Worship Service | March 15, 2026 | Follow Me (Part 3: Be With Jesus)

Stillness proves difficult in a culture that never stops moving. Blaise Pascal’s observation about humanity’s inability to sit quietly frames a need to slow down and reflect. Luke 10 narrates a concrete scene: a house full of guests, heavy hospitality duties, Martha rushing to serve, and Mary taking the radical posture of sitting at Jesus’ feet. That posture shocked first-century expectations because sitting at a rabbi’s feet belonged to male students; Mary crossed social boundaries to prioritize presence over performance.

Martha’s busyness reveals the cost of service without soul-filling source. Jesus addresses her with compassionate correction—“Martha, Martha”—and identifies a desperate lack: the “better portion.” That better portion consists in being with Jesus; presence fills the soul and fuels faithful service. Service proves necessary for kingdom work, but service that runs ahead of presence becomes obligation rather than overflow.

Practical counsel grows from this text. Realignment of priorities requires noticing when doing outpaces being and deliberately returning to the source that sustains ministry. Recognition and reduction of distractions demand honest assessment of modern idols—phones, relentless schedules, and prideful busyness—that slowly pull devotion off course. Receiving grace closes the loop: Jesus desires to host and restore, offering rest not as another task but as the replenishment the soul needs to serve well.

The invitation to sit at Jesus’ feet remains open. Presence replenishes, sustains fruitfulness, and forms a rhythm that keeps serving joyful and life-giving. Simple spiritual practices—Scripture, prayer, corporate worship—work, but Luke’s portrait presses deeper: posture before the Lord trumps cultural expectation and becomes the enduring resource that cannot be taken away.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. The better portion: being with Jesus Choosing presence before performance grounds spiritual life. Presence supplies the soul with lasting satisfaction and equips hands to serve without resentment. Mary’s posture shows that knowledge of Jesus must precede and undergird kingdom action. Presence creates an inner reservoir that service draws from rather than depleting. [37:07]
• 2. Realign priorities toward presence Intentional reordering prevents doing from outrunning being. Aligning daily rhythms around the priority of sitting with Jesus corrects a soul that has drifted into obligation. Simple course corrections—short daily pauses, sabbath practices, fewer commitments—restore traction for faithful ministry. Realignment keeps service sustainable and joy-filled. [39:30]
• 3. Recognize and reduce distractions Distraction functions as a slow, effective thief of devotion more than a single obvious sin. Identifying what pulls attention—screens, overcommitment, performance pressure—creates space for intentional presence. Reducing those drains prevents a gradual spiritual drift into hollow busyness. Vigilance over small preoccupations protects long-term spiritual growth. [41:27]
• 4. Receive and rest in grace Grace meets exhaustion without adding tasks or requirements. Accepting Jesus’ hosting reframes rest as reception rather than failure, allowing renewal without shame. Receiving grace fuels renewed service and restores the soul’s capacity to love and give. Rest under grace refreshes calling and keeps ministry life-giving. [55:44]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [26:07] - An experiment about stillness
• [27:34] - Luke 10: Mary and Martha
• [29:28] - Hospitality in first-century context
• [31:14] - Mary’s shocking posture
• [32:18] - Jesus’ gentle correction
• [36:30] - The “better portion” defined
• [39:06] - Realign priorities
• [41:27] - Reduce distractions
• [55:44] - Receive grace and rest
• [59:21] - Practicing stillness and Scripture readings

Bible reading: Luke 10:38-42 (ESV)
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Observation questions

1. What were the two different postures Mary and Martha took when Jesus entered their home?
2. What specific complaint did Martha bring to Jesus about her sister? [32:18]
3. How did Jesus’s response to Martha begin, and what does that repetition suggest? [35:47]
4. According to Jesus, what had Mary chosen that was “good” and would not be taken from her?

Interpretation questions

1. Why was Mary’s choice to sit at Jesus’s feet considered a radical and shocking act in her cultural context? [31:29]
2. Jesus had just told the parable of the Good Samaritan with the instruction to “go and do,” yet here he commends Mary for sitting and listening. How do these two instructions work together in the life of a follower? [34:19]
3. The “better portion” is described as something that fills the soul and fuels service. What does it mean for service to become an “obligation” rather than an “overflow”? [40:27]
4. Distraction is described as a “slow drift caused by small preoccupations” that is more effective than obvious wrongdoing. Why is this type of distraction so dangerous to spiritual growth? [42:41]

Application questions

1. The “better portion” is being with Jesus, which fills our souls and fuels our service. What does your current rhythm of “being with” versus “doing for” Jesus look like? How can you tell when your service is starting to run on an empty tank? [40:12]
2. Realigning priorities requires noticing when doing outpaces being. What is one practical, small step you could take this week to intentionally return to the source that sustains ministry? [39:30]
3. Distractions like phones, relentless schedules, and prideful busyness can slowly pull our devotion off course. What is one distraction in your life that consistently pulls you away from sitting at Jesus’s feet? What would it look like to intentionally reduce it? [41:27]
4. Grace meets exhaustion without adding tasks. How can you receive Jesus’s invitation to rest and be hosted by him, rather than seeing spiritual practices as another item on your to-do list? [55:44]
5. Jesus calls the weary and burdened to find rest in him, not to take on more work. Where in your life do you need to stop beating yourself up and simply receive his grace today? [55:29]
6. The invitation to sit at Jesus’s feet is always open. What would it look like for you to picture yourself in that posture this week, delighting in his presence as he delights in yours? [57:51]