Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Well, you'll be pleased to know it's a short sermon this morning.
[00:00:08] So we have some time with tea and coffee and just having a look around the site. So we're gonna be a short one. She says, no, I promise you, we will be kind of short.
[00:00:17] So it is good to see you all.
[00:00:21] I just want to publicly say, some of you know, I lost my father a couple of weeks ago.
[00:00:25] And I just want to publicly say thank you so much for your love and support over a really difficult time.
[00:00:32] I really love my dad. My dad was 50 years in the ministry, led some great ministries over the decades. And, you know, when you face death, and I know many of you have in the face, it didn't half hit you.
[00:00:47] It really hits you. And that was the first time we'd lost. I'd lost grandparents, but it's the first time I've really lost somebody who is very fully involved in my life. And I was speaking. I was preaching at Exeter last Sunday, and it was the first time. I remember just like, silently crying, going, I couldn't run my sermon notes past my father because I would do that all the time. I would just. He would be my go to. I'd ring up and say, dad, just to. I just need to check with you, like, if this is okay. And I couldn't do that. But I just want to thank you for the support. Support, the love, the messages, all the food that's turned up, the cakes, the flowers. Honestly, it's been so lovely. And just really thank you all so much.
[00:01:30] There we go. So let's get on. This morning, we're continuing our fullness of Christ. This is really exciting. The fullness of Christ. We're doing the whole 12 months. If you don't know the whole 12 months in the book of Luke.
[00:01:41] This has been really key to us. We. Wow. Thanks, Joe.
[00:01:46] Just look at Joe at the back there. Look what he's telling me.
[00:01:50] Look what he's telling me as I'm stood up here. He says, you look amazing today. Thank you, Joe. I received that, brother.
[00:01:59] We've been doing the whole fullness of Christ. And what's been really important to us is that we've got two things on the agenda as a church that we become mature.
[00:02:11] Jesus is looking for a mature bride, a mature bride. And he's looking for a bride on mission as well.
[00:02:20] So maturity and mission. And the Gospel of Luke has really, you know, you can tell listening to people and speaking to people and the way people are praying that the book of Luke and hearing the words of Jesus has really done us good as a church, and we're hopefully going to. Going to finish the book of Luke by the end of the year. Although I've got a feeling that we will probably have to nip into the new year just to finish that off. So this morning, we are in Luke chapter 10 at the home of Mary and Martha.
[00:02:52] If you kind of were here before we broke up for. I was gonna say for Christmas, for summer.
[00:02:57] Phil spoke on the Good Samaritan, and the Good Samaritan was all about helping and loving your neighbor, serving people, laying your lives down for whoever may need your help, that you help them.
[00:03:14] This morning, it would appear, as we read scripture this morning, that we're to do the opposite, but it's not true. I'll explain what I mean in a moment. So let's go to Luke chapter 10, and we're reading from verse 38.
[00:03:31] As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.
[00:03:47] But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?
[00:03:59] Tell her to help me.
[00:04:02] Martha. Martha, the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed, or indeed only one.
[00:04:15] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.
[00:04:23] Wow.
[00:04:25] In this passage this morning, I don't want us to look at Mary and Martha and think, well, wasn't Mary the spiritual one and Martha was the one who was just running around like a headless chicken?
[00:04:36] All right, I don't want us to think like that this morning.
[00:04:40] I want us to think about what Jesus was saying. Because I think the timing of us coming to this part of Luke is really important for us as a church. And this move and finishing the end of the year really, really well.
[00:04:53] Martha was distracted.
[00:04:57] How many of us have the spirit of distraction that comes upon us?
[00:05:04] Yeah, you sit down for a time with the Lord and that phone's going bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing.
[00:05:11] And you're like, how many have got really good self control and they kind of just stay to the Bible?
[00:05:18] No one's waving their hand. I can't even wave my hand on that one. Oh, there's one at the end. All right. Martha was distracted. You know, my husband, I've got to shame him a Little bit here, but. And I don't know if anybody can relate, but I get him to do something, and it may be something really simple, like, can you just take these wet towels and go and put them in the utility room? Okay. But my husband doesn't go directly to the utility route, so he will stop on his way and he will find something to do. He'll go in the loo and read a book for half an hour, and then he'll go. And then somebody will distract him on the phone, and then he'll walk into the living room, and then he'll be on the phone for another hour. And then by the time. I'm slightly exaggerating, but you get the point. But by the time that's happened, these soggy wet towels have now created a whole load of mess on the carpet somewhere. And I have to then do it myself.
[00:06:12] Anybody relate to living in a household like that? Okay, so Martha was distracted.
[00:06:23] Distracted.
[00:06:25] Martha was also worried.
[00:06:29] Don't put your hands up, but we've got any worriers who worry.
[00:06:34] Martha was upset about many, many things.
[00:06:42] So she was distracted.
[00:06:44] She was worried.
[00:06:46] She was upset about many, many things.
[00:06:51] Is that relating to anybody here in this room? Like, already our heads are going. Tomorrow morning, work. I've got to have X, Y and Z. College. I've got to be here. We're distracted by so many things, but Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus. How lovely.
[00:07:09] How nice.
[00:07:11] Good old Mary. She was sat at the feet of Jesus and she was listening to everything he was saying. Good old Mary.
[00:07:21] And you can understand a little bit how upset Martha would have been. Can anybody upset A little bit.
[00:07:26] Yeah, yeah, I know I get upset with my husband. This is a bit of a. Sorry, honey.
[00:07:31] I get a bit upset. Like, I'm running around like a headless chicken. And Phil just seems to be really chilled out just being Phil. And I'm running around like a headless chicken.
[00:07:42] I'll bring this all out in a minute and I'll honor him. Okay, teenagers this morning, do not think this is the Lord saying to you that you don't need to do any work at all and all you need to do is sit at the feet of Jesus.
[00:07:59] Okay? So please don't go to your parents and go, I can't empty the dishwasher this morning, Mum and Dad, because I need to go and sit at the feet of Jesus.
[00:08:09] One of my teenagers on holiday, we went to, like, a Christian camp in France, and one of my teenagers came in two and a half hours past the curfew, as a parent. It was 2am, Phil was asleep, but I was up pacing around this chateau, going, where is she?
[00:08:32] Sorry?
[00:08:34] And I was like.
[00:08:36] And she comes through the door at just gone 2:00am and she goes, mum, do not be mad with me for being out and about. She said, I've been praying over somebody tonight.
[00:08:49] And I said, I. I don't care if you've been praying over anybody. That sounds so spiritual. You wipe that smile off your face, you are grounded. Your phone's kind. You can imagine the scene.
[00:09:01] So teenagers. This is not letting you off, going well, actually, Esther said, on Sunday, you know, I'm distracted by all these things. I just need to sit at the feet of Jesus. But you're really in your bedroom on your phone.
[00:09:14] But this was not an attack on serving, on preparing things, on getting things ready.
[00:09:23] This is not those kind of. This is not one of those speeches that Jesus gave. Because we know that Jesus cared about preparations before the Passover. He sent his disciples with specific instructions to go and prepare the room for the Passover meal. So this was not about the don't bother preparing, don't bother serving. Remember, Jesus came to serve, not to be served.
[00:09:51] And so preparations are necessary.
[00:09:56] But here's the point.
[00:09:59] Jesus was talking.
[00:10:02] Jesus was saying something and Martha wasn't listening.
[00:10:10] He was speaking, he was teaching.
[00:10:14] But Martha wasn't paying attention.
[00:10:19] She was busy being distracted and worried by many, many things.
[00:10:32] You know, the Lord wants us. Us.
[00:10:38] The Lord wants to connect with us every single day.
[00:10:44] He doesn't want us to be so busy doing our plans and then quickly find time for him. I think we've got that a bit mixed up. You see, God wants to be included in our plans and in our preparations and in our serving. It's not one or the other. Do you understand where I'm going this morning? The Lord wants us.
[00:11:11] He doesn't need our culinary skills to be perfect.
[00:11:15] He doesn't even need the setup of this room to be perfect. Although it's brilliant.
[00:11:22] He wants us to be focused on him.
[00:11:29] I believe as the church, this is where I'm going this morning. I believe as a church, we can be so distracted in being busy.
[00:11:37] Busy looks good, doesn't it?
[00:11:39] Busy looks productive.
[00:11:43] Busy makes us look as though we really care about a zillion things.
[00:11:49] But busyness robs us of the main think.
[00:11:55] And that's hearing what the Lord has to say, listening out to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in what he wants us to do every day. Heidi Baker puts it like this she said, intimacy with God produces the most fruit in our lives.
[00:12:13] If you're a busy person, ask yourself this morning, is this busyness kingdom productive? I love it every day. You know, we should go out every day and say, lord, what do you want me to do today? I know, Lord, I've got to go to the office. I know I need to prepare this meal. I know I need to go and help somebody today and do this. But Lord, how can I really still, in doing all these things, connect with you and connect with people?
[00:12:47] I love what God is doing at Rediscover Church, Newton Abbott. You know, as a leadership team, on the agenda every time we meet is, are we doing things that the Lord has not called us to do?
[00:13:01] In fact, some people have said, why are you not doing this yet? Why have you not picked up that ministry yet? Why are you not doing X, Y and Z? And it's because we want to go at the Lord's pace.
[00:13:13] We don't want to go at our pace because you don't need a bunch of burnt out leaders.
[00:13:20] Oh, but it looks great and it looks busy.
[00:13:24] But you need us healthy, you need us well.
[00:13:27] You need us to be listening to the Holy Spirit to go at his pace and his drive and the way he opens doors, not us.
[00:13:38] Being busy for the Lord isn't necessarily loving the Lord. You do know that. And I think we can get caught up into this big trap that the enemy lays in front of us where he's saying, the busier you are, the more spiritual you look.
[00:13:57] And it's not true. It's a lie. Lord, help us every day to go, lord, what is it you need me to do?
[00:14:04] What is it you need me to do?
[00:14:06] As a church, we don't want to completely miss the main point and that's spending time with Jesus. Do you know you can spend time with Jesus, right? I love spending time. I've made a little office and it's a tiny office at home, but it's a little office. And I love going in there and closing the door. But you know, we can be as productive when we're in the workplace or, or we're driving down the road or we're going to the supermarket, you know, that we can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. And I want to say to our Sunday teams who greeted us so amazingly on the big driveway coming up and those who welcome us, right, I want to say to you this morning, this isn't just being busy on a Sunday, coming here and doing your role, all right? Look out.
[00:14:56] Look out for what? And listen out to what the Holy Spirit wants to say to you, right? Connect with people. Look at people when you serve them, look at people, ask them how they're doing.
[00:15:10] Connect with people.
[00:15:13] We were in France a couple of weeks ago and I remember just having some time with the Lord. Isn't it lovely sitting out and the sun's shining and you've got like, yeah, baguette and Brie at 7am and it's wonderful, but it's lovely sitting house and the sun is beaming down. And I had my Bible and I said, lord, even on holiday, I want to be about your business. I know you need times of rest, but I really want to be about your business. And I remember having to go to the supermarket. Now I hate supermarket shopping, right? If you know me well, you know that I am not domesticated. Like I can clean a house, but in the kitchen, Esther Renier will testify. I could just about do a chicken and some roast potatoes, but I'm just useless in the kitchen. Like really, really useless. And food shopping is just the worst thing I could ever, ever do. I'm like, look at, I don't even go with a list. Who goes with a list? All sorted. Yeah, Well, I kind of go there and I think, right, what we going to have for tea yet? The kids like meat, let's grab some meat. So I'm a bit like that. And that morning could have been a real headache to me and I could have been so distracted in trying to get all this food together in this trolley. But as I was going around the supermarket, I just went, lord, you know, I know you can help me even pull some meals together and you can help me do this, but I'm just going to worship you as I go around. And as I was going around the supermarket, I came out and there was a lady just outside the supermarket, she was just standing there and you know when the spirit of God calls you to stop and take note, it was one of those moments. And I came out, her name was Alexandria. And I came out and I just thought, I'm going to stop. I don't know why I'm going to stop.
[00:17:01] And I stopped by her and I just said, bonjour Sava.
[00:17:07] Any French speaking people here?
[00:17:11] Je m' appelle Esther. And she went, ah, je m' appelle Alex Alexander. And I was going, oh, oui, oui, oui, TRA bien.
[00:17:18] And that was it. Because my French is very small. I think that's mostly all us can do, all we can do. And we started kind of with broken English. She started talking about her life, how she had children and that she was actually homeless. She was completely homeless in France. They'd been kicked out their home. And so we were just speaking for a while and I remember then just sharing some of my food with her. Such a simple act of sharing my food with her and she went away with all my meat and my veg. No, I'm joking. But she went away with a basket full of food.
[00:17:51] And what I want to say to that is I could have been so distracted by all the preparation. I know it's something so simple, but I could have been so distracted over all the things that I had to do that day and miss that one person that God wanted me to minister to.
[00:18:11] Right. That is what distraction does.
[00:18:14] It robs us of ministering to people's lives. It robs us of the main thing.
[00:18:22] It robs us of pointing people to Jesus every time. I am guilty of it. I'm sure you are guilty of it.
[00:18:31] I believe it's the one thing the enemy wants to take and rob us is to make us so busy and so distracted that we miss the main thing.
[00:18:43] Sometimes we can be busy and I am going to finish up in a moment. Sometimes we can be so busy talking about our problems, so busy talking about all the distractions and all the things we've got to do. Oh, I've got to do this and oh, I've got to do that. I'm sure my children, I ask my children to forgive me but I'm sure my children look at me sometimes and go, mum, you're like a headless chicken. Why are you worried?
[00:19:08] Why are you running around the house like trying to do this and trying to do that.
[00:19:14] One thing I've tried to do as a parent, something. I mean, my parents are in ministry and they were always away but I love them for them and they were good parents. So this is not me speaking bad about them. But they were always ministering to everybody else at hospital beds and doing all of those things.
[00:19:32] Thank goodness that we have teams today that it's not a one man band.
[00:19:36] But one thing I've tried to do. And Phil, as we've tried to do, is that at home.
[00:19:40] But actually instead of then catching up on chores, the chores wait.
[00:19:45] And we sit with our children around the table and we talk and we interact.
[00:19:51] Those are really important things to do.
[00:19:53] The washing up can wait, the laundry can wait.
[00:19:59] What cannot wait if you've got children, especially teenagers, is interacting and connecting with them on a daily basis and pointing them to the main thing, which is always Jesus, his presence, his goodness. The sink might be full of dishes and dirty dishes.
[00:20:19] Deo Gloria might have some. Some dirty dishes.
[00:20:23] But when you eyeball those customers, you're showing the love of Jesus. You're showing. This is the main point of what we're doing. Wouldn't it be great church that we end this year and it's coming fast upon us, 20, 25, where we get our lives in order?
[00:20:40] You know, I'm going to start. We invite people. We kind of have summer parties at our house and invite people round. But, you know, I want to encourage us as a church to invite people around, regardless of the state of our homes, regardless of whether there's any food in the fridge or not.
[00:21:05] Do you know why? Because people want you when they come round. They're not looking at how well you cook that lasagne.
[00:21:12] They're not looking at how much fruit salad you put on their plate.
[00:21:18] They want connection with you.
[00:21:22] They want.
[00:21:26] People want you. Your time, your advice, your love.
[00:21:33] Just quickly go through these. There are many accounts in the Bible that show us so many distractions in life. Here's one of them. Do you know you can be distracted relationally by your enemy, by a bad neighbor?
[00:21:52] We can be distracted relationally. Jehoshaphat had an army coming against him, and that could have distracted him completely and sent him. I mean, it would, wouldn't it? If you're in. If you're. If you're in battle.
[00:22:05] But there is a vast, huge army coming against you.
[00:22:09] Now, put it in your context. Whatever is coming against you in life, for Jehoshaphat, it was this army. And this is what Jehoshaphat did. He could have worried, been upset. I'm sure there was a little bit of human upset in there and worry.
[00:22:22] But he turned around and he said these words. In other words, he says, I'm not going to be distracted. He says, I don't know what to do, but my eyes are upon you.
[00:22:33] I don't know what to do.
[00:22:36] I've got all these relatives coming over this afternoon. Lord, you know, I'm a bad cook.
[00:22:43] The house is a mess. The kids have completely.
[00:22:48] Or I've got this business meeting tomorrow and I haven't pulled up any preparations. And Lord, you know why? Because I've been busy or I've been doing other things. But, Lord, I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you.
[00:23:01] We can be distracted by our enemies, by those, our neighbors, or relationally we can be distracted by fears. Do you know we can be distracted by our emotions and our feelings.
[00:23:12] How many of us know our emotions and feelings? They can take over.
[00:23:16] And instead of sitting at the feet of Jesus, we're so focused about our emotions and our feelings.
[00:23:23] You know what the Bible says?
[00:23:25] I sought the Lord and he answered me. He delivered me from all my fears.
[00:23:35] So easy to get distracted, to let your whole day be ruined because of fears and feelings and worries and all the distractions that come with that. But the psalmist said, I sought the Lord. In other words, I'm not going to get distracted. I'm going to sit at the feet of Jesus, I'm going to listen to what he's got to say.
[00:23:55] Our bodies can be a massive distraction.
[00:23:59] They can when they're sick, when they're not working as well.
[00:24:05] It can take over everything.
[00:24:10] Let's remind ourselves of the woman with the issue of blood.
[00:24:14] She could have been distracted that day by all the crowds coming against her.
[00:24:19] What an embarrassment. You've got an issue of blood and you know the only person who can help you is Jesus. But he's somewhere over there in the middle of thousands of people.
[00:24:31] She could have easily got sidetracked and distracted by everything that was going around. But she said, I've got one agenda and it is this.
[00:24:41] There's Jesus and I'm getting to him.
[00:24:45] Going to sit at his feet. And she received what?
[00:24:49] Her healing.
[00:24:51] She received her healing.
[00:24:53] Church.
[00:24:56] I want us to pursue in life the one thing that is better than everything else.
[00:25:02] Remember what I said at the start. This is not that we don't prepare. This is not that we don't serve.
[00:25:09] This is not that we kind of be a bit shoddy in our workplace. No, but this is about saying, in everything that is going on this week, I am pursuing the one thing every day that matters.
[00:25:26] When we get into glory, you know you can't take your clean house with you when we get into glory.
[00:25:36] We can't, you know, nothing else will matter. It doesn't matter how clean your car was, how clean your house, how perfect your, I don't know, your business file cabinets were. And I'm not saying those things are bad, trust me, they're not.
[00:25:52] But they are if they distract us from sitting at the feet of Jesus every single day.
[00:26:00] Let us use this as a wake up call before the end of 2025 and say, Lord, every day I'm back to the main thing and that is connecting with you on a deeper level before anything else. Remember the psalmist said, one thing I desire, one thing I desire, one thing I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days. One thing I desire, one thing I seek. Will you just stand with me this morning? CHURCH band Will you come up?
[00:26:37] You know, the stuff in life can wait.
[00:26:41] Sitting at the feet of Jesus, can't it? Can't.
[00:26:48] The stuff can wait.
[00:26:53] I just want us to close our eyes this morning and although this has like been a really. This has been a bit of a simple message this morning in our kind of coming up to the fullness of Christ passage, it's been a simple one, but I think it can be the most damaging one if we don't have ears to hear.
[00:27:12] I think distraction is robbing us, robbing our world.
[00:27:18] The noise, the clutter, the voices.
[00:27:26] So as we've got our heads bowed this morning, Father, I pray over us as a congregation.
[00:27:33] I pray, Father, that we would not enter each day with this to do list of what we need to do, Lord, straight away.
[00:27:43] But we would enter each day waking up saying, lord, I need to do that one thing today. And it is to pursue your presence, it is to pursue you, it is to sit at your feet and listen to what you have to say.
[00:27:58] You know, the Lord can do more in a week or in a day than we can in a lifetime trying to be busy and get things done.
[00:28:12] I believe with all my heart that day, O Gloria, God's going to turn up supernaturally.
[00:28:17] Somebody used the words this week saying, oh, it's such a stressful environment. So stressful, isn't it, for the team? So stressful, right? No, because I believe the Lord is going to carry our team.
[00:28:30] I believe there's going to be such an effortless rhythm because they're going to flow with the Holy Spirit.
[00:28:38] They're not going to do it without him, they're going to flow with him and he's going to blow on them and he's going to strengthen them and I believe they're going to get. Are you listening, Matt? Yeah, to the end of the day and you're going to go, wow, I could do that all over again.
[00:28:56] Because.
[00:28:57] Because you're pursuing him first, you're pursuing him first. So, Father, over us as a church, Lord, those things that distract us every day, and you know what they are, whether it's our mobile phones, Lord.
[00:29:13] Whether it's the constant emails and phone calls, Lord. Whether it's the neighbour that we just can't seem to get on with, Lord. Whether it's things going on in our bodies that we can't explain, Lord, whether it's loved ones that are far from you, Lord.
[00:29:39] Father, all of these things, they are important to you because it says you care about every area of our lives.
[00:29:46] But Lord, I pray, Lord that these things would not distract us from the main thing of pursuing you as a church. Lord, as we come to the end of nearly 2025, that would be found sitting at your feet listening to what you have to say and from there, Lord, live productive, fruitful lives that honor and please you.
[00:30:16] Lord, for those who really struggle, and that's me included here, those of us who really struggle with distraction, Lord, I pray you'd help us, really help us this week to get good rhythms and priorities straight and that we would visibly see your hand at work, strategically working on our behalf because that's what you do.
[00:30:41] In Jesus name. In Jesus name.
[00:30:45] Yep. Amen.
