The Depth Of Your Devotion
Message Moments & Highlights
Where Are You Seated?
She wasn’t perfect, but she knew where to go—she came to Jesus and bowed at His feet. Are you seated in surrender before Him? Do you invite His voice into your decisions—your relationships, your future, your calling?
Where Is Your Treasure?
You can give a little and still miss the point. God isn’t asking for a portion—He’s calling for your whole life. Your greatest treasure isn’t your money or your possessions… it’s you. Where is your life dedicated?
What Is Your Revelation?
Falling in love with Jesus leads to a life of worship and desire for His presence—but not because of head knowledge. You can learn about Him and still miss Him. What changes everything is revelation: “He is the way, the truth, and the life—for me.” Have you discovered that?
What is the depth of your devotion?
Jesus isn’t meant to be hidden away, called upon only when convenient. He’s not looking for occasional cheers—He’s calling for your whole heart. Don’t try harder. Ask the Holy Spirit for a revelation. "Lord, show me Jesus. I want to know You and be known by You."
The Depth Of Your Devotion
In this message, Ps. Adrian unpacks Luke 7, focusing on Jesus’ encounter with Simon the Pharisee and an unnamed woman described as immoral. While Simon invited Jesus to dinner, his posture was casual and critical. In contrast, the woman approached Jesus with deep humility and poured out costly perfume in an act of heartfelt devotion. Through this story, Ps. Adrian explores the difference between being a casual follower and a devoted disciple of Christ.
He challenges the church to consider three questions: Where are you seated? (What is your posture before Jesus?), Where is your treasure? (Have you surrendered your life?), and What is your revelation? (Do you truly know who Jesus is?). Our answers reveal whether we treat Jesus as a guest or our Lord.
The sermon calls for a life of surrender and love—marked not by religious performance, but by an authentic response to the grace and forgiveness we’ve received. The woman’s actions flowed from a revelation of Jesus’ worth and mercy. Likewise, our devotion should be rooted in gratitude and love.
The depth of our devotion determines the direction of our lives. When Jesus is our treasure, everything else finds its proper place.
Related Bible Verses
📖 Luke 7:36–50 (NLT)
🔗 Read on Bible.com: https://www.bible.com/bible/116/LUK.7.36-50.NLT
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.
37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.
38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other.
42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, cancelling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet.
46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”
48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
📖 Philippians 2:16–17 (NLT)
🔗 Read on Bible.com: https://www.bible.com/bible/116/PHP.2.16-17.NLT
16 Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.
17 But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy.
📖 2 Timothy 4:5–7 (NLT)
🔗 Read on Bible.com: https://www.bible.com/bible/116/2TI.4.5-7.NLT
5 But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.
6 As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.
📖 Romans 12:1 (NLT)
🔗 Read on Bible.com: https://www.bible.com/bible/116/ROM.12.1.NLT
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
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The Depth of Your Devotion: Casual vs. Devoted Followers of Christ
In Luke 7, we encounter a powerful contrast between two individuals who interacted with Jesus - Simon the Pharisee and an unnamed "immoral woman." Their different approaches to Jesus reveal something profound about what it means to truly follow Christ.
What's the Difference Between a Casual and Devoted Follower?
Our society makes it easy to be a casual follower of Jesus. We can attend church, know some Scripture, and even identify as Christian without truly surrendering our lives. But there's a stark difference between casual Christianity and devoted discipleship.
The depth of your devotion to Jesus will determine your direction in life - affecting your decisions about relationships, career, parenting, and every other area. Let's examine three questions that reveal where your heart truly stands.
Where Are You Seated?
Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner and sat with Him at the table as an equal. He was interested in Jesus' opinions but ultimately judged whether they aligned with his own thinking. When the woman came to anoint Jesus, Simon thought, "He's got this one wrong."
In contrast, the woman positioned herself at Jesus' feet. She didn't see herself as Christ's equal but approached Him in humility, surrender, and submission.
Where are you seated in your attitude toward Christ? Do you approach Him as:
Someone whose opinions you can take or leave?
An equal whose views you can judge?
Or do you come to Him saying, "Lord, I surrender and humble myself before you"?
A casual follower puts their opinion above Christ's. They might know what Jesus would have them do but choose their own way instead. A devoted follower says, "Lord, your view of my life matters most. I want your word over my life."
Where Is Your Treasure?
Simon showed some generosity by inviting Jesus to his home for a meal. That's good - it's a little bit of generosity. But the woman brought an alabaster jar of perfume worth an entire year's wages and poured it all out on Jesus' feet.
Your greatest treasure isn't your money or possessions - it's your life itself. Where is that treasure dedicated? Simon gave Jesus a little bit of his life, while the woman gave everything.
When you truly love someone, you don't think much about the cost. Parents know this about their children. Those in love know this about their partners. The woman's extravagant gift wasn't excessive to her because she had already given Christ her whole life.
As Paul wrote in Romans 12:1, "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." When you understand what God has done for you, giving Him your life becomes the only reasonable response.
What Is Your Revelation?
Simon saw Jesus as a teacher with some good things to say. The woman saw Him as her Savior and Lord. Your revelation of who Jesus truly is will determine the depth of your devotion.
Jesus explained this through a parable: the one who is forgiven much will love much. This isn't just about how much you've sinned - it's about your revelation of how much Jesus has done and will do for you.
We have all fallen short of God's plan and are in desperate need of His grace. Your understanding of how much you need Jesus and how much He loves you will determine your devotion to Him.
Some people think they're "good people" who just need a little bit of Jesus splashed in occasionally when things go wrong. That's a mistaken revelation. The greatest revelation comes when we recognize, like this woman did, that we are completely dependent on Christ.
When you have a true revelation of who Jesus is - that He is your Creator, Savior, the one who poured His life out for you, and the only one who can make you truly happy - then being devoted to Him becomes the only reasonable response.
Life Application
The depth of your devotion will determine your direction in life. Don't be a casual follower who cheers for Jesus in church but goes a completely different direction the rest of the week. Ask the Holy Spirit for a fresh revelation of who Jesus is and what He's done for you.
This week, examine your life and ask yourself these questions:
Where am I seated in my relationship with Christ? Am I approaching Him as an equal whose opinions I can take or leave, or am I humbly submitting to His lordship?
Where is my treasure? Am I giving Jesus just a small portion of my life, or am I pouring everything out at His feet?
What is my revelation of Jesus? Do I see Him as just a good teacher, or as my Lord and Savior who deserves my complete devotion?
In what areas of my life am I making decisions without consulting God? What would change if I brought these areas to His feet?
What practical step can I take this week to demonstrate that Jesus is not just part of my life, but my everything?
Remember, Christ is not meant to be put at the bottom of a drawer and forgotten. He deserves to be followed with your whole heart. Ask Him to help you live in alignment with that revelation, making decisions in your household and life that reflect your devotion to Him.
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A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
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We love each other very deeply and we're going to get into the Word today. I'm excited to share this with you.
We're going to get into Luke chapter seven, Luke chapter seven. And we're going to read an encounter that Jesus had. And I'm going to give you the title of my message today. And I want you to look at particularly two people that Jesus encountered at this moment in time. There was someone he was having Dinner with a Pharisee named Simon.
And there was a woman that we don't know the name of. Some people think it was Mary Magdalene, but we don't know. We just know her as Simon. The Pharisee calls her as an immoral woman and someone that wasn't held in high repute. And they both have a moment here with Jesus.
I've titled today's message the depth of your devotion. The depth of your devotion. So let's read it together and let's follow through looking at the Simon, the Pharisee and this woman who encountered Jesus. And then we're going to talk about it. Verse 36 says this.
1 of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him. So Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. And when a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. And then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet and she wiped them off with her hair.
And then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, if this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She's a sinner. And then Jesus answered his thoughts. Simon, always watch out when Jesus is in the room.
He knows what you're thinking. Then Jesus answered his thoughts. Simon, he said to the Pharisee, I have something to say to you. Very ominous. I have something to say to you.
Go ahead, Teacher, Simon replied. And then Jesus told him this story. A man loaned money to two people. 500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces of silver to the other. But neither of them could repay him.
So he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that? And Simon answered, I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the larger debt. That's right, Jesus said. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, look at this woman kneeling here.
When I entered your home, you didn't offer me water to wash the dust from my feet. But she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn't greet me with a kiss. But from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head.
But she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. I tell you, her sins, and they are many, have been forgiven. So she has shown me much love. But a person who has Forgiven little shows only little love. And then Jesus said to the woman, your sins are forgiven.
The men at the table said among themselves, who is this man that he goes around forgiving sins? And Jesus said to the woman, your faith has saved. You go in peace. Why don't we pray as we're going to come around the word today, and let's open our hearts up to ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us, Lord, as we each come around your word, Lord God, we're hearing it together corporately, in many different locations. But Lord Jesus, we're here to hear it for ourselves, for our own building up, our own challenging.
And we invite your Holy Spirit, each of us, God, to come and speak to us, Lord, we want to know your word. We want to know you. We want to leave this place changed, challenged, and transformed by the power of your holy spirit. We ask it in Jesus, mighty name, Amen. The depth of your devotion, I find it interesting here you have two people who both had a commitment to Jesus.
They both saw him in an esteemed stature, and one had invited him around to the house. The other came unannounced and uninvited, but knelt at his feet.
How they treated Jesus is interesting. You know, it's interesting when you watch people and the difference between people who are truly devoted to something and people who are just casual, casual observers, casual fans. I would call Pastor Trevor Watkins a very dedicated, devoted fan of his beloved Collingwood. And the problem with that is that when Colin would do well, arrogance just rises, put humble, just servant hearted. Trevor suddenly starts walking around with a bit of a.
Ah, yeah. How's your team doing, Adrian? Oh, I think they're gonna. I think they're gonna go well. It's like, stop.
Stop goading me, Trevor, into the thing. It's like they're on Collingwood, top of the ladder, doing well. I had this in case he does love it. Yeah, he's got the smile on his face already looking at me. I had this encounter a few years ago.
My. My daughter is what I would call a very casual fan. And. And I had her going for the Crows, right? I know you guys, half of you don't care about afl, but that's all right.
I don't care about it too much either. But I was going for the Crows. I was like, my daughter, she's decided to go for the Crows. And we got to the final. This is a few years ago.
We got to the grand final. We were atop of the ladder, got to the grand final, and my daughter's like, yeah, I'LL go for the Crows. Whatever. She didn't really understand footy. But meanwhile, there was someone who was a devoted fan.
Pastor Frank Gere. We're watching you, brother. We know the inner workings of your heart. Just like Jesus, he knew your thoughts. I knew what was happening.
And Pastor Frank, who I would call a very devoted fan of the Richmond Tigers, they were also vying for, I think, and they got to the grand final as well. And Pastor Frank, coming across very loving and nice. He had come alongside Ella at different times and said, ella, come on, Tigers. They're the ones to go for. He got her a beanie and gave her a beanie, a Tiger's beanie.
He got her a scarf, right? He got her a cap, a Tiger's cap, and said, here you go, Ella. And so Ella's going, nah, I'm going for the Crows. And I, we got to the grand final. I'm sitting there with Ella watching it.
We get to the partway through the first quarter, and Ella turns to me, she said, dad, I've decided. She goes, I'm not a Crows fan anymore. I'm going for the Tigers now. And for the rest of that grand final, Ella sat there going for the Tigers, and they smashed the Crows and defeated us. And Ella was laughing in my face as the Tigers beat her former team from 20 minutes ago.
And I told Frank, and he just went, that's the girl. He goes, I knew you had it in you, Ella. Well done. And I go, here's the difference. My daughter has not watched a Tigers game since she couldn't care less.
The Tigers have fallen apart in a hole, and it's been a wonderful experience. But you know what? Pastor Frank Gere is still a devoted fan. He still gets the video, his devotion for you. He has videos and DVDs.
He still watches DVDs. He watches DVDs of the tigers grand final games where they'd won premierships. And he sits there with his beautiful wife, Carol, and they watch the games together because they are devoted fans. They are devoted. Meanwhile, Ella couldn't care less.
She's like, I said, you know what? Tiger's at the bottom of the ladder. She goes, I don't care. And there is a difference, isn't there, between devoted fans of something and casual observers, people who just casually follow. It's like people who knows people who have stamp collections or a collection.
I started collecting spoons when I was younger. When I went traveling, I would collect tourist spoons. And those spoons meant the world to me. They're still in a drawer, I think. In a box with Mum somewhere.
But no one else cared about my spoons except me, who's got a thing like that. You're devoted to this collection, but no one else cares. It's stamps, it's coins. It's something. People who are devoted, they act differently than casual people.
And I want to put it to you today, I want to put it to you that there is a difference, a big difference. You know, where I'm going spiritually between being a devoted follower of Jesus Christ and a casual follower. And I want to put it to you that we live in a society where too many people are casual followers of Jesus. And I want to talk about that. What is the difference between a casual follower of Christ and a devoted, a passionate follower of Jesus Christ?
We want to look at these two people. We have Simon the Pharisee, who I'm going to put as a casual follower of Christ. And we have this woman, this seemingly. We only know her, she's labeled as an immoral woman. But she was a woman that had had an encounter with Jesus and it changed her life.
And I'm going to look at her as the devoted follower of Christ. What's the difference? And I want to challenge you today. I want to ask you, where would you put yourself? Where are you going to put yourself?
Because it's easy to be a casual follower of Christ in our society. It's easy to be a casual follower. It's a lot harder. But it's life changing to be a devoted follower of Christ. I want to put this to you today, that the depth of your devotion will determine your direction.
The depth of your devotion to Jesus Christ will determine your direction. Your direction in every area of life. It's gonna determine the decisions, young people. It's gonna determine the decisions you make with your life, your future partner, your future study, what you do with it. Isn't it how devoted you are, the depth of that devotion to Christ.
If you're a casual person, casual fellow, yeah, he's a part of my life. But I'll make decisions that benefit me or don't involve him. It's true of every decision we make. How you raise your children, how you see your occupation, how you see the future of your life, what you live for. The depth of your devotion will determine your direction.
I want to ask you three questions today from this passage about that idea. Being a. A devoted follower of Christ and a casual follower. And the first one is this. Where are you seated?
Where are you seated? We see this passage in verse 36, it says, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him. So Jesus went to his home and he sat down to eat. And so here's Simon, the Pharisee invites him round, and they sit together at the table. Jesus, I'm inviting you into my life, into my home.
Let's have a meal together. That's nice, but that's juxtaposition with this idea that a certain immoral woman from that city, Heard, is eating there, and she brings a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume, and she kneels behind him at his feet, weeping. These two people were seated in different places, and I'm not talking today about where you're seated in church. All right, because if we're going to rate your spirituality based on where you're seated in church, then Fuwa is the least spiritual one. Let's all have a look at the back here.
Fua is on the back row right now, Pastor Fua on the back, and Narelle is. Oh, very, very spiritual. All this front row. You guys are amazing. God does not rate our spirituality on where we're positioned in thing.
Okay? Some of us are very. You know, we like to think very. What's the word? Literally.
And I'm talking about where you're positioned. Where are you seated in your attitude, in your heart? And what we see in this. This example is that Simon is seated with Jesus at the table. He sees him as an equal.
He sees him as someone that he wants to engage with. But you know what, your opinion, Lord Jesus, I'm interested in what you've got to say, but actually, I'm just gonna judge to see whether that lines up with what I think. And in fact, he disagreed in his head. He didn't say it because he was being polite, but he saw Jesus. He sees this woman come and kneel before Jesus, behind him, and start pouring out her heart before Christ.
And Simon says, oh, he's got this one wrong, hasn't he? He's got this one wrong. He doesn't know what he's doing. He doesn't know what's going on. Simon saw Jesus as an equal and someone that you can just discuss and see whether you want to follow that opinion or not.
And this woman came with a different position, a different attitude of heart. She had put Jesus Christ in a place where she says, lord, I surrender and I humble myself before you, and I submit myself to you. And she placed herself at his feet. And I think it's an interesting juxtaposition to see because where you seat yourself in your attitude and your heart will determine your direction, won't it? Few years ago, many years ago, 13 year old Adrian, 13 year old Adrian was brought into a group of nerds, we call them, we called ourselves, we were called the Lurts.
All right? The lurch was the smart kids. And we had a movie night. And for that movie night they chose to watch the Princess Bride. Who knows the Princess Bride, famous movie, it's a bit of a cult movie, especially among nerds.
Fellow nerds love this movie. Well, Adrian did not know. 13 year old Adrian had never heard this movie, didn't know what it was. And so I sat and I sat on the front row to watch this movie with my friends. And I was in year eight and that was the lowest year.
And then there was like there were up to year 12s there, there were adults there and little 13 year old Adrian sits there and he had a little bit of some opinions that I thought. And here's the problem that I had. The Princess Bride is sort of, is knowingly sort of paying out fairy tale movies, right? It's a bit of a comedy knowing a pay. Well, I didn't know that at the time.
So I'm watching it going, this is stupid. They've called her buttercup. This is dumb. And I started paying the movie out very loudly telling my friends, this is a load of garbage. This is a load of rubbish.
Because my opinion counted and I told the whole room my opinion. And so I'm going on and they're trying to be polite. Eventually one of the teachers said, adrian, either be quiet or go to the back of the room. And I was like, well, I'm not going to be quiet. So I got up and I went to the back of the room and I sat at the back and I kept my opinion going and went, hey, this is rubbish.
And this is. And so that same person looked at me, dad, you should be very proud of your son here. He's like, adrian, I would never behave like that. I did not teach you to do this. But this is what I did.
I kept on going on and the same person looks at me and goes, adrian, if you're not going to be quiet, get out. And I was like, awesome, I will get out. Thank you very much. And off I went, left the room and because my opinion was the one that counted above all else, I didn't care what anyone else thought. I didn't get what was going on.
I just thought, this is me and you'd think after all these years that I've learned, I've humbled myself and I've learned valuable lessons. And that was 13 year old Adrienne. But just the other week, Narelle and I were sitting there watching a movie, and she said, adrian, you better behave yourself in this movie. You just watch this movie, and can we just watch it in peace and enjoy? I said, yes, honey, I'm going to do my absolute best to do that.
I'm going to literally just watch it. And you know what? I can't even remember which movie it was, but we started watching it, and I couldn't hold it in. I couldn't. I couldn't.
I'm one of those people I couldn't hold in because I just had disdain for the plot and some of the dot. And I was like, this is silly. This is stupid. I tried to. I was like, I've got to try.
And I go. And then it just came, and I just couldn't. And I just. Out it came. This is stupid.
This is dumb. Blah, blah, blah. And they're all like, she'd had enough. She goes, right, get out. I'm watching this movie by myself.
Get out of here. And I was like, okay, I will. And off I went. I think I went and read a book. And she watched the rest of the movie.
And I went, still haven't learned when it comes to movies to keep. Who's a bit like that. You can't keep your mouth. You can't keep your few of us around here, right? Simon was a little bit like that.
He was watching, and he was like, you know what? My opinion counts being a casual follower of Christ. You know what you do? You put your opinion above Christ. You say, you know what?
I think this, and I'm gonna make it. Some of us, you know, you're a casual follower of Christ when you know, this is what Jesus would do. This is what Jesus would have me do in this situation. I know how I should behave. I know the attitude I should have.
But you know what? Nah, stuff it. I'm gonna do my own thing. I'm gonna do it my way. Right?
That's a casual follower. The woman comes and she's like, I come to. And I bow at your feet, Jesus, what you say, your words are life. Your words are truth. Doesn't mean you get it perfect all the time.
She hadn't been perfect, but she came to Jesus and said, lord, I need you to speak it. I'm seated in a position, Lord, I need your words. Pour it over me. Pour it over me. I want to ask you, how are you seated in your attitude towards Christ?
Do you look to Christ and say, lord, your view of my life. When you're making decisions about your partner, about a future relationship, about a big decision where you move, what job you do, what you study, are you saying, jesus, would you speak to me, Lord, I come and I bow at your feet. I want your word over my life. When you're making decisions about your children and what you do, are you thinking about the things that are benefiting you and what's wisest in your eyes? Or are you saying, lord, I submit this to you.
Where are you seated? Where are you seated? I was thinking about this, you know, where you see this woman comes in this position of not just I submit myself to you, but I love you and I want to be close to you. There's the power of those words. I want to know you.
So you can sing those words, brothers and sisters, and it can just be words or you can mean them from your heart saying, jesus, I want to know you. I was reminded Steve Funke's here and he just bought a few of us. Len and some others have just gotten some puppy cavoodles, little puppies. Steve's got little Luka, nine week old Luca, and Len has got a few weeks old little cavoodle puppy. We've got Ollie's now three.
You know what I've discovered? Steve brought Luca into the office. He got him just a week ago, was it week? One week ago today. And I said, steve, you're gonna fall for this thing.
This thing's gonna love you. This little pup's gonna love you and you're gonna love it. Well, Steve couldn't help it. He came into the office midweek after having him a few days ago. So I've just got to show you all.
And there he is and he's holding him. And you should see little Luca, right? He's known Steve for about two or three days at this stage. Steve's holding him, little Luke is cuddled into his, like under his arm. And literally as soon as Steve's holding him, he's just like he's fallen asleep in Steve's arms.
It's like, I love you, Steve. You're the best ever. You're the greatest human being that's ever walked the face of the earth of. I love you with all my heart. And Steve's going, and I love you too, Luca.
You're the best ever and you're awesome. Isn't this what happens Cavoodles get you in. Because you know what? They come to you and they say, I love you. And in many ways, that's the attitude.
This woman comes to Jesus with, I love you, Lord, I bow at your feet and I'm loving you. Her tears are pouring out. She's pouring out perfume. I love you. I love you.
Is that how you're seated with Christ? Not just I submit to you, Lord, and I want your view of my life. It's a good, honest answer.
Let me tell you. That's the relationship he wants with us. Where are you seated with the Lord? Where are you seated with God? Have you fallen in love with him?
And the second thing is this. Where is your treasure? Where is your treasure?
Because this woman does something incredible. She brings an alabaster bottle of perfume that they say it's very expensive. When you look at how expensive this is, scholars say it was worth one year's wages. That's an expensive bottle of perfume. Anyone here got a bottle of perfume worth a year's wages?
That's unbelievable.
She brings it and she pours it out on the feet of Christ.
Simon also was generous. He invited Jesus around his house. That's generous, isn't it? That's good. Hey, come around my house, have a meal with me.
That's a little bit of generosity. That's good. You know, you can be a follower of Christ and say, I'm a little bit generous. God, I've given you a little bit of my life. And I'm not talking about your money right now.
I'm not talking about how much you give into the life of the church. I'm talking about, you know, the greatest treasure you have is not your money, is not your wealth. It's not your possessions. The greatest treasure you have is you. It's your life.
We realize that. You look at your child. They're the greatest treasure their life, who they are. The greatest treasure you have is your own self. And I want to ask you, where is your treasure?
Where is your life dedicated towards? Simon was building. He had all these things, and he invited Jesus to come and he said, I'll give you a little bit of my life. I'll give you a little bit of generosity. And this woman came and knelt at his feet and said, lord, here's a year's worth of my perfume poured out in your feet in one moment.
Because you know why? She'd given Christ her life. And when you give Jesus, when you give your whole life to someone, a year's wages is not much. One year's wages doesn't count as that much when you've given him everything. When you truly love someone, you don't think too much about the cost, do you?
I know people. I would go, you know, some people are crazy when it comes to their pets. And I know people have spent thousands and thousands and thousands because they've fallen in love with their pet. And money now becomes no expense. Whatever it costs, I'll want to get them fixed.
We do that for our children, don't we? One day we should add up, parents. We should add up how much our children have cost us. So my daughter the other day, she was like, I bought some food in the house, and she just had it as a snack on the side. And then she goes, what else is for dinner now?
I said, well, that was dinner. She goes, I've eaten that. I'm like, just takes it out. Yeah, we accept that. Of course, you're providing for me, you know, because we love our children.
We give them whatever they need. We want to pour out love. When you find someone that you want to marry, oh, you just go, spare no expense. I want to pour out love. I thought I was being generous with my wife many years ago when I invited her or I was going to ask her to marry me, and I took her to the most expensive restaurant in Adelaide, and it was looking out over the hills and beautiful views, and we planned that.
And then I was like, right, I'm gonna pay for this beautiful meal, and then we'll go out and go for a walk looking out over the city, and I'm gonna get on my knee before her, and I'm gonna ask her to marry me. Looking out over this beautiful view. That was my plan. I thought that was pretty decent, wasn't it? That was a nice.
It was good. That's all I got. It was good, right? It was good. It wasn't exemplary, because that night, we also found out that Narelle's best friend and my friend, who.
They were also going out together, he decided that he was going to ask his girlfriend to marry him. We didn't know this on the same night, but he decided to book a private plane.
He booked a private plane to fly them to an island called Kangaroo island, where he had a whole restaurant had set up, have, I think, a beautiful beach, romantic dinner, looking out, candlelit dinner on the beach for them. And then they were gonna. He was gonna ask her to marry him. Kangaroo, and fly back. At the end, I went, this is over.
This is crazy generosity. This is crazy. So he'd planned to do that. And the naughty sort of jealous side of me came out because he got to the plane. We found this out after they got to the plane, and they got in the plane to fly out, and the plane wouldn't start.
The plane did not start. He couldn't start the plane. And the reason I know this happened on the night that it happened is because Narelle and I were in this nice restaurant having our dinner. And about an hour and a half into our meal, who walked in the doors but Narelle's best friend and my mate walked in, got seated in a table next to us, I think, and they told us the story. We had a plane.
The plane didn't work. And so we've had. We've come here, I've rung our around. And so in the end, he did exactly the same thing I did. He booked the restaurant, they had a nice meal, and they literally.
He went and they went and drove somewhere into another spot. So we went in the same place, and he asked her to marry him the same spot. And secretly, in my heart, I was like, yeah, that's right. So you can't be too generous. All right, this is reasonable.
But love has no bounds with generosity. When you love someone, your treasure wants to be poured out to them, and you want to love them. And I go, that's what this woman. You know how much you love someone by how much you're willing to give of yourself to them. And I want to ask you this about your relationship with Jesus.
How much do you want to give him your life? And you know what? Yes. When you give Christ your life, then the wealth and the other things you have, your talents, your abilities, your time, your finances, they become things that you say, well, Lord, it's yours anyway, because I've given you my life, so I want to pour it out. Your occupation, your job, becomes something that you say, lord, this is for you and for your glory.
A casual follower, they say, ah, you've had enough, Jesus. You've had enough. You know, this is my time now. This is my decision. This isn't your life.
I want to ask you in your own heart, how do you treat Christ? Because only you know this can't be judged by human beings. This can only be looked at in yourself and by God. When you make decisions in your life, is your heart saying, lord Jesus, what's your will? God, what would you'd have me do with my life?
Lord, if there's surrender, if there's sacrifice, I love you so. Much I'll follow what you say in my life. And I want to tell you this is for someone. You might have been in church the first week and just decided you want to follow Christ. He's going to challenge you with your devotion to Him.
What's the depth of your devotion? You might have been in church like me, all your life, 45 years following the Lord Jesus Christ. And do you know what? He comes to me and he says, adrian, what's the depth of your devotion? Because you can be a 45 year old pastor sitting on the front row preaching this word and you can still be living for yourself.
And God comes and he challenges me and he challenges you. He challenges each one of us at where we're at with him. And he says, where's your treasure? Where's your heart? That's why there's a scripture.
There's a number of scriptures that talk about this. In Philippians 2:16 we see the Apostle Paul. It says, hold firmly to the word of life. Then on the day of Christ's return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God.
Just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice and I will share your joy, saying, pour your life out to God. Give your life as a treasure to the Lord. In 2 Timothy 4 he talks about that as well.
He says, as for me, I think in verse six or seven, as for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I've fought the good fight. I've finished the race and I've remained faithful. Romans 12:1 says this.
I beseech you, therefore, in because of the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Do you know when you understand what God has done for you? And when you come and bring your treasure to him, giving him your life becomes your reasonable service. And that leads me to the third question, the third question which will define the rest of these. Where are you seated?
Where is your treasure? And here's the third question you need to answer. What is your revelation? What is your revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ? Because Simon saw him as a teacher.
He saw him as someone who had some good things to say. Just like you can see me. You're not following me. So you listen and you go, okay, I'll weigh that up. I like that.
I'm not sure about that. And that's your right. Because I'm just a person. Because you've had a revelation of Adrian, which is he's got some good things to say. I'm assuming that's why you're here.
And he's also just a person who doesn't have all the answers. And he's not the person that is going to fix everything in my life. That's right. That's a good revelation to have. Narelle had that revelation a long time ago.
But the revelation you have of Jesus Christ will determine the depth of your devotion.
How do you see Christ? Because Simon saw him as a teacher. But this woman, she had a revelation of who Jesus truly was. And Jesus comes and he explains this like Jesus always does. Simon didn't have to say anything.
The woman didn't have to say anything. Jesus saw through it. And he gives us the story, doesn't he, of how much has someone been forgiven? And when they realize how much they've been forgiven, their gratitude steps up because they've had a revelation.
The one who was forgiven much will have a greater dedication and devotion and gratitude than the one who was forgiven little. And here's the thing. I don't think Jesus was talking just about how much you've sinned and therefore how much have you been forgiven. I think he was talking about the revelation of how much Jesus has done and will do, because we have all fallen short of God's plan. We have all fallen short, and we all are in desperate need of the grace and the love of Christ.
And I want to tell you this. Your understanding and revelation of how much you need Jesus and how much love is poured out will determine your devotion to him. The depth of your devotion will be determined by your understanding of how much he loves you and has forgiven you. And so if we're. If you go, well, my treasure is my own.
I'm seated in a place where I go, Jesus is part of it, but he's not. He's not the one I look to for everything. Do you know what that means? It means that you're not living in the revelation of who Jesus really is, that you haven't understood that yet. And you might look at others and go, well, they seem to have a great revelation.
Maybe that's just the way it is. Maybe they're just a passionate person, Adrian. Maybe you're just like you just got your hands going everywhere, and you just get Fired up over everything. And maybe that's just you and either. No, no, I don't care about your personality.
I go, what's your revelation? You can be the quietest person on earth and have the deepest revelation of who Jesus is and be so devoted to him. This woman came and she realized. She realized something. And sometimes when we've been caught in sin and we're in our broken state, sometimes it helps give us a revelation of how lost we are and how much we need Christ and how much he loves us.
This woman had a realization of that, and that's why she came. Tears poured out, perfume poured out before the Lord. I'm forgiven much. I've been accepted. I've been changed.
And Jesus said to her, your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. You're made whole. Have you had a revelation of who Jesus is?
Simon was considering it. Some of us think we're good people and we think we don't really need. If you get to your heart of hearts, you realize, I don't really need Jesus that much because I've got a good life. Do you know there's a whole bunch of people like that that is a wrong revelation of who you are if you think I'm a good person. That just needs a little bit of Jesus sort of spirit, you know, splashed in every now and then.
Just need a bit of a splash of God. There we go. That's some of how we live. It's like we're going through our life. Oh, something's gone wrong, Lord.
Bit of splash, right? I'm good now. I'll get on with it because I'm good. I got this.
That's actually not the revelation you need. Do you know the greatest revelation is the ones, the people who hit rock bottom. This woman had hit rock bottom. She was rejected by the world. Do you know what that helped her see?
It helped her see the revelation that we actually all need Christ like that we're one moment away from devastation where sin clutches onto us and tries to destroy our lives. Some of the richest people in the world are some of the ones who are the most deceived because they haven't had a revelation. And I don't want any one of us to be like that. I don't want you to live in this casual Christianity that says God can just be a part of it. He needs to be everything.
Christ is everything. And I'm not talking about being religious, of course that means there's an outworking. You know, when you fall in love With Christ. I want to be in the house of God. I want to be in worship.
I want to spend time with Him. I want to live for Him. But none of that is possible unless you have a revelation of him. You can go to Bible college, get all the knowledge you want. Sometimes it's confusing and overwhelming.
So it's not knowledge that's going to save you. It's not knowledge that's going to lead you to your devotion to Christ. It's a revelation that he is the way, the truth and the life for me. Is that what you've discovered? That's why on Easter, I got my dad up.
Because I once was lost. But the love of God kept pouring out on me. My dad said it so beautifully, said my life was a bit of a wreck. There was pain and suffering, but God kept loving me. And I kept seeing the love of God from others.
And the love of God drew him in. And to say, come. And then he says, I devote my life back to you, Lord.
Have you had a revelation? Not asking for casual Christians in this place. I'm asking for people as I've had a revelation of the love of God, the love, the grace of God. Because then being a living sacrifice and bringing your life, your treasure to him. It's what Paul said.
This is your reasonable service. It's a bit crazy, isn't it? You know, he was talking to. He was talking to people who were going to go to their deaths living for Christ. They're going to lose their lives for Christ.
When you understand the mercy, the grace of God, giving God your entire life as a living sacrifice, saying, here I am, I'll serve you and I'll love you, is the only reasonable thing you can do. That's what I mean by revelation. So I've had a revelation that the only life that is worth living, my friends, is the life lived in obedience and devotion to Christ. Do you know why I've realized that? Because I need him with all my heart.
Because he loves me with all my heart. Because he's my Creator. He's my Savior. He's the one who poured his life out for me. He's the only one that makes me happy.
Do you realize that? He's the only one that makes me happy forever. The joy that the Lord gives me can't be taken from anybody in this life. You go, oh, I've got that love with my spouse. They make me happy.
That can go wrong like that, that can end like that. And then there's pain and hurt, the joy of the Lord is the only thing that will satisfy your life. Have you had a revelation? When you get a revelation, Christians, it's time for you and I to get a revelation. I'm devoted to your Christ.
Not going to be an Ella.
She's devoted to Christ. I'm talking about an Ella. Toing and froing. I go for the crows. I go for the tigers.
I don't really care.
My spoon collection. I don't know where their spoons are anymore. Where are they, Mum? Bottom of a drawer. Haven't looked at them in years.
Because I'm not devoted to that.
Christ is not there to be put at the bottom of a drawer. My brothers and sisters, he's not there. One moment I cheer for him in church. Yes, Lord. And the other moment, I'm going for something else completely different.
That the Lord wouldn't follow. Christ is there to be followed with your whole heart. And some of us need to ask the Lord for a revelation. I don't need you to try harder to be a devoted follower of Christ. I need you to ask the Holy Spirit.
Lord, show me Jesus. I want to know you. I want to know you. I want to know you and be known by you, God. And out of that, I will seat myself in the place where I'm at your feet.
Out of that, I will seat myself. I will put myself in a place where you are my treasure and I am your treasure, and I give my life. Parents, God's given you treasure. Your children. Do you know, I'll give you this.
He has not called you to make them successful. He has called you to teach them to know the Lord. It is a greater purpose.
If you just try and make your kids successful. They might be. They might be a great success. But what profited a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? You have one overriding job.
That is to show your children the Lord and help them to follow him and devote their lives to him. And this is the truth, Friend, when you seek first the kingdom of God, all of these other things shall be added unto you.
God will make your path straight. Friend, I'm not asking you to do something that loses everything. I'm asking you to find the pearl of great price. I'm asking you to find that which is the most important. Christians who follow Christ casually.
You have lost. You've missed the whole point. You're so close and yet so far. Because God is everything. Jesus is everything.
He deserves everything. He is life and happiness and joy and peace and righteousness. He is everything you've ever wanted in your heart. And he's this far away from you. He's right there.
Simon stood, sat at a table and kept him at a distance. This woman, without even being invited. She didn't need to be because she knew the heart of Christ. And she got on her knees before God.
Jesus, I love you. I've brought my perfume, I've brought my life. I pour it out on your feet. Thank you, Lord. She starts wiping his feet with her tears and cleaning her with her hair.
Lord, I love you. I'm devoted to you. I'm accepted, I'm saved. You're my life. You're my hope.
Isn't that the beautiful picture? Isn't that the life that you want to live? I want to be that person devoted to Christ. I want to lead my children in my job. Lord, I'm doing this for you.
I'm not in your occupation, whatever it is, running your business, your profession, your work. If you're just doing that for yourself, what a meaningless task in the end. Lord, I do this for you, for your glory.
And then it has meaning and then it has purpose. And then God's going to use you. I'm devoted to Christ.
Let me mention someone that I think showed this so beautifully. I haven't talked about it much, but Amanda. Brothers and sisters at Mornington. Family members, maybe Tom's here and Scott and Len. Amanda passed away just a number of weeks ago, but she was a member of our congregation here at Frankston.
A key member of our congregation at Mornington. She went and planted. Helped plant the church at Mornington. She's a woman who. She'd had cancer.
She'd lost her husband to cancer. Got remarried to Len Turner and it was beautiful. And then the cancer came back and in the end she lost her life. You know, the whole time I've known Amanda over the last several years, I've watched a woman who was devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ. Not perfect, her life didn't go perfectly, but devoted to Christ.
She wrote these books. She wrote one when her first cancer journey from cancer to cancan. You know what it's all about? How the Lord was with her through this journey and kept her strong and encouraging others to do the same. Then she.
When Covid happened sunsets from my balcony. And she wrote a journal about the Lord being with her and all these beautiful times. About how the Lord was with her and how he gives us strength. Look at this. Didn't even mean to open to this bit.
He gives us a strength beyond the strength this world Offers so that we can boast in our weakness. God's grace is enough. It's all we need.
She was a woman her whole life. I'm devoted to you, Christ. I'm proud to know Amanda. Proud to talk about her because she was a devoted follower of Christ. Deeply devoted.
She wasn't casual. I remember when we went to plant our church and I asked for people in Mornington, who wants to go to Mornington? If you're interested, come along. She brought people with her. She was like, we're in, we're going.
Let's do this. Devoted. Devoted. Her treasure was with the Lord. She was seated at the feet of Christ and she had a revelation that Jesus was her everything.
Where are you seated? Where's your treasure? And what's your revelation?
The depth of your devotion will determine your direction. Don't you want to be someone who is like that woman? Says, lord, I follow you. I follow you. We're going to pray today.
We're going to pray. We're not going to go big hurrah, hurrah. We're going to pray and we're going to take a moment before God to say, lord, can you help me?
Can you help me?
Yeah. Yeah, I like that. There's none like you. You're singing that, playing that.
I'm going to invite us as we are watching, so sitting there to just consider and say, lord, you know where you're at. Maybe you need to. Maybe you're far from God. I want to tell you the Lord loves you. Look at what he did with this woman.
This woman who was known by everyone to have committed all these sins. Who knows what?
But Jesus said, you're forgiven, you're loved. Go in peace. Go knowing that you're whole. Go knowing that you're a new creation. Go knowing that I've washed away the past and you got a new life.
You are loved and you are worthy, made worthy by Christ. Maybe you need to be accepted and received by Christ. Maybe you've never done that. Maybe you're far from God.
We're going to say a prayer right now. I'm going to invite you to do that. And then we're going to sing. I'm going to invite you Christians to say, lord, where's my devotion to the Lord? What's the Holy Spirit challenging with?
Come on, we're going to say this prayer together. If you need to say it to the Lord to give your life, him, say it after me. Dear Lord Jesus, I need to follow you. I need you, Jesus. I believe you're.
The Son of God and you died on the cross for me and you rose again from the dead. Forgive me, Lord Jesus, be my Lord and my Savior. I devote my life to you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
So we're going to take a couple of minutes. Those watching online, if you want to cut back to the team, you can do that. If you want to stay watching with us as we worship, you can do that as well. But I want us to take a couple of minutes. What's your devotion to the Lord, say, lord, give me a fresh revelation.
Lord, forgive me if I haven't been following you, but Lord, I bow at your feet. Maybe some people you want to kneel at the feet of Christ. Maybe you want to stand as we worship and say, lord, I'm here, I'm yours, Lord, help me make decisions. If you're facing a decision, say, lord, I'm going to surrender it to you and ask for your input. Because I want you to speak to me, Lord, I want to follow you with all my heart, my mind, my body, my soul.
And we're going to sing. You take this moment, this morning.
There is none like you.
You are low now. Worthy of all honor and praise. No other name.
There is none like you.
You alone are worthy of all honor and praise. There's no other name, there is none. There is none like you.
You alone are worthy of all honor and praise. There's no other name, there is none. There is none like you.
You, you alone are worthy of all honor and praise. No other name, no other name.
Jesus, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I want to invite us all to stand together.
We're going to take a moment. I'm going to invite us to just say, lord, here's my life. Will you help me live for you? Can you help me to see you? Your love, your grace, he was poured out for you.
The grace of God. You've been forgiven, you've been loved. Help me see it, Lord. Help me live for you. Help the decisions I make in my household, in my life, be in alignment with that revelation.
Let the depth of my devotion, Lord Jesus, be deeper with you. The Holy Spirit, help us. I pray we dedicate ourselves again to you. And we ask, Lord, that you would come and help us, Holy Spirit, to live for you in every area of our lives. We pray in Jesus precious name.
There's those in this place. We're going to finish with this song in a minute. If there's those in this place. And if you this morning say, you know what I would like prayer if you'd like prayer because you say I'm facing a decision or I need to just be at the feet of Jesus this morning because of what I'm going through. I need his grace.
I need his help. I need. We're gonna invite you. You can come forward as we finish this song and then we finish the service. You can come forward.
We're gonna have pastors to pray with you, minister with you, and let the Holy Spirit minister his love and his grace to you before we leave. Is that okay? Today?
Come on, we're going to sing this song one last time. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
Name, name Jesus is worthy. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
Name above none like you. Lord, we worship you in this place. Worthy of there's no other name. There is none. There is none like you.
You alone are worthy of all honor.
No other name.
Thank you, Lord. Lord, as we go from this place today, be with your people as we look to live for you, Lord, let us keep that revelation in mind. We've been forgiven. We've been set free. Your grace is with us.
You make us more than able, Lord. And because of that, we can live for you. We can seat ourselves at your feet. Lord Jesus, we give our lives and our treasure to you, Lord. We ask for your direction and guidance in everything we do.
In Jesus name we pray. Everyone said amen. Amen. If you like. Thank you.
If you like prayer this morning. We got morning tea out there. If you like prayer, you can come forward. We're going to have pastors to pray for us. God bless you, church.
Thank you for joining us.