June 27, 2026 - “How to Hear”

Devotional

Day 1: The Centurion’s Unworthy Faith

A Roman officer understood what Israel’s leaders missed: true worthiness belongs to Christ alone. While religious elites measured value by good deeds, the centurion saw his own inadequacy. He trusted Jesus’ authority without demanding proof, revealing faith that stunned even the Son of God. This story confronts our tendency to negotiate with God through performance. Real faith begins when we stop claiming worth and start clinging to His. [44:18]

“But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” (Luke 7:6–9, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you subtly believed God owes you blessings because of your “good behavior”? How might embracing your unworthiness deepen your dependence on Christ’s authority?

Day 2: Tears at the Feet of Grace

A woman branded by shame crashed a Pharisee’s dinner to anoint Jesus’ feet. Her tears, hair, and costly perfume became worship tools. Simon saw only her reputation; Jesus saw a heart shattered by grace. True repentance isn’t measured by moral résumés but by lavish love for the One who forgives much. This moment redefines worth: not what we’ve done, but what He’s done. [01:01:46]

And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. (Luke 7:37–38, ESV)

Reflection: What parts of your story still feel too shameful to bring to Jesus’ feet? How might His view of you free you to love Him more boldly?

Day 3: The Cost of a Spoken Word

Every divine promise—from “Let there be light” to “Your sins are forgiven”—cost Jesus His life. The Word that sustains creation became flesh to bleed. Hearing God’s voice isn’t about collecting advice but receiving life forged in Gethsemane’s anguish. When Scripture feels familiar, remember: each syllable required the cross. [01:37:50]

“The sower sows the word. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:11,15, ESV)

Reflection: When has God’s Word felt routine to you? How might seeing it as blood-bought truth change your hunger for it today?

Day 4: Light That Demands Patience

Lamps aren’t lit for hiding. Yet shining Christ’s light often means waiting through others’ skepticism, our own doubts, or seasons where growth seems invisible. Impatient ministry seeks quick results; faithful witness trusts that seeds planted in tears will bloom in God’s time. Your job isn’t to force harvests but to keep the wick trimmed. [01:19:25]

“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.” (Luke 8:16, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been tempted to hide your light to avoid others’ opinions? What small step could you take today to let it shine unapologetically?

Day 5: Soil Tested by Seven Demons

Mary Magdalene didn’t find freedom in one dramatic moment. Seven times Jesus cast demons from her—seven relapses, seven restorations. Her persistence mirrors the patient Gardener who weeds, waters, and waits for fruit. Sanctification isn’t a sprint; it’s a lifelong tilling of the soil. [01:13:26]

And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out. (Luke 8:1–2, ESV)

Reflection: What recurring struggle makes you question if change is possible? How might Jesus’ persistence with Mary reframe your view of His work in you?

Sermon Summary

Luke takes the story into the importance of hearing by first holding up the centurion, a man who understood worthiness better than the religious leaders did. The Jewish elders said the centurion was worthy because he built a synagogue. The centurion said he was not worthy at all, and that Christ only needed to “say the word.” Jesus marveled because that man knew that worthiness belongs to Christ alone.

Jesus then walks into Nain and meets a widow carrying her only son out in an open coffin. Christ has compassion, touches the coffin, and says, “Young man, I say to you, rise.” The dead man sits up, starts talking, and Jesus gives him back to his mother. The crowd gets filled with fear and says, “God has visited His people.”

John the Baptist’s question comes next, and Jesus answers it by pointing to Scripture being fulfilled right in front of John’s disciples. The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor hear the gospel. Jesus adds, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me,” because offense blocks the kingdom from becoming alive in a person’s life. Offense and false worthiness both grow out of self.

Jesus then exposes a generation acting like children in the marketplace, wanting affirmation from God. John came strict, and they called him demon possessed. Jesus came eating and drinking, and they called Him a glutton and a friend of sinners. Wisdom did not need their applause, because “wisdom is justified by her children.”

Mary becomes the linchpin. She comes into Simon’s house knowing the shame, the looks, the whispers, and the history. Simon, the man connected to her sinful life, sneers at her while sitting healed by Jesus. Jesus looks at Mary and speaks to Simon, showing that the one forgiven much loves much. Mary understood what her forgiveness cost Christ, and that understanding moved her to pour out what looked extravagant.

Luke then shows who follows Jesus: the twelve, and women like Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and others who had been healed and delivered. Mary had seven demons cast out, not as one quick story, but as a picture of Jesus not giving up after repeated falls. The parable of the sower then presses the question of how the word is heard. Some hearts lose the seed, some receive it without root, some get choked by cares and pleasures, and good soil keeps the word and bears fruit with patience.

Jesus ends with the lamp. The light He gives is not meant to be shoved under a bed. The word must be heard as life, because every word from God cost Christ His life. To hear rightly is to hear Scripture not as information, but as the living word that came through the cross to create a new life in Christ.

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Key Takeaways

1. Worthiness belongs to Christ alone The centurion understood something the religious leaders missed: good deeds do not make a person worthy before God. The elders pointed to what the man had built, but the centurion pointed away from himself and trusted only the authority of Jesus’ word. Real faith stops trying to hand God a résumé and simply believes that Christ can speak life where nobody else has power. [45:23]
2. Offense grows from self-centered hearing Jesus’ warning about being offended by Him cuts deeper than hurt feelings. Offense rises when the gospel refuses to affirm self, reputation, control, or religious performance. A person who hears mainly through the filter of “how does this affect me?” will keep stumbling over the very mercy meant to save them. [52:55]
3. Forgiven much, love becomes costly Mary’s gift looked extravagant because she knew her forgiveness was not cheap. Her tears, hair, kisses, and costly oil came from a heart that understood what Simon did not: Christ’s mercy had reached into real shame and real bondage. Love becomes deep when forgiveness is no longer treated like a religious idea, but like rescue from death. [65:52]
4. Jesus does not quit after failure Mary’s deliverance from seven demons shows repeated mercy, not a Savior with a short fuse. Falling again after a real victory does not mean Christ has walked away or that hope is over. The advocate remains, and freedom may come through the patient, repeated work of Jesus refusing to abandon the broken. [73:26]
5. God’s word costs God’s life Jesus says to take heed how the word is heard because the word is not casual information. Every word that brings life came through the One who gave His life, so Scripture must not be treated like background noise or religious content. Hearing changes when the soul realizes that the words of God are alive because they came by way of the cross.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[39:00] - The Importance of Hearing
[43:10] - The Centurion and True Worthiness
[47:02] - Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son
[50:09] - John’s Question and Jesus’ Answer
[52:55] - Offense Blocks the Kingdom
[56:03] - Children in the Marketplace
[60:39] - Mary Anoints Jesus’ Feet
[68:19] - The Women Who Followed Jesus
[72:36] - Mary’s Seven Deliverances
[75:10] - The Sower and How People Hear
[79:46] - The Lamp and the Light
[85:26] - Hearing Through the Gospel
[96:31] - God’s Word Cost Him Everything
[100:21] - Prayer for New Hearing

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Luke 7:1-10 (ESV)
Luke 7:36-50 (ESV)
Luke 8:4-15 (ESV)

Observation Questions

In Luke 7:1-10, how did the Jewish elders’ view of the centurion’s “worthiness” differ from the centurion’s own view of himself?
What specific actions did Mary take in Luke 7:36-50 to express her love for Jesus, and how did Simon react to her?
According to the parable of the sower (Luke 8:4-15), what four types of soil represent different ways people respond to God’s word?

Interpretation Questions

Why did Jesus emphasize that “blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (Luke 7:23) in response to John’s disciples? How might offense block someone from receiving God’s kingdom?
Jesus told Simon, “her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much” (Luke 7:47). How does understanding the cost of forgiveness deepen love for God?
In the parable of the sower, Jesus says the “good soil” represents those who “keep [the word] and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). What does it look like to “keep” God’s word in a way that produces lasting fruit?

Application Questions

The centurion refused to rely on his own worthiness and trusted Jesus’ authority alone. Where in your life do you still try to “hand God a résumé” of good deeds instead of resting in Christ’s worthiness?
Offense often grows when we filter God’s word through “how does this affect me?” [52:55] What current situation or teaching might you be resisting because it challenges your reputation, control, or self-focused priorities?
Mary’s costly worship flowed from her awareness of how much she’d been forgiven. How could you tangibly express gratitude for God’s forgiveness this week—even if others might misunderstand your actions?
The parable of the sower warns about letting life’s “cares and pleasures” choke out God’s word. What distractions or comforts do you need to prune to create space for His word to take root?
Jesus said, “take heed how you hear” because His words “cost Him His life” [37:11]. How would your Bible reading or prayer time change if you approached every verse as a gift paid for by Christ’s sacrifice?

Sermon Clips

63s

“``It's not about you, it's about the life he is creating anew in you and the words that he speaks are life to us because those words cost him his. Though if we only hear the word as, oh, that's a word from Jesus. No, no. That's his life. So take heed how you hear because every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God brings life. That's why Jesus said we don't live by bread alone. I wanna invite you now if you want to hear differently in your life moving forward. If you wanna understand that every word you hear from God is a word that cost God himself his life on that cross.”

54s

“Seven different times Jesus cast this demon out of her. In other words, prostitution cast it out. Prostitution, cast it out. Over and over and over again. And it was that seventh time that she truly recognized and found freedom in Jesus. It wasn't just once. So don't think just because you thought you had a victory and then you fell again. Don't think that Jesus gave up on you and that you should give up on yourself or give up on him. You still have an advocate.”

54s

“Do you know what it cost Jesus to save you? That is a question worth grappling with. What did it cost Jesus to save you? And it's interesting. It says there that that Mary, out of whom was cast how many demons? Seven. Now, at first reading of that, you might be tempted to think, oh, this is very similar to the demoniac who who Gordon preached about last week, to the demoniac who had a legion of demons in them. Right? Jesus cast out a legion of demons. But that's not what the the he the Greek says there. It indicates that it was seven different times that Jesus cast out a demon from her.”

44s

“And I think how we hear has a lot more to do with how it relates when we hear, how does this relate to God? But so often, we hear and we try to say, how does this relate to me? When we when we now live the life of Christ, we ought to be thinking, how does this relate to my life in Christ, who he is in me and what he is writing on my pages. So that when I hear these things, it's not about me, it's about him. And then I can help other people see in their lives, it's not about you, it's about him.”

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June 27, 2026 - “How to Hear” - Pastor Kevin Robert