdom, we don’t; wrong to impose human standards on spiritual kingdom; disciples – “too young”; we – “too bad, poor, troubled, weird, different”; we don’t say it out loud but thru silence SUBPOINT 3.2Child-like faith is the only way into the Kingdom; Illustration of jumping; the entrance exam asks one question: Do you trust Jesus? Not to keep you out of hell, but with your life; too many think Christianity = no fun, but look at v.16

SUBPOINT 1.3When believers live authentically, people will respond; authentic believers don’t label people; they practice acceptance, lift up Jesus; John 12:32 SUBPOINT 2.3We stand in the way when we are silent believers; Illustration of Bill Fay’s “sin of silence”; until confess sin of silence, witness, Kingdom will suffer SUBPOINT 3.3When we enter the Kingdom, Jesus blesses us; “bless” = “to speak well of with intention to prosper”; what Jesus did for children He’ll do for you

POVOnly people who exhibit child-like faith can enter the Kingdom of God SPECIFIC ACTIONWe invite you to come to Jesus today, enter the Kingdom SHARPIllustration of “Faith in God” card CONCLUSIONThe bus is stopped; do you have your “faith in God” card?

John 12:32 “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”

There was a little girl who didn’t want to go to bed because she was afraid to be left in there alone. One night she begged her mother, “Please stay in here. I don’t want to be by myself.” The mother was used to this and had used all sorts of things to reason with her daughter about this fear. This particular time she said, “Well, here’s your doll. She will keep you company.” “But I don’t want a doll,” the little girl sobbed. “I want someone with skin on their face.” In other words, “I want someone who is real”.

In “Share Jesus Without Fear”, Bill Fay speaks very bluntly about the sin of silence. He states that believers sin when they remain silent and do not share Jesus with others. He says that the sin of silence is a deadly sin and he’s right. We erroneously think that by remaining silent about our faith in Jesus Christ, we are taking a neutral position. But the truth is, by our silence, we condemn those around us to death and suffering for eternity.

Back when the boys were small, we belonged to a small country club that had a pool. Sometimes when we would go to the pool to swim, the boys would bring friends with them. On one such occasion, I was at the pool with them and one of my boys wanted me to go down to the deep end and catch him when he jumped into the water. His buddy came with him. They stood on the side and my son immediately jumped into my arms. I then helped him to the ladder and he climbed out. “Do you want to try it?” I asked his friend, but he shook his head and backed away. Even though he saw me catch my son, he wasn’t willing to trust me to catch him. But my son trusted me with an innocent, child-like faith because he knew me and knew he could trust me.

A small boy riding a bus home from Sunday school was very proud of the card he had received, which had a picture and a caption that read: “Have Faith in God.” Then to his dismay the card slipped from his hand and fluttered out the window. “Stop the bus!” he cried. “I’ve lost my ‘faith in God!’” The driver pulled the bus to a stop, and as the lad climbed out and went to retrieve his card, one of the adult riders smiled and made a comment about the innocence of youth. A more perceptive adult observed, “All of us would be better off if we were that concerned about our faith."