How well are you listening? (Luke 8:16-21)

Have you ever heard what someone said but completely missed the point because you weren’t ready to respond? Jesus reminds us in Luke 8 that the real question isn’t simply whether we hear God’s Word—it’s how we hear it and what we do with it.

God’s Word was never meant to stay hidden. It exposes what’s happening inside us, reveals what needs to change, and calls us to respond with obedience. Sometimes we don’t need a new word from God—we need to obey the last one He already gave us.

In this message, we’ll discover four truths from Luke 8: God’s Word is meant to shine through our lives, God’s light reveals what needs transformation, the way we hear determines the way we grow, and hearing God’s Word without doing God’s Word isn’t discipleship.

So the question is simple: Are you really listening?

What has God already spoken to you that you’ve been negotiating instead of simply saying, “Yes, Lord”? And what needs to change in your life because of what you’ve heard?

Join us for this powerful message from Luke 8 and discover what it means to not just hear the Word of God, but to hear it, receive it, and live it out.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

So good to be a houseboard again. I'll love to hear what the class is doing uh in the next generation. Um I didn't necessarily plan for my illustration to be such uh this. So I want to say I love the next generation. Now illustration, okay? So uh having teenagers in my house has taught me that there's a big difference between hearing and responding. Okay. So if you have teenagers, you some do you ever feel like sometimes things are a negotiation? They're not supposed to be a negotiation, but I'll say when we get home, I want you to clean your room. What is usually their first response? It's not yes, sir, it's but dad. I spent all day at school, but dad, right? Or hey, when we get home, I need you to clean your room, or hey, when we get home, I need you to do this. But dad, dad, what is it that you do? I said, take your list, and everything that's not on your list is on my list. You know that food that you eat? Check. You know that air that you breathe. That's the Lord, but I make sure it's air conditioned. You know that power that charges your phone? You know that phone that sits in your hand. But we're it's easy for us to rag on teenagers because they're in a growing time and they're in an understanding time. Eventually they'll figure out they're not the smartest human beings on the planet. Eventually, you get to an age to where you're like, you know what? Maybe I should call mom and dad. I might avoid some heartache. Eventually you'll get there, teenagers. But if we're not careful, we're the same way to God. God will tell us to do something. And what do I want my teenagers to say to me? When I say, hey, when we get home, I want you to clean your room. What do I want their response to be? Yes, sir. Right? Because we're in the south and we say yes, sir. If you're not from the south, we say yes, sir here, okay? If your parents didn't teach you to say yes, sir, when an adult asks you to do something, even if Miss Ruby goes, Hey, Pastor Todd, would you do this? I'm gonna go, yes, ma'am, because that's how I was taught, right? It's called being respectful. And so, but sometimes God tells us to do something. Hey, I want you to serve at church, but dad. Hey, I want you to get your butt up and go to church, but dad, do you know how busy my week has been? Or here's the one you're with me until this point. Hey, I want you to give to the church, but dad, don't you know I want that car? But dad. But what does God want us to say to him? He wants us to say, Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord, I hear you. But the problem is, yes, sir, but the problem is we negotiate. We negotiate. We're like, well, but God, that or or we explain to ourselves why our situation is somehow different than every other situation that God deals with on the planet, right? Somehow God has written an exception in his word just for you. Everybody else on the planet, same rules, but yours are different. But see, that's why Jesus says, take care of how you hear. Because the real question isn't just whether you heard God, it's what you're going to do with it once you've heard. Because God's word isn't meant to be received, it's meant to be revealed through our lives. And we respond to his word with what? This word that we hate obedience. We don't like the word obedience in our culture. In fact, there's been weddings that I've been involved with that there's people that tell me don't have obedience in my marriage vows. Let me tell you, I've been married a long time, and obedience is a part of marriage. Because if my wife tells me to do something and I want to live, I mean she's not gonna kill me, but I'm gonna want to die, right? You know what I mean? You know, there are things that are worse than death. And an unhappy wife is one of those, amen. Right, and so if you have your Bibles this morning, my wife is not here, she's home with a sick kid. So hopefully she's not watching on the live stream right now. She probably is, she probably texted me right now. Uh so the question I want to answer today is how well are you listening? How well are you listening to God? If you have your Bibles, grab them, go to Luke chapter 8. We're gonna start in verse 16 this morning. If you don't have your Bible, don't worry about it. Tap the NFC tag on the chair in front of you, download the church center app. Everything you need. Sometimes people ask me, Pastor, why don't we have an announcement? Because the reason we don't have announcements is it wastes precious time in service, and everything you need is on your app. If you open your app, you will notice that Saturday we're doing one last missions fundraiser uh for missions. A sweet couple, the Tatums, has donated all the food. They've donated all the food so that all the proceeds can go directly to Guatemala missions. And so Saturday, if you like to eat, which Skylar said you all do, uh, there will be food at the church. Uh, you can you can swing by, you don't have to stay, grab it. Um, and there is a suggested donation, but we won't stop you at that suggested donation. Amen. If the Lord tells you to give more. Uh, the missionaries from Guatemala, we've sent them our first payment. Uh, so far, you've raised our goal, it was twelve thousand dollars. First, so far you've raised seven thousand. I sent that to them this week, and they were so grateful. Uh, they wanted to pass along. Thank you, Hope Church. You have made their Christmas program better every year. This year we'll be giving better presents than they've ever given before. We're not gonna be giving away Farbies this year, we're gonna be giving away Barbies. Okay, and we're gonna give away real soccer balls too, not the fake ones that once you kick them once, they deflate. Amen. Amen. They are not from China, praise the Lord. Okay, so let's get into it. Luke chapter eight. We're gonna start in verse 16 this morning. 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. Okay, I grew up in church, so I can't pass this up. There's a song here, right? What is it? This little lot of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, this little lot of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, this little lot of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. I got a time limit, okay? Then it's hide it under a bushel, I'm gonna let it shine. Hide it under a okay, okay. So the first thing is God's word has never meant to stay hidden. God's word, that's what that song is all about. The light of the world, God's word was never meant to stay hidden. Jesus uses a simple picture that everybody understands. Nobody goes through their troubled feeling all the oil in their lamps, preparing the wick and lighting it just to keep it hidden under the bed. Did you know that your modern convenience of turning on a light switch was not the way it was back then? They had oil in their lamp, they had to tend the wick, they had to make sure it was ready and then light it. The purpose of the light was what? To shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. In the same way, the disciples had been given the light of God's word. Not to just keep it to themselves, but to carry this message of the kingdom to others. God gave us his light so that light can spread. Have you ever done anything in the dark? And then when the sun came up, you went, I didn't think I did as good a job as I once did. A summer ago, it was so hot outside, much like it is now. This is before I have a teenager. I have a teenager in my house that manages the yard now. Uh, and so I don't have to mow anymore because I have a teenager. Thankfully, he's figured out that yes, sir, works well for that. Um, but it was so late and it was so hot, and I had gotten home late from work that night. So I decided as the sun was going down, I was gonna start mowing the yard. Anybody ever done that? And I got about halfway done, and I went, you know what, I'm not gonna stop. So I went in the house and got my headlamp. Anyone have one of those? And so my I had my headlamp and I was out there mowing the yard. Now, when I had my headlamp on, I thought I did a pretty good job. And then I got up the next morning and the sun came up and I went, I missed a couple spots, right? That's the thing because light shows us what we have missed. The light shows us what nobody else sees. The light shows us where we miss something with the weed eater, the light shows us where God is still kind of working on our hearts. Church, there is plenty of darkness around us, and we have been given the light of the gospel. Why would you hide that light? Listen, you don't have to be a preacher, you just have to let people see what Jesus has done in you. Our witness isn't just what we say, it's what people see. Listen, you don't ever have to preach the gospel to preach the gospel. People will see how you act and see that it is different in a world filled with anxiety and depression. You have hope. Now, I'm not saying anxiety and depression aren't real, I'm saying we hope differently than everybody else. Because listen, if the worst thing happens to us, which is death, the best thing that will ever happen to us will happen if we truly know Jesus because we have hope. Listen, if the word has truly gotten into you, eventually it ought to come out of you. If you are truly listening to what I am preaching to you week in and week out, eventually something must change in your life. The problem is, we have reduced Christianity to a moment. Pastor, I'm saved. Pastor, I raised my hand at youth camp when I was 14 and got baptized. I'm set. Cool. That's not what Jesus says. Jesus says, live a life for me, and then you might make it into heaven. I heard an old saying once that Billy Graham was about 80% sure he was going to heaven. And I went, if Billy Graham is 80% sure, I might be in trouble. You know? I'm like, calm down, Billy. But I I want you to see, and listen, I'm not trying to preach, you know, you stump your toe, you're going to hell. I'm not trying to preach that. But I think making it to heaven is a little more complicated than we make it. The fruit of our life is what transforms us. The fruit of the word coming out in our lives is what truly changes us. Verse 17. I got a lot of verses to get to, so let's keep reading. If I can find it. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be come to light. Number two, what is really inside of us will eventually be revealed. What is really inside of us will eventually be revealed. Light reveals what darkness hides. And God's word does the same in us. It exposes our motives, our attitudes, and the hidden place. It may be uncomfortable, but God doesn't expose us to hurt us, He exposes us to heal us. Guys, that's what I want you to understand. Conviction is not judgment. Conviction is a moment to change your life. This is where the devil has confused you. And yes, Jenny, I jumped my illustration, so just hang with me for a second. I confused Jenny earlier and I went to a different part, so I have to make up another illustration on the fly, but I could do it. I'm a preacher, okay? The devil has lulled us into offense. When we are convicted, when God brings conviction in our lives, we suddenly get offended. How dare you look at my life and tell me what I need to do? You know why the devil keeps you there? Because if you stay in an offense, you can't change your life. Listen, God brings the Holy Spirit to shed light into our lives to show us what we were missing. The same way when I mowed the yard in the dark, I didn't see everything. But when the sun came in the morning, I saw what I needed to fix. Sometimes God is saying to you in your life, hey, listen, I need you to fix this part of your life because it's not going to destroy you now, but it might down the road. Listen, the light didn't create the dirt, it revealed it. And sometimes getting closer to Jesus reveals things we couldn't see before. You know, sometimes we're asking God to change our circumstances when he's trying to change us. April got it, but I don't think the rest of you got it. Sometimes we ask God to change our circumstances when he's using the very circumstances we're going through to change us. Listen, instead of resisting what his word exposes, bring it to light. Because what we surrender to God, he can transform. What you put at this altar, he can transform. But what you hide in the dark, he won't change. It's not that he can't. He can bring you to your knees and change it. But eventually, same with the teenagers, sometimes you're gonna let your teenagers fail to go, you know what? Dad's not as dumb as I thought he was. You know, back to the mowing. We have a battery mower, and my son would mow, turn it off, take a break, turn it on, stop, take a break. Those of you with power tools know turning something off and on, what does it do? It kills your battery. He goes, Dad, these batteries won't last. I said, Well, son, once you start the mower, don't stop. He goes, but dad, I'm tired. I said, Well, you're gonna be really tired because it's gonna take forever. Now, eventually, after five hours at a time mowing our suburban neighborhood yard, he's finally got it down to an hour. You know why? Because he figured out if you leave the mower on, it won't die. Well, it will eventually, but it lasts longer. The same is true with God. God is gonna let us mow the yard for five hours if we won't listen. But if you'll stop and listen to him, it'll only take an hour. Listen, that light of God doesn't expose you to destroy you, it exposes you so he can transform you. The problem is we think it's going to destroy us, but God's saying, No, my child, I just want to make you whole. Let's keep reading. Verse 18. Take care then how you hear. For to the one who has, more will be given, and for one who has not, even what he thinks, then he has will be taken away. This is a big one. I'm gonna step in the middle of it here in just a second. Number three, the way you hear determines the way you grow. Yes, the way you hear determines the way you grow. The heart of this passage, Jesus isn't concerned with what you hear, but he's concerned with how you hear. Two people can hear the same word, one receives it and changes, the other resists it and stays the same way. Same word, different heart. We talked about this last week. Jesus says those who receive and obey God's word will grow in understanding, but those who continually resist it will lose even what they think they should have. Spiritually, you can't stay neutral. We're either growing or we're hardening our hearts to God. Listen, those of us that are musicians know that learning an instrument requires practice. You have to learn, you have to master what you've already learned before you can be taught something else. This is why I was not a good music teacher. Because, and people ask me to teach guitar all the time. It's like, listen, I'm gonna show you some stuff. When you master that, come back and I'll show you some more. But the problem is, people think they can be shown something once, never practice it, and then suddenly get up here. Do you know all these musicians have been practicing this all week and they'll practice it all week and they might play it perfectly?

unknown 19:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

I'm here to tell you, there has not been a service that I have played guitar for you that I haven't messed up at least once, and I've played it my whole life. The same is true with you. You can't master something that God asked you to do once. It takes over and over and over and over again. Because the same is true spiritually. Something we keep asking God for a new word, and he says, I've already given you the word. Sometimes you don't need a new word, you just need to obey the last word. Ask yourself, what has God already shown me that I haven't responded to yet? Spiritual maturity doesn't come from accumulating more revelation, it comes from responding according to what God has already told you to do. You know, I get the opportunity to counsel a lot of people on a lot of different things. And I bring up this verse a lot to whom much is given, much is required. A lot of times people will come to me and say, Pastor, I want God to give me more financially. And I'll say, Great. How's your tithe look? Are you giving to the church? Now that seems counterintuitive, right? You're asking me for more money, and I'm asking you, did you give to God? That seems counterintuitive, right? But why do we expect God to bless us when we haven't been obedient to what he's asked us to do in the first place? The problem is we expect God to flood his blessings on us and us never do anything he asks us to do. Does that work that way with your kids? I'm gonna bless you with a brand new iPhone, even though you drop this one in the pool. Ain't happening, right? Show me that you can take care of that phone first, and then we'll talk about an iPhone 17 Pro Max. Right? For you Android people, that's a really good phone, right? Okay, they give away Androids for free, but you know, it's fine. I love you. I love you. Just don't love your phone, just don't love the green bubbles, okay? Just don't love the green bubbles. You can download Google messages. I could, but I want it to work. Uh, and but here's the thing, guys. Why do you expect God to do something when you haven't done the first thing he asked you to do?

unknown 21:49

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Don't ask, don't just ask what does this mean. Ask what does this require of me?

unknown 21:56

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

God often gives More light to the people who walk in the light, and he's already given them light. Here's the thing: God often gives more to people that are already doing what he's telling them to do. Listen, some of the most faithful people of this church have seen God bless over and over and over. Why? Because they're already doing what he's asked them to do. When you do what God asks you to do, God blesses you. The wealthiest man I knew in my life drove a beat-up truck that he never changed the oil in. And you'd get in and go, This man's a millionaire. And he is. You know why? Because he didn't spend it on a car. I think sometimes we're chasing after the wrong things when God says, Find the freedom that I have for you. All right, verse 19. I'm gonna read this part and go, Jesus must not have had Marianna as his mom. Verse 19. Then his mother and brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, Your mother and brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you. Here's where I would have died, but I'm not the son of God, right? But he answered, My mother and brothers are those who are hearing the word of God and do it. Like I said, Jesus' mom was not Marianna Barum, right? Because I would have been dead at that point, right? Number four, hearing God's word without doing God's word isn't discipleship. Hearing God's word without doing it is not discipleship, meaning you are not a follower of Jesus if you don't do what he says. Jesus, listen, Jesus isn't dishonoring his family. I'm kind of being tongue-in-cheek here. He's making a powerful point. Being around Jesus isn't the same as belonging to Jesus. Our relationship with him isn't based on family, church background, or how long we've been around Christianity. Jesus says those closest to him are those who hear the word of God and do it. Listen, I'm not saved because I grew up in a household that took me to church nine months before I was born. That doesn't save me. What saves me is being obedient to God's word in my life. I have to have my own faith. The faith of my parents does not carry me. That's what Jesus is saying. Listen, you can grow up in a restaurant, know every recipe, and still starve if you never eat. In the same way, you can know everything about church and never give your life to Jesus. You can be the best church member that we have and never give your life to Jesus. Because proximity to things of God isn't the same as a relationship with God. Doing things for God isn't the same as belonging to God. Just like you'll find there are some preachers on this planet that I don't think are saved. You know why? Just because you work for God doesn't mean that you belong to God. You can inherit someone else's relationship with Jesus, and you're spent in church don't automatically make you a disciple. Jesus says his family is made up of people who hear what he says to do and they do it. Obedience is the evidence that we actually believe what we heard. Obedience is the key. Obedience is, oh, I'm actually finally getting what God told me to do. Back to your kids. When do you know that your kids are finally getting it? When they do something without being told. So eventually, or eventually she'll just set stuff to the side of the trash can. Anybody ever do that? I see that hand. I see that hand, right? Hoping that they'll get the hit. And I said, Mom's sending you a hint here that the trash can is full. You know what now? I don't have to tell Noah. He goes and goes, trash is full, I'm gonna take it out. Because eventually he's getting it. I don't have to teach him that anymore. I know that one day when he has his own home, he won't die because he'll take the trash out. Because listen, you can be close to the things of God and still never surrender to God, to the God of those things. You can be the close to the things of God but never surrender to the God of those things. You can be in this room and fill his spirit and never submit to it. The problem is the American church has boiled down a relationship with Jesus to a feeling. Listen, a relationship is with Jesus is not a feeling, it's evidence of a life changed. So, what are our transformational moments this morning? As the worship team comes back? I've got three questions for you. If you're new here at Hope Church, I always try to end with three questions to challenge you throughout your week. The first question is this What has God already spoken to you that you keep trying to negotiate instead of simply saying, Yes, Lord? You know, my wife is the one of the two of us that has a heart. I don't really have a heart. If I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it. And my wife always comes back and goes, you know, the kids are really, they're they're doing this. And I say, listen, babe, we don't negotiate with terrorists. Some of you, I see the way your kids act. You need to start saying this in your home. I don't negotiate with terrorists. I don't negotiate with terrorists. I tell the terrorists what to do, and I expect them to do it, right? The same is true with the Lord. God wants you to stop negotiating with him. Because here's the thing. Here's what I know about the Lord because he's done this in my life. He's not negotiating, he's not gonna negotiate. And so my question for you is this what do you need to say yes, Lord, to this morning? Because listen, I can't do it for you. I don't want to be up here. This is not what I want to do with my life. But God found me deep in the darkness that I was in and said, Hey Todd, this is what I want you to do with your life. And I'm here today because I said yes, Lord. That doesn't mean that I don't have to still say yes, Lord, to other things. It just means I have to listen. Number two, what is God's light revealing in you right now that you've been avoiding or hiding? What in your life was missed by the headlamp of mowing grass? What in your life, and listen, I'm not saying that you're a bad person because you missed it. Listen, we miss things. It happens. Life gets busy, things come up against us, and we slip. What have you allowed the summer slump of getting out of your routine? What have you allowed to slip in your life that you need to get back in line? Let me tell you, small groups have started. If you're not in a small group, let me tell you, get your hind parts in a small group. I know we have two great groups. Is it two tonight? Three great groups. That's how many groups we have. I don't even know how many we have. We have three great groups tonight, uh, starting at 4:30. And so find a group. If Sundays don't work for you, we've got Wednesdays. If Wednesdays don't work for you, we have Mondays. If Mondays don't work for you, go to your church center app because I don't know what else times we meet. Okay. But like I said earlier, everything you need is on the Church Center app. Number three, if obedience is the evidence that we've truly heard God, what needs to change in your life today because of what you've heard? If obedience is the evidence that we've truly heard God, what needs to change in your life today because of what you've heard? We have 52 weeks in a year. And we'll just say you're not a perfect church attender, so you're here 50 of them. Some of you are here less, but we're praying for you. What if you changed 50 things in your spiritual life? Would you be happy with that in a year? Absolutely, you would. So why do you try to change more than one thing a week? Listen, if God's revealing something to your heart right now, change it. Don't wait till next week. Change it right now. Because you know what? I've already written next week's message. He's got something else for you next week. I promise. And so, in this moment, in just a moment, we're gonna have some prayer people at the stairs. The altars will be open, there'll be some prayer people in the back. God wants to do something in your heart. But before we get there, I talked about a relationship with Jesus. Listen, like I said, a relationship with Jesus is not just a moment, it's a lifetime. But I truly believe our relationship begins with a moment with God. So I'm gonna ask everybody to bow their head and close their eyes all over the room. If that's you this morning and you've never begun a relationship with Jesus, I'm gonna say a prayer. It's very simple. And like I said, there's nothing magical about this prayer, but if you truly believe what you are praying, God can transform your heart this morning. But if that's you this morning and you feel God tugging at your heart, repeat after me Dear Jesus, I'm a sinner. I need your love in my life. Forgive me where I failed you. I give my heart to you today. Take my life, use it for your purpose. In Jesus' name. Amen.