Session 1 - Entering Like a Little Child – Santosh Poonen – WOF 2017 Austin CFC
Weekend of Fellowship at Austin CFC, Oct 28 & 29, 2017 Theme - Living in the Kingdom of Heaven
Summary
The central message emphasizes that all Christian focus should be on proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven, echoing the messages of John the Baptist, Jesus, and Paul. The speaker stresses that genuine ministry to others must first be rooted in personal transformation; one cannot effectively draw people into God's reality if their own lives are built on pretense or 'cardboard.'
Outline
The message in plain words, in the order it unfolds. Select a time to jump the video to that moment.
The central theme of the New CovenantWhile many churches focus on different doctrines or secondary matters, the New Covenant repeatedly emphasizes the kingdom of heaven above all else.
John the Baptist and Jesus call people to repentJohn the Baptist and later Jesus preached repentance to God's own people, calling them to make a u-turn from running their own lives.
Proclaiming the kingdom in the book of ActsThe final verse of Acts establishes that preaching the kingdom of God is the true mission of Christ's church for every generation.
Who is on the throne of your life?Most Christians are offered a gospel where Jesus fixes their sins while they remain the king of their own lives, but true repentance means giving up the throne to a new king.
Recognizing our true condition as a wormScripture uses the imagery of a worm or maggot in Job, Psalms, and Isaiah to show humanity's true, humble condition before a holy God.
Getting the maggot off the throneTrue salvation happens when a person stops making excuses and finally gets off the throne of their life so Jesus can reign and work true miracles.
The axe laid to the rootJohn the Baptist contrasted mere water baptism with the powerful work of Jesus, who lays an axe to the root of the tree rather than just dealing with the fruit.Matthew 3:10–12
Scissors versus the axeTrying to fix outward behavior is like using a pair of scissors on bad fruit, whereas true repentance allows Jesus to use an axe on the root of self.
Becoming like little children to enter the kingdomWhen the disciples asked about being the greatest, Jesus set a child before them and explained that conversion requires becoming like a little child.Matthew 18:1–4
Learning helplessness from a newbornObserving the total helplessness of an infant reveals what it means to rely entirely on God from a heaven-to-earth perspective rather than an earth-to-heaven one.
The Son can do nothing of HimselfJesus proved His equality with the Father by walking in total dependence, stating that the Son can do nothing of Himself.
Christ emptied HimselfThough He created all things, Christ emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, and lived a life completely free from the illusion that He could do anything on His own.Colossians 1:16Philippians 2:5–8
I can do all things through ChristOnce the maggot is off the throne and we truly realize we can do nothing in our own strength, we can genuinely experience Christ's strength and be content in every circumstance.
