Here's Pastor Alan Wright with Today's Blessing: a Biblical Faith-Filled Vision. for your life.
Well, here's an unlikely blessing for today. O you of little faith, Matthew fourteen thirty one, Yeah, they're the words of Jesus to the submerged Peter. who had taken a few steps on the water before his faith and body sunk into the Galilee, tisk tisk, we assume Jesus to think. Shame on you for such dinky faith, we imagine the Saviour broods. But what if the nineteenth century Prince of Preachers Charles Spurgeon had it right when he said If he does but acknowledge that it is faith, then the root of the matter is in us.
Jesus is named for Peter. many types of the disciples, little faith ones, one word in the Greek. maybe wasn't a term of derision, but affection. Maybe Jesus understood Peter's baby faith and blessed him with the affirmation. I see some real faith in you.
Might only be a little faith. But it is faith indeed. If you have a mountain in your way, I bless your little faith. After all, It only takes a mustard seed. A little faith.
can go a long way. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. Jesus brings a little child and says, This is the greatest right here. If you want. to taste anything of heaven.
Humble yourself. and become Like a little child. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt.
Excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, No Worries, as presented at Ronalda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Allen Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. You can learn more about it, contact us at pastoralen.org.
That's pastorallen.org. Or call 877-544-4860. That's 877-544. 4860. More on all of this later in the program.
But now. Let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright. You ready for some good news? Living a worry-free life isn't complicated.
Why, even a two-year-old knows how to do it. And that's what I want to talk to you about. We go to Matthew chapter 18. At verse 1. Matthew eighteen, verse one.
In our series, we call no Worries. Emphasis on No. None whatsoever. That's actually God's will for our lives. Matthew 18:1, at that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
and calling to him a child, He put him in the midst of them, and said, Truly I say to you, Unless you turn and become like children. You'll never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, is the greatest. In the kingdom of heaven. You ever wish you could be a child again?
I mean, I know some little children have been through really rough starts in the world, but for a whole lot of us in this. room and others that are listening and we We'd have to say that those earliest days were so carefree, so simple. Oh, for the days your biggest financial burden was worrying about what to do with the money from the lemonade stand and uh in which you uh Just never wanted the day to end. You ever remember feeling like that? I just remember, oh, it was an unwelcome intrusion.
when my mother would say, Alan, Dinner time. and have to stop playing kick the can. Stop the game of horse over at the Ryan's house on their basketball. court and Come in and eat food. But what was even worse was bedtime.
Time to go to bed. Aww. Just wanted to keep going. What happened? on the path to adulthood.
From those days, Because now dinner time and bedtime are highlights. Amen. You know, when the disciples asked Jesus, who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? I would have almost expected him to rebuke them for asking such a self-centered question. Because you know the disciples bumbling around and always kind of thinking of themselves, they hadn't gotten it yet.
You know, it's not really till after Pentecost when the Holy Spirit comes that they really understand everything fully. And so they're always asking these questions, you know, and they're always jockeying for position. And so they're coming to, they're like, who's the greatest in the kingdom? I'm thinking, is it one of the religious scholars? Because the scholars, the rabbis, were really looked up to.
Or is it religious leaders like Pharisees that have Have authority in the religious aristocracy of the day. They're probably saying, Am I the one that's the greatest in the kingdom? Because look at all my passion, Jesus. Who's the greatest in the kingdom? And you'd expect Jesus to say, quit asking such self-centered questions, but he doesn't.
Instead, Jesus seems to welcome the question. He seems to say, I'm glad you asked. You want to know who has got the most of heaven in their life. You want to know who the greatest is in the kingdom of heaven, I'll tell you. And he calls a little child up.
The Greek word means a little child. In Luke's Gospel, we see Jesus in a similar context taking babies in his arms to bless them. Mark speaks of a time that he is taking a child in his arms, and so scholars agree this is probably a little child. I'm thinking a toddler. Maybe a two-year-old.
Just looks for a nearby two-year-old in the crowd and brings the two-year-old up and says, Here you go. This is the greatest. in the kingdom. You know. That had to be the greatest shock imaginable because children were really just looked down on inside like they had no place in society.
And Jesus brings a little child and says, This. is the greatest right here. If you want to taste anything of heaven. Humble yourself. and become Like a little Child.
Children Little children. before they've learned how to worry. are some of the happiest people on the face of the earth. And Jesus is saying, I want you to learn. from them.
I want to talk to you today as we are exploring how God sets us free from all of our anxieties. how this simple little model It's something we can all understand and yet runs so, so deep. A little child. Our best example. of the worry-free life.
There's so many things that are attractive about little children. I just love little kids. I think Jesus loved little kids, just loved them. Other people like They found it to be distracting or whatever. Don't bother Jesus with the little children.
He's like, No, let the little children come to me. I love the little kids. And I love little kids. I like a preschooler, a two-year-old, three-year-old. They're just, they're so, you know, one of the things I love about little kids is they don't have yet this idea of dread about work.
There's no distinction between work and play with a two-year-old. Have you ever noticed that a two-year-old would give almost anything to do the chores that you hate to do? They want to have little pretend kitchen sets that they can play with. They want to get plastic tool belts so they could help work on something. They want to do anything.
That we might go, oh, that's dreaded work. Our son Bennett was one. We had one afternoon, we were keeping my brother and sister-in-law's kids, Jake. and Anna Catherine. And they were, Jake was three.
And Catherine was one. They came over, and we spent the late afternoon. Playing kickball and watching Winnie the Pooh videos, eating popsicles, you know, trying to... Have a fun time.
Well, Catherine and Kevin got a little time out. And then I ruined it all because I said, I got to go and mow the lawn. It's going to rain tomorrow. And I've got to go just mow it real quick and just keep playing with the kids. I'll be back in in a little bit.
And I go out to mow the lawn. It's a hot day. Humid. August afternoon. Mowing a push mower non-self propelled mower through grass that was too high.
On a hot August afternoon with the humidity is not My favorite thing. And I'm out there pushing the mower, yellow jackets nipping at my ankles, sweat running down in my eyes, and just thinking, I can't wait to get done with this. And I make a couple of passes through it and I look over there and it's three-year-old nephew Jake standing on the sidewalk waving at me. I thought, what is wrong? I turned the mower off.
I went up and said, Yes, Jake, what is it? He said, I want to help you mow the lawn, Uncle Alan. And I just knelt down and I said, now Jake, I said, the big mower is a big machine. It's not real safe. I said, only Uncle Alan can push this.
I said, but you run inside, and I think they're watching another poo video. And I'll be done in just a little bit. And I mowed a couple more passes, you know, and I look over there, and there he is still out there, just waving and crying out. I can hear him just crying out. I said, yes, yes, Jake.
He said, I really want to help you mow the lawn, Uncle Alan. Please let me help you mow the lawn. Please. I'm thinking, what am I? I got him a broom and I said, here, you sweep the sidewalk.
See how this grass is getting on the sidewalk? Sweep it off. That's an important job. And I'll finish mowing.
So I gave him the broom. He swept a couple things. I made a couple more passes, and I look over, and there he is, standing on the sidewalk, dropped the broom, crying his eyes out. Just crying and crying. I stopped the mower a third time.
I came and said, Yes, Jake. He said, I just wanted to help you mow the lawn, Uncle Al. iPhone. What is wrong with this picture? I felt like saying to him, listen.
Don't you understand? This is work. This is dreaded, miserable work. Nobody wants to do this. There are popsicles inside.
Little two-year-old doesn't even doesn't even know the meaning of work. Life's just an adventure. And one of the things great about kids, They They just laugh. Get around a toddler just so you can laugh. I read this week that the average adult last laughs 15 times or less per day.
And that a preschooler laughs on average 300 to 400 times a day. 300 to 400 times a day, you know what that means? You're just laughing all day long. Everything's funny. Everything's great.
Everything's wonderful. Uh That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. When you make a gift to Alan Wright Ministries this month, we want to give you Alan Wright's top 10 CD album or digital download. Are you ready for some good news? Make your gift today and discover God's grace afresh with Alan Wright's top 10 of the first decade.
When you give today, we will send you to day's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allan Wright Ministries. Call us at eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. That's eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. Or come to our website, pastorallen.org.
Today's teaching now continues. Here once again. is Alan Wright. You know, they're finding out laughter is. Literally good like a medicine.
Check the Mayo Clinic lists benefits of laughter. Get this? Short term, it'll stimulate internal organs, your heart, lung, muscles. increases endorphins, positive hormones being released in your body. AIDS muscle relaxation.
And over time, lots of laughter improves your immune system. Been proven to fight stress and potentially ward off more potentially serious illnesses. This is the Mayo Clinic reporting this. Relieves pain. People who laugh a lot have a significantly less chance of heart disease.
Um Laughter can lower your blood pressure. One recent study has shown that laughter can lower blood sugar levels in diabetics. But if you're unconvinced by any of those wonderful benefits of laughter, I think I could convince you with the findings of a recent Vanderbilt study. that revealed 10 to 15 minutes of laughter Burns 50 calories. I'll go on the laughter diet.
laugh all day long and lose that pesky weight. You know what's so interesting about the way children laugh and how attractive it is and how good it is for you. Is it when in the 1990s a powerful move of the Holy Spirit swept through many different segments of the church in which people would be overcome by the Spirit and just start laughing? And I was one of them, and it was wonderful. And in many ways, the joy of the Holy Spirit has been one of the primary things that changed my life.
And this whole thing, and what was so remarkable about it was that it got a lot of criticism. You know, people laughing in church. And what are they doing laughing in church? And the funniest thing I ever heard was one minister who was criticizing the movement, got interviewed, and the interviewer said, But doesn't the Bible say joy is a good thing and a fruit of the Spirit? And the minister said, Yes.
But joy is a very serious thing. Ha ha ha ha ha. Laughter does good like a medicine and the little kids because they're not worrying about anything, they're laughing 300 times a day. And you know what they they know how to celebrate. I think Jesus wanted us to learn to celebrate.
You understand God's a God of celebration, right? G.K. Chesterton was the one who said, I think God didn't make all the daisies at one time. GK Church said, I think maybe God made a daisy. And then, like a little child, was so excited by what he'd just done that he said, do it again.
And then he made another day and said, do it again. Do it again. Have you ever noticed how a child will celebrate something and you'll get bored, and then the child will celebrate it again and want to do it as many times as you're willing to do it? And never grow tired of it? And the adults go, I've been there, done that.
Give me something better to celebrate. Yeah. Mm. I was at an airport one time. It was one of those late afternoons.
People were tired. Nothing like an airport around 6 o'clock in the afternoon while people are waiting to still catch a flight. It's the most somber place. It's the most depressing looking people you ever see. It was one person in the airport, though, that was celebrating.
I think he was three. He put his face over against the glass, and every time a plane would take off. He would kind of spin around. Squeal with delight, fall down on the ground, and get up and throw his hands up like it was a touchdown, and he'd wait for the next plane to take off. He was having the best time.
You can't even put words to how much fun he was having celebrating. When you don't worry You got room to celebrate. And there's something about the pathway to adulthood that we Celebrate less and less and less and less, and we start narrowing what we can celebrate. Remember when Bennett was little, we were watching a basketball game, and he liked watching it. He called it hoop ball.
Because you try to get it through the hoop. And he would celebrate. Anytime somebody got it through the hoop. Big celebration, he'd start dancing around.
Well, one time I was watching a Carolina game, and it was a close game, and uh. He's dancing around when the other team gets it through the hoop and I said Oh no, son, I gotta educate you here, son. I said, we don't celebrate when the other team gets it through the hoop. He's like, we don't. And no, no, we got to narrow our celebration down.
And we keep narrowing it and narrowing it and narrowing it. I think one of the things that happens if you don't worry. is you become like a little child and you become much more honest. Much more open. It's our worry and our fear of what people will think that keeps us from being able to truly be open with other human beings.
I'm not saying you got to be like our kids were in public. We're either just, you know. You gotta watch out, they'll say anything. I remember We're pushing one of our children in a stroller in a busy, crowded shopping mall. At the age where the child is still in diapers but can talk.
Just pushing it through and People everywhere. All of a sudden, my child is hollering out. I got a stinky diaper.
Okay, okay, okay. I got a stinky diaper.
I'll just push on his lane. How many adults have they got? I need some help. Here I got a stinky diaper. They are So attractive.
Jesus echoes a common refrain of the scripture. A little child shall lead them, Isaiah 11, 6. In Matthew 19, the children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. And the disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them. For to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.
And Matthew 21. He echoes the scripture, from the lips of children and infants, you, Lord, have called forth your praise. Matthew 11, at that time Jesus declared, I thank you, Father. Lord of heaven and earth, that you've hidden these things from the wise and understanding. And you have revealed them.
To little children. See, if you take the anxiety out of work, it's play. If you take the anxiety Out of your thoughts about the future, you're left with laughter. If you take the anxiety Out. of any competition you celebrate more.
If you take the anxiety Out of your soul you can be open. and have authentic friendships. Remember, we learned that babies are only born with two fears. Two fears only. The fear of falling.
from a height. And A loud noise that startles them. That's it?
So, if you don't clash a cymbal around a baby and don't make them walk the high wire, they're good. All the rest of it. is learned. They don't worry. They don't worry about failing.
Toddlers are geniuses at failing and not worrying about it. They fail at everything. And don't worry about it. When you learned to talk You failed 90% of the words you tried to communicate. You couldn't even say the word correctly.
and you didn't worry about it. One bit. Why? Because you're learning to talk. How great is it to learn to talk?
It's fantastic. What a mystery. You're learning to say words and eventually put them together in sentences. Our daughter Abigail couldn't say Bennett, so she said Ben Ben. And I still call him Ben Ben.
He called up the other day and say, hey, Ben, Ben. She didn't worry about the fact she couldn't say Bennett. She just said Ben, Ben. And we're so paranoid. Speaking in front of people is the number one fear.
Worse than the fear of death. I might not sound good in front of people. They fail at learning to walk. When you learn to walk, you fall down every time. And you take a step or two and you fall down.
And you just get back up. They fall down. And giggle. They giggle when they fail. What happened?
Alan Wright. In today's teaching, Sleeping like a baby. And I think there's some good lessons here. And From children, too. We got more with Alan Wright in the studio here with a parting good news thought for the day as we continue in the series.
No worries. When you make a gift to Alan Wright Ministries this month, we want to give you Alan Wright's top 10 C D album or digital download. Are you ready for some good news? Make your gift today and discover God's grace afresh with Alan Wright's top 10 of the first decade. The gospel is shared when you give to Allen Wright Ministries.
We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. That's eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. Or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Alan, as we're back here in the studio, parting good news thought for the day and the teaching, we're putting a bookmark here, Sleeping Like a Baby.
And a lot we can learn from from Children who seem to have no worries at times. Childlike Heart. The first book I ever wrote, Daniel. Yeah. It.
is a captivating image to think of Jesus saying, unless you become like a little child, you'll not enter the kingdom. And I just think that he meant so much more than simply trusting God and believing in God. I think it's all the many facets of a little child. And if you've ever watched a little child who has fallen fast asleep, it's amazing, isn't it? Like no sound wakes them up.
And you look and you're just fascinated at a little baby sleeping because there's something inside of you that goes, oh, to have no worries like that.
Well, I think the promise of God in Jesus Christ is. You can feel lightweight. Um easier said than done, but It is what Jesus wants for our lives. no worries, no anxiety whatsoever. Doesn't mean you don't have problems.
Doesn't mean you don't have troubles. just means that our trust in God runs so deep. And that's what we're learning about. How a little child is a picture. of the kingdom of God.
Today's good news message is a listener-supported production. of Alan Wright Ministries.
