Welcome to our Sunday Service, today shared on paper across our circuit. This service is from The Vine at Home and is compiled and produced by twelvebaskets
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Opening Prayers
Jesus, open my heart.
Prepare yourself to hear God’s word in a new way.
Jesus, open my heart.
Listen for God’s voice, calling you to serve others and love radically.
Jesus, open my heart.
Hold the joys, regrets and frustrations from the week, and look ahead to the opportunities
next week will bring.
Jesus, open my heart.
Hold the people you share your life with, and the challenges that come with relationships
and friendships.
Jesus, open my heart.
Rest a moment in the quiet.
Jesus, open my heart.
Amen.
The Lords Prayer
Reading
Luke 10:38-42
Responding to the reading
As you read today’s gospel reading from Luke 10, you might like to picture Jesus, in the home of his friends, the two sisters Martha and Mary. Martha is busy with the tasks of hospitality, while Mary sits at Jesus’ feet, listening intently to his words. When Martha complains that Mary isn’t helping, Jesus gently responds, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.”
It’s a short story, but one that has sparked centuries of reflection, and for good reason. It speaks to the tension many of us feel between doing and being, between action and contemplation, between responsibility and presence.
And let’s be honest: many of us feel like Martha. We’re pulled in a dozen directions, busy with good and necessary things: work, caregiving, activism, community, housework, salaried work, church jobs. We’re trying to make the world more just, more compassionate, more whole. And that’s not wrong.
But Jesus’ words invite us to pause and ask: Where is my attention?
This is not a condemnation of Martha’s work, or of the many acts of service that discipleship requires. Rather, it’s a reminder that our doing must flow from our being: with Christ, grounded in grace. If we are always distracted, even by good things, we can miss the presence of God right in front of us.
Mary chooses the “better part,” not because she is more holy or more helpful, but because in that moment, she allows herself to be fully present to Jesus. She gives him the gift of her attention. And in doing so, she receives something deeper than another task or obligation – she receives grace.
I don’t know about you, but lots of our Christian journey has been learning and thinking about how to put our faith into action, and rightly so. But this passage reminds us that activism, hospitality, and service need to be nourished by stillness, reflection, and spiritual attentiveness. We are not just changemakers; we are followers of Christ, who longs not only for our hands but for our hearts.
So today, consider:
• Where am I being pulled in too many directions?
• How might I create space to sit, to listen, to be fully present with God?
• How can I let my action be rooted more deeply in grace?
Discipleship isn’t about doing everything. It’s about doing the right things from the right place. And sometimes, the most faithful thing we can do is stop, breathe, and listen.
May we find, like Mary, the grace to choose the better part, and the courage to trust that it will not be taken from us.
Responding in prayer
Day by day,
I ask for the vision to see you more clearly, especially in the faces, bodies and lives of
those I least expect to reveal you.
I long to see you more clearly in the actions of the most powerful people on earth; seeing
those who have exploited others change their ways dramatically.
I long to see you more clearly through the Bible as I wrestle with its wisdom and terror. I
long to see you more clearly in my neighbours and friends, and to hear you speak, Lord.
Although Scripture says we see through a glass darkly while on earth, please grant us
clarity to see exactly what you would have us do and be for you, day by day, in these
testing times for Christian faith and life.
Day by day, day by day, of You – Dear Lord – three things we pray:
To see You more clearly, love You more dearly, and follow You more nearly, day by day.
Day by day,
I commit myself to expressing more love for You, Lord, through my words and actions. I
pray for your gracious help as I try to love you more dearly by caring for our aching planet;
by speaking out with firm, brave and risky love in situations crying out for that; by going the
extra mile when I am already weary, and by holding your cross before my eyes when I
walk into a future that scares me.
On the days when my love for you grows weak, thank you that your love burns more
fiercely than ever. It is more than I deserve, and I am deeply grateful.
Day by day, day by day, of You – Dear Lord – three things we pray:
To see You more clearly, love You more dearly, and follow You more nearly, day by day.
Amen.
Responding in music
552 StF – Here I am, Lord
Blessing
I shall go out with joy, and be sent forth with peace.
I shall seek to know you more, Lord Jesus, and to follow in your way.
I hold together, in you, Jesus the Christ,
Amen.
Acknowledgements: The Vine a Free resource funded by donations from Individuals, churches and twelvebaskets. For more information https://theworshipcloud.com/terms/free-weekly-resource
