Choosing the Good Part: Focus, Peace, and Surrender

Jun 14, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Sitting at His Feet When the Kitchen Calls

Martha’s story reveals how service can become a trap. Distraction isn’t always sinful—it’s often good things like hospitality, work, or family responsibilities. But Jesus gently rebukes prioritizing productivity over presence. Mary’s choice to sit demonstrates that listening precedes labor. When tasks demand attention, the greater act is to first receive from Christ. What good is a meal prepared for the King if the host misses His voice? [52:04]

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. (Luke 10:38-40a, ESV)

Reflection: What practical step could you take this week to physically position yourself—like Mary did—to listen before working? How might this reorder your priorities?

Day 2: When Worry Chokes the Life You’re Trying to Serve

Worry doesn’t just occupy mental space—it strangles joy. Martha’s anxiety over meal prep blinded her to the miracle in her living room. Jesus names worry as a thief, not a virtue. The Greek word implies being pulled apart, fragmented. True service flows from wholeness, not frantic division. Peace begins when we stop telling God our problems and let Him speak over them. [58:52]

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7, ESV)

Reflection: Where has worry disguised itself as responsibility in your life? What would it look like to surrender that specific concern before picking up the next task?

Day 3: Turbulence in the Pews

Martha’s “troubled” spirit mirrors airplane turbulence—violent shaking despite smooth skies. Her outburst at Jesus reveals how distraction metastasizes into agitation. The text uses language of explosion, not polite interruption. Stress often masks unaddressed spiritual neglect. Like gripping armrests mid-flight, control illusions drain us. True calm comes not from smoother circumstances but deeper surrender. [01:00:24]

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7, ESV)

Reflection: What situation are you white-knuckling this week? How might physically kneeling (as the preacher suggested) shift your posture toward surrender?

Day 4: The Acoustics of Attention

Mary’s listening (“akouo”) implies intentional sound reception—like optimizing a room for music. Distorted acoustics make even a symphony sound tinny. Similarly, noise pollution from screens, schedules, and self-talk muffles God’s voice. Sitting at Jesus’ feet isn’t passive—it’s actively tuning life’s acoustics to receive His frequency. One clear word from Him outplays a lifetime of background static. [01:10:19]

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. (James 1:19, ESV)

Reflection: What “background noise” most often competes with your ability to hear God? What specific time/space could you create today for divine acoustics?

Day 5: The Glow of Lingering

Mary’s three appearances in Scripture all find her at Jesus’ feet—at Bethany, the tomb, and the anointing. Like Moses’ radiant face after Sinai, proximity leaves a mark. The preacher’s challenge echoes: what if people noticed we’d “been with Jesus” not by our church activity, but by the afterglow of time spent? Focused attention transforms ordinary moments into sanctuaries. [01:08:34]

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13, ESV)

Reflection: What daily habit could become your “feet-sitting” ritual? How might consistently showing up there change how others experience Christ through you?

Sermon Summary

Luke lets Jesus step into a certain village and into a real house, where Martha welcomes him and Mary sits at his feet to hear his word. The scene exposes how a disciple can host Christ and still miss fellowship with Christ. Martha is named as distracted with much serving, worried, and troubled. Jesus answers her, “Martha, Martha… one thing is needed,” and names Mary’s choice as “the good part,” a portion that will not be taken away. The text presses a question to every household that claims Christ: is Jesus present but not heard?

Distraction shows up first. Distraction is attention pulled off what matters most, even by good things. Martha’s serving is not sinful, but it steals the better thing, which is fellowship. It is possible to do so much for Jesus that no time is left to be with Jesus. Then worry surfaces. The word signals a life pulled apart, less than whole, choked. Worry strangles the joy and peace Jesus intends, because worry quietly preaches that problems are bigger than promises. Finally, trouble rises like turbulence. The word pictures agitation, the kind that bursts out of the kitchen and tries to manage the room. Turbulence breeds stress, the white-knuckle grip that pretends to control what cannot be controlled.

Jesus’ reply opens three callings for families who follow him. The first is a home of focus. Mary “has chosen the good part.” Focus chooses the main thing and refuses to major on the minors. In a world of mind-numbing hours on a screen, a focused home protects what matters most, because a device can kill a marriage, a family, and a soul’s attention if it wins the day. The second is a home of peace. Mary sits at his feet. That is intentional, not accidental. Knees and faces on the floor before Jesus change people, and Mary’s three appearances all find her there. Once a heart tastes and sees that the Lord is good, everything else fades in comparison, and a church begins to look like people who have been with Jesus, even like Moses whose face shone. The third is a home of surrender. Mary not only sits, she hears. The akouo of the text is good acoustics for the soul. Noise kills hearing, but one word from Jesus changes everything. A surrendered house turns down the noise to receive the word that redirects a marriage, sustains a hard assignment, and resets a life.

Key Takeaways

1. Distraction steals fellowship from devotion Distraction often dresses up as service and productivity, yet it hollows out communion. When the calendar is full but the heart is empty, the main thing has been traded for many things. The soul’s center is not activity but attention at Jesus’ feet. The choice to be with him precedes doing for him. [57:53]
2. Worry strangles joy and wholeness Worry pulls a life apart and leaves it less than whole, choking the peace Christ gives. It imagines control without ever delivering it, and it saps today’s strength while solving none of tomorrow’s problems. Faith names God’s promises larger than present pressures and breathes again at his feet. [58:52]
3. Sit at Jesus’ feet daily Peace is not a mood; it is a place. The feet of Jesus are chosen ground, reached by deliberate, even bodily surrender. Knees on the floor and Scripture open create the kind of listening where love burns and noise fades. [67:02]
4. Hear his word, not the noise Hearing is more than catching sounds; it is receiving a word that rules the day. Good spiritual acoustics require quieting the outside storm so the inside can obey. One clear sentence from Christ can reorient a home faster than a hundred strategies. [71:14]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[39:03] - Setting the day and text
[51:40] - Scripture: Luke 10:38-42
[52:04] - Mary sits to hear his word
[52:22] - “Martha, Martha” and the one thing
[54:29] - Three challenges for Jesus-following homes
[55:08] - Challenge 1: Distraction defined
[58:23] - Challenge 2: Worry divides and chokes
[60:07] - Challenge 3: Troubled and turbulent
[64:05] - Calling 1: A home of focus
[66:16] - Calling 2: A home of peace
[69:13] - Calling 3: A home of surrender
[70:19] - Akouo: learning to hear God
[72:51] - Response: turning down the noise
[82:50] - Benediction and sending out

Bible Study Guide

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

What specific actions did Mary and Martha take when Jesus entered their home? How did their choices differ?
How does Jesus describe Martha’s state of mind in verse 41, and what does He contrast it with?
What phrase does Jesus repeat twice when addressing Martha, and what might this repetition emphasize? [52:22]
According to the passage, what is the “good portion” Mary chose, and why is it significant that it “will not be taken away”?

Interpretation questions

Why might Jesus have highlighted Martha’s worry and distraction as barriers to fellowship with Him, even though her service was not inherently wrong?
The sermon mentions that “worry quietly preaches that problems are bigger than promises.” How does this idea connect to Martha’s anxiety and Jesus’ response? [58:52]
What does sitting at Jesus’ feet symbolize about Mary’s priorities, and how might this posture reflect a heart of surrender?
Jesus says only “one thing is needed.” In a culture that values productivity and busyness, what does this reveal about God’s priorities for His followers?

Application questions

What distractions (even “good” ones like work, family, or ministry) tend to pull your attention away from time with Jesus? How could you intentionally protect moments of stillness this week? [57:53]
The sermon warns that “a device can kill a marriage, a family, and a soul’s attention.” What practical step could you take to reduce screen noise and create space to hear God’s Word? [01:05:04]
When has worry recently choked your joy or peace? How might naming God’s promises (e.g., Philippians 4:6-7) redirect your focus in those moments?
The phrase “peace is not a mood; it is a place” suggests daily surrender. What would it look like for you to physically or mentally “sit at Jesus’ feet” each morning (e.g., prayer, Scripture, silence)? [01:07:02]
How could your household practice “good spiritual acoustics” by turning down external noise (arguments, media, busyness) to better listen for God’s voice together? [01:11:14]
Martha tried to control her circumstances and even Jesus’ response. Where are you gripping tightly to things you can’t control, and how might surrender bring freedom?
Mary’s three appearances in Scripture all find her at Jesus’ feet. What habit could you build to ensure your life consistently reflects time spent with Him?

Sermon Clips

44s

#HearGodsVoice

45s

#ShineWithJesus

“Man listen, what if Millbrook Baptist Church was known as a group of people like Peter and John that said man these are just some average, these are some men. But what I know about these men, they might be average and they might be ordinary, but I can tell that these guys have been with Jesus. What if we were like Moses to spend so much time in the presence of God that our face is shown with the Shekinah glory of our God? Because we would spend so much time with God that when we came out from time with God that people could tell, man, they shine with the love and glow of Jesus. Amen? Let's be a home of focus. Let's be a home of peace.”

41s

#HomeOfSurrender

“But finally, let's be a home of surrender. Let's don't be a home of stress. Let's don't be a turbulent home where we're holding on real tightly to things that we can't control. Some of you guys look like me in an airplane. I'm just holding on to something. I can't change it but I'm just gonna hold it. I'm stressed out all the time trying to control something that I have no control over whatsoever. That's what it looks like. The bible says that she chose the good part. What was the good part? The good part, the bible says that she sat at his feet but she listened to his words.”

39s

#WantMoreOfJesus

“The point of it is this, once you get to the feet of Jesus, you don't wanna go anywhere else. Once you taste and see that the Lord is good, all else that this world has to offer will fall and fail in comparison. Amen? That's why there's so much life in the service this morning. You know why? Because people have been spending all week with Jesus at camps. It's why at the end of a camp, at the end of a journey, or at the end of a centrifuge, you come back and you're so on fire for Jesus because when you get some of Jesus you always want more of him, not less of him.”

70s

#ChooseTheGoodPart

“For somebody else, man. It it it's your house is stressful. Stress. You're a ball of stress. You can't sleep. Had to get on medicines because of your anxiety and all these things. Not that I'm not criticizing that. I'm just saying you are stressed out to the max. You're you're you're trying to hold on to things that you are completely out of your control. God's calling us as his people. We're either gonna be a house of stress or we're gonna be a house of surrender. do you need to do with God this morning? What's God calling you to do this morning? Lord I wanna focus. Lord I want peace. Lord I want surrender. Lord I'm in. I'll choose the good part. The best part.”

49s

#WorryChokesJoy

“The bible says worries. You are worried. The word worry means to pull apart in in different directions. It means less than the whole. The the the root of worry, the the word worry is to choke or to strangle. What worry does in our lives, Millbrook, is it is it chokes out the life and joy and peace that the Lord intends. I mean how many Christians out there Jesus is say he's welcomed in our house. I mean we have some bible verses in our house and our home and I mean we we're good you know. We're followers of Christ but we don't have any joy. We don't have any life. We don't have any peace because we're just so worried.”

40s

#SitAtHisFeet

“Worry declares God, my problems are bigger than your promises. Corrie ten Boom says worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. Irma Bombeck, great author says, worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but it never gets you anywhere. And worry results in anxiety. And it chokes out the life and the joy and and it's a challenge for families that follow Jesus. Number three. Not only was Martha distracted. Not only was she divided but she was disturbed.”

47s

#ChoosePeace

“To be a home of peace instead of a divided worry. The bible says that at his feet. She sat at his feet. She sat I'm gonna make the choice. I'm gonna make the choice. I'm gonna make the deliberate choice to sit down and spend a little bit of time at the feet of Jesus. I'm not gonna get so busy rushing around doing a bunch of things that I don't have time to encounter and meet my Jesus. It's intentional. It doesn't happen by accident. You'll have to make the intentional decision tomorrow morning to sit at the feet of Jesus.”

41s

#FocusOnJesus

“For somebody else this morning, man. Worry is killing your walk with the Lord. It is crippling your walk with the Lord. You are less than the whole that God intended you. It is choking out all of your life joy and peace. Because the enemy keeps feeding you with things that may or may not even happen. And God is calling you this morning, man, to be a home of peace. I'm gonna sit at His feet.”

42s

#KeepJesusFirst

“Three callings. Number one, there's this word from God this morning about a calling to be a home of focus. To be a home of focus. Instead of being distracted, Mary was focused. The bible says she has chosen the good part or or she has she has chosen the the best part. She's saying I'm gonna Instead of being distracted on things that don't make any difference, I'm gonna focus my attention on those things which matter the most. God has this calling for us this morning to be to be a to be a home of focus.”

46s

#FixYourFocus

“I I remember one time I was at the store and I was I was checking out at the store and and the lady had earphones on and I thought she was I thought she was listening to music while she was checking me out. In fact, what she was doing is she was having another conversation with somebody as I was checking out. And so the encounter went something like this. How are you doing today? Said I'm doing great. You wanna come over later tonight? Not sure about that one. Okay. What are you cooking for me? Hadn't planned on anything. Alright. Well, love you. I'm like, I love you too. Completely distracted.”

45s

#ListenToJesus

“I mean, I challenge us, Melbrook, this morning? Can I challenge us to to not allow this thing to steal the things which are most important? I'm talking to myself as much as anybody. Watch this thing. This thing will kill your marriage. This thing will kill your family. This thing will kill your home. Man, it's just mind numbing hours after hours of wasting time on things that don't make any difference. And the devil loves it. If I had I thought about this this morning but I don't have like an extra phone. But if I had an extra phone, I thought about bringing this thing over here and like bringing a sledgehammer. Know, it's like But seriously,”

41s

#GetOnYourKnees

“It's just that there's one person that Jesus is in the house in both. But there's one person where Jesus is in the house but he's but but they're not hearing his word. It's possible for to welcome Jesus into our home but just not take time to listen to what he says. To be Jesus in the home but fall out of fellowship with him at the same time. And and so there's this powerful word from the Lord this morning from this text. And and I'll jump right in this morning. The first thing we see in the word of God is there's three challenges for families that follow Jesus.”

51s

#CalmNotChaos

“Our worship team's coming. Millbrook, God's speaking to us this morning. What are we gonna do with this word that he has for us this morning? For some of us, man, we we we we've gotta get control of this. We got time to spend six hours on social media, but we don't have any time to spend in the word of God. Don't have any time for a prayer life. Don't have time to pray with our spouse. Don't have time to pray for our family. Don't have time to come back students from journey camp and invest in the things that matter the most.”

39s

#MakeGodlyDecisions

“The word approach there is is a little bit emphasized in the original text. Literally, the bible says that she that she exploded out of the kitchen. It was turbulent. Was violent. She she One one commentator I read said, man, Martha came out of the kitchen with a rolling pan in one hand and a a can of green beans in the other hand telling Jesus what needed to be done. She she was turbulent. And turbulence causes stress. I don't know about you, but man, when I I don't know how many of you guys, I'm sure many of you, most of you guys have flown on an airplane.”

30s

#FollowersTogether

“God God's He's getting our attention this morning. This is a strong word from the Lord this morning. But I think I think he thinks we can handle it this morning. Are we gonna allow this to keep us from the things that matter most in this life? I really believe, man. There's decisions that need to be made. I don't know if they're public or private. But I think there's decisions that need to be made in the house of God this morning.”

28s

#WhereIsYourFocus

“One thing that I would point out from the beginning this morning is it it's not about that there's you know, there's a bad person and a good person in this passage. In fact, if you look at it, you're looking at a group of followers of Jesus Christ welcoming into their home a group of committed disciples. It's all followers of Christ in the room. So it's not that there's one good person and one bad person. There's two people in the room. They would've both been in church this morning.”

38s

#PhoneAddiction

“Distracted is defined as having attention devoted from the original focus. Taking our eyes off of that which is most important which really deserves our time and attention. I I ask you this morning. Is there a chance you're distracted this morning? Any chance that you walked in here and you're distracted? Can we agree that we are a distracted group of people? Am I right? In fact, I would argue that we may be the most distracted group of people in the civil in the history of civilization. I forgot my visual aid. I left it down here.”

38s

#FamiliesChooseFocus

“But we are, you know, we are a distracted group of Did you realize that there's 1,600,000 crashes that happen annually by drivers texting and driving. One in four crashes happens due to distracted drivers. Thirty one hundred deaths per year due to due to distracted drivers. Did you realize that the the I know some of you have heard these before. Did did you realize that the average American that we touch our phones 2,617 times per day? Did it make you just wanna touch your phone by the way? average, we're on our phone for five point four hours a day.”

26s

“We're in this series all about families. And I I would say this morning that this is this is not just for mom or dad this morning. This is man, if you're a teenager, if you're a young person that went on a chair, this is just as much for you. If you're an adult or a senior adult, this is just as much for you. When I say family, I just mean members of the household. And the first challenge that we see from the word of God this morning is, challenge number one is distractions.”

74s

“Let me ask you a question. When was the last time you heard a clear word from God? When was the last time God spoke to you? When was the last time God you you knew what it was God was saying as you sought him in his word? Because I I I'm afraid that that that it's very easy to look very much like Martha where Jesus is welcomed in our home in principle. We just don't ever hear him say anything. We're too busy talking. We're too busy serving. The bible says that she chose the best part because she sat at his feet and she heard his word. She had good acoustics. By the way, the some of the worst acoustics in the in this building is in the gym. I'm not picking on the gym. I'm just telling you it has poor acoustics. You start teaching in the gym and it starts raining, the session is over. You know what I'm saying? I mean, you can't hear anything because of the noise on the outside. Listen to me. Sometimes we can't hear what God wants to say because there's too much noise on the outside.”

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Choosing the Good Part: Focus, Peace, and Surrender

Devotional

Day 1: Sitting at His Feet When the Kitchen Calls

Day 2: When Worry Chokes the Life You’re Trying to Serve

Day 3: Turbulence in the Pews

Day 4: The Acoustics of Attention

Day 5: The Glow of Lingering

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Choosing the Good Part: Focus, Peace, and Surrender

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