Mary & Martha Encounter Jesus

1. HOOK

• It was Daddy’s birthday. And Sam wanted to have a nice party for Daddy. So he hung decorations (including a hand-drawn “Happy Birthday” banner) and baked a cake. Daddy came home after work at 6. Wow! The house looked wonderful, and he was so happy. But wait, nobody was around! “Sam!” Daddy called. “Just a minute! I’m mixing the drinks!” Sam replied from the kitchen.
  Daddy took a seat at the table and waited. After 10 minutes, he called again, “Sam! Come over here and join me!” “Hold on, Dad!” Sam said, as he ran to and fro the table and the kitchen. “I need to get the forks and spoons out.” Several more minutes passed. Daddy was feeling lonelier at the table.
  Finally Daddy called Sam again. “Sam, come here.” “Wait Dad! I want everything to be just perfect for your birthday!”
  “But Sam,” Daddy said. “My birthday will be perfect as long as I can spend it with you. Now there are all the decorations and cakes and drinks, but you are not here! All I want is to be able to celebrate my birthday by spending time with my boy! So come on here and sit with me and tell me about your day!”
  Sam came and cuddled up to Daddy, and they had a lovely time together. They had such a good time that they almost forgot to eat the cake. But Sam finally realised that all his Daddy wanted was to be with him.
• It is the same with our Heavenly Daddy, who loves us and just wants to be with us. Let me tell you about what happened when Jesus went to visit His good friends at their house.

2. LESSON: Mary & Martha Encounter Jesus (Luke 10:38-42)

i. Story (based on Luke 10:38-42) (Can use puppets or get kids to act out etc. Props can be kitchen ware/cleaning supplies for Martha.)

• When Jesus visited his two friends, Martha and Mary, they must have been so excited to have Jesus in their house.
• What did Martha do? She wanted to make everything perfect for Jesus. She cooked and cleaned and arranged everything neatly.
• What did Mary do? She wanted to spend time with Jesus. So she just sat at His feet and listened to Him talk.
• Martha was rushing everything … dinner time was coming. Where was that sister of hers? Just sitting there? That made Martha very angry. She complained to Jesus, “My sister left me to do the work by myself! Tell her to help me!”
• Jesus calmed her down. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

ii.  Lesson:

• Martha thought Jesus would be pleased with her if she did everything right. She wanted everything to be just nice for Him.
• But in her busyness, she became stressed — “upset and worried” about many things. She also became angry at people who weren’t as busy as her. She complained about them.
• But Jesus reminded Martha that He didn’t need all her “doing” to be pleased with her. He was already pleased with her.
• All she needed to do was be like Mary and to just sit and spend time with Him, resting.
• It’s not wrong to want to serve Jesus. But we try to do things out of our own strength because we think God will love us more, then we become upset, angry and tired.
• Let’s all learn to rest in Jesus first, to let Him fill us with His love and strength. Then our service and ministry will be an outflow of Him in our lives.
• Illustration idea: (You may choose to use props etc) Torch light with battery vs Lamp plugged into socket. Once the battery runs out, the torch light will not work anymore. But the lamp is plugged into the power source and will keep on shining. If we do things on our own strength, we are running on our own battery, which will drain out eventually. But if we rest in Jesus, we’re always connected in His strength, which will never run out.
• God promises rest to all of us in Christ Jesus. At the cross, Jesus has done everything for us; He becomes everything for us. When we trust in Him, we can rest and draw on His love, His joy, and His strength every day. And we can serve Him and others with His love, His joy and His strength.

• Memory Verse: Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all who are tired, and I will give you rest.”
• Prayer: Thank you Jesus that we can rest in You because You have done everything for us. Thank you that You love to spend time with us. Thank you for loving me. In Your name we pray, Amen.

3. ACTIVITY IDEAS

• Quiet time: Play some slow worship songs (instrumental would be good). Have kids sit a bit apart from each other, close their eyes, keep quiet and just enjoy the music and God’s presence for about 5 -10 minutes (depending on age/attention span).

• Song: (to the tune of London Bridge.)
  Jesus came to see His friends,
  see His friends, see His friends,
  Jesus came to see His friends
  They were happy.Martha baked a loaf of bread
  loaf of bread, loaf of bread.
  Martha baked a loaf of bread
  Just for Jesus.Mary listened carefully
  carefully, carefully.
  Mary listened carefully
  Just to Jesus.

•  Close in prayer; remind kids that Jesus loves us so much that He wants to spend time.