July 13, 2025

Luke 18:15-43

Entering the Kingdom like a Child

Sunday Sermons

In Luke 18, Jesus makes a stunning claim: “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

It’s a simple sentence—but it raises an important question: What does it actually mean to have child-like faith?

How we answer that shapes not only how we relate to God, but how we understand the gospel itself. Through the contrasting stories of a wealthy ruler and a blind beggar, Jesus paints a vivid picture of what it looks like to truly receive the kingdom—not with achievement, but with humility, trust, and desperate dependence.

Join us as we continue our study of Luke 18 and consider what it means to come to God not as those who have it all together—but as those who simply know their need.

Speaker

Ryan Motta

Series

The Gospel According to Luke

Go to Series

Scripture

Luke 18:15-43

Topics
Community Life Growth & Discipleship

Sermon Notes

Luke 18:15-43

Entering the Kingdom like a Child

Pastor Ryan Motta

“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
Jeremiah 2:11

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
John 17:3

“And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘you lack one thing: go sell all that you have to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me.’”
Mark 10:21

“The rich young ruler was not lost because he was rich; he was lost because he trusted his riches more than Christ.”
D.A. Carson

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.”
Ephesians 2:4-5

“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession… Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Jim Elliot

Child-like faith looks like:

1. Admitting your need (vv.15-17; 35-43)

“Spiritual maturity is growing in awareness that I can’t do it alone.”
Henri Nouwen

“The Kingdom of Heaven is not for the well-meaning: it is for the desperate.”
James Denney

“The gospel is not for the proud, the self-sufficient, or the morally upright. The gospel is for those who know they’re lost, who know they can’t save themselves. All you need is need.”
Tim Keller

2. Receiving the grace He freely gives (vv. 18-31)

“The posture most natural to him is not a pointed finger but open arms.”
Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly

 “Christ is a better Savior than you are a sinner.”
J.C. Ryle

3. Trusting in God alone every day (vv.35-43)

“The gospel is not just the way we get in, but the way we go on.”
John Piper

Three questions to discern what you are trusting in:

  1. What do I most fear losing?
  2. What gives me a sense of worth or security?
  3. Where do I turn for comfort when life gets hard?

Discussion Questions

  • Do you identify more with the rich young ruler clinging to control or the blind beggar crying out in desperation?
  • What would change in your life this week if you were to have a more “childlike” faith?
  • Are there any “shiny objects in the hole” you are unwilling to release that are hindering your walk with Christ?

Songs, Readings & Prayer

Songs

“All My Boast Is in Jesus“ by Bryan Fowler, Matt Papa, Matthew Boswell, Keith Getty
“All Hail The Power Of Jesus’ Name“ by Oliver Holden, Edward Perronet, and John Rippon
“Be Thou My Vision“ by Mary Byrne, Eleanor Henrietta Hull
“Jesus Paid It All“ by Elvina Mabel Hall
“Doxology” by Thomas Ken and Louis Bourgeois
All songs are used by Permission. CCLI License #2003690

Call To Worship: Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Classic Prayer: Charles Spurgeon, 1834-1892

O God, we pray again Fulfill that covenant promise “I will take away the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” May we ever be tender towards Thee; May we feel Thy faintest motion; May even the gentlest breath of Thy Holy Spirit Suffice to move us… May we be as children obedient to a father; May we yield our members cheerfully To the instruments of righteousness; May we have a natural desire Wrought in the new nature Towards everything that is pure and honest, Unselfish and Christly. O Spirit of God, dwell in us.

Confession of Faith: The Apostles’ Creed, “And is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father”

Leader: What does it mean for Jesus to sit at God the Father’s right hand?
People: The throne on the king’s right hand was traditionally the seat of one appointed to exercise the king’s own authority. Ruling with his Father in heaven, Jesus is Lord over the Church and all creation, with authority to equip His Church, advance His kingdom, bring sinners into saving fellowship with God the Father, and finally establish justice and peace upon the earth.

Leader: What does Jesus do for you as He sits at the Father’s right hand?
People: Because Jesus intercedes for us as our great high priest, I may now boldly approach the Father and offer my confessions, praises, thanksgivings, and requests to Him.

Leader: What does Jesus’ heavenly ministry mean for your life today?
People: I can rely on Jesus always to be present with me by the Holy Spirit as He promised, and I should always look to Him for help as I seek to serve Him.

Source: ACNA, Q. 73, 74, 75

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