Connect Grp's CG Sermon - Mary and Martha

Today's cg meeting was special. We had it at MuraMura (Japanese Foodcourt) at POMO. When Adam suddenly gave each connect group 10 mins to prepare a 5min, 2-point sermon, that he has NEVER heard before! lol! And each group had to send up 1 representative to take the hot seat and preach.

Honestly, the one who was supposed to preach wasnt me, lol, but last minute, seconds before it was our turn, momo turned to me and said, "Andrew, you go ba, you can do it one right?" hahaha. Man of great faith! lol.

Honestly, Timo thought of the context and the main points, but I was frankly nervous, cus it was sudden and last minute and I had to expand the notes on the spot. But I guess it came out okay..hahaha.

And the SOT grads + CGCs CANNOT preach! So yea, talk about PURE FAITH! lol.

Anyway, here's the sermon my connect grp came up with, which I eventually became the one 'led' to preach lol and I expanded on it a little as I meditated on it, on the way home. :D

Context:

Luke 10:38-40 (NLT)

38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home.

39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught.

40 But Martha was worrying over the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, "Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me."

41 But the Lord said to her, "My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these details!

42 There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it – and I won't take it away from her."

Whenever we read this text, we have the concept of worship being our highest calling. And its true, we were all made to worship God and to fellowship with Him.

However, lets look at it from another angle.

1. Mary is an example of WORSHIP.

2. Martha is an example of MINISTRY.

What is the basis of worship?

We worship because we LOVE Him.

We worship out of faith.

Why faith? Because we know that no matter what circumstances we are going through, we still know that God is still a good God, that God is never late, that even though we are faithless, He remains faithful!

What is the basis of ministry?

We serve out of LOVE. Again, love is evident. (Thus, the greatest of these is love)

We serve out of a heart of service, an act of works.

God is not against works, in fact, we are saved by faith, FOR good works!

"That men may see your GOOD WORKS and glorify your Father in heaven."

They say, faith without works is dead.

Therefore, WORSHIP WITHOUT MINISTRY IS DEAD!

Just because you are worshipping, it gives you no excuse not to serve!

Just because you are serving, it gives you no excuse not to worship!

Both are equally important.

Who were the ones in the house? Mary and Jesus only? No.

Both Mary and Martha were in the SAME HOUSE, where Jesus dwelled in.

The 'house of God' if you will. (Wherever the presence of God resides in)

However, we must strike a good balance.

So why did Jesus say we must not be too occupied with serving and focus on the more important thing, which is in this case, to worship and to love God?

Mary speaks of the vertical beam of the cross.

The Great Commandment - Loving God wholeheartedly

Martha speaks of the horizontal beam of the cross.

Loving people fervently - The Great Commission

"On these 2, hang the law and the prophets."

The vertical beam, is the foundation. It is the beam that goes rooted into the ground.

Therefore, relationship precedes ministry, in everything you do, if your relationship with God is not strong, anything else you build on top will crumble.

And if you know how the cross looks like, the vertical beam, is always LONGER than the horizontal beam, BUT, both are equally important.

Mary's the one, sitting at Jesus' feet, hearing Him speak, just enjoying His company and His presence and no doubt, Jesus himself mentioned that we should not be too busy serving all the time, but to have the right priorities.

Whereas Martha's the one doing the things, preparations, etc. Making sure everything is in order. Even though Mary was the 'featured' one, it was MARTHA, who invited Jesus in!

Its because of these people who worked hard every week to serve, that helped usher in the presence of God, these were the people that make things happen.

So next time, lets not grumble when people end late because of ministry.

Neither should those who serve almost every week be envious of those who get to worship every week. There's always a balance and these are things we can control.

Like talking to your leaders, etc. Ensuring that we dont become dried up or burned out.

Lets pick up the CROSS daily (Mary and Martha) and follow Him.

And Im sure we will see revival in our services, in our celgrps, in our ministries.

Mary, Martha, Jesus - A triune felllowship, a threefold cord that cannot be broken.

Because the CROSS is right there. Power of God will begin to move!