Binge Jesus Part II: Week 4

Welcome to Church at the Crossing.

My name is Andrew and if you're new, if you're visiting,

I'm so.

Glad that you're here today.

We're in this series called Binge Jesus and we're looking

at stories from the life of Jesus. And in a

few minutes we'll be opening the Bible in the New

Testament to Luke chapter ten.

And before we do that, would you pray with me? God.

We come to you today with expectation. We want to

receive from you, We want to hear from you.

God. We want to submit ourselves to your word.

So the Holy Spirit, would you silence any distraction in

our minds and our hearts, draw our attention to you, Father,

give us ears to hear, eyes to.

See what you want to show us. I pray all

of this in Jesus's name. Amen.

A couple of years ago, friends of mine here in

the church invited me and Lauren to attend a Colts

football game at Lucas Oil Stadium, and I was excited

to go to this game for two reason. Number one,

the Colts were playing my favorite team, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Reason number two, we had some of the best seats

in the house.

We were just a few rows back from the sideline,

and we were right on the thirty or forty yard line.

We were right there in front of the action.

And the best part about these seats we were right

behind the Steelers bench, so I could.

See all of my players.

I was so close that I could call out the

names of my favorite players and they would respond.

But I was too shy to actually do that.

We saw the action, we could smell it, we could

see it, we could hear. We were right there in

front of the best seats in the house.

Can you guess who won that game? The Colts.

The title of today's message is the best seat in

the House. When I was at that game, sitting in

some of the best seats in the house, I could

see all the action. I could see players' facial expressions.

I could see them smile when they were winning, and

I could see them frown when they were losing. When

the team started to lose, I saw how their behavior changed.

I was in the best seat in the house, so

I could see it up close in person.

I saw one player who scowled, Another.

Player just kind of stood silently with their arms crossed.

One player was super nervous and was walking up and down,

pacing down the sideline. There's one word that describes the

attitude I saw on the sideline.

Stress.

These guys were stressed as they were losing the game.

I know that the stress in your life is way

bigger than who wins or loses a football game.

What's giving you stress?

Is it pressure at work, financial pressure, dynamics in a relationship,

or a family issue that's stressing you? Health problem? What

does stress do to your body? Does an increase your

blood pressure, your heart rate? Do you feel your neck

or your back tighten with stress? Is stressed there? When

you go to sleep, is stressed there? When you wake

up in the middle of the night, still stressing? What's

stressing you? In Luke chapter ten, Jesus meets a person

who is stressed out, and they're so stressed out that

they actually take out their frustration on Jesus.

Let's look at Luke ten, starting in verse thirty eight.

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,

But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had

to be made.

She came to Jesus and asked, Lord.

Don't you care that my sister has left me to

do the work by myself.

Tell her to help me.

Martha is stressed out, But what about Mary. Let's go

back verse thirty nine. Mary sat at the Lord's feet.

Mary had the best seat in the house. She was

sitting at Jesus' feet learning from Jesus. Now, I want

to provide a little bit of context, historical context, because

it'd be easy for you and me to read verse

thirty nine and just skip over it with our twenty

first century context, our twenty first century minds, we could

read Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and just

skip over it.

But this is significant because in.

The first century Jewish culture, a rabbi like Jesus would

gather his students around his disciples and they would sit

on the floor at the rabbi's feet to learn, to listen,

to receive. However, a rabbi's disciples were predominantly men.

Women were not.

The disciples of rabbis in the first century Jewish culture, and.

So Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus.

She is assuming the position and the posture of a disciple.

This is breaking social norms.

Jewish culture had social norms for boys and girls.

Little boys would.

Go to school and they would have formal education, learn

the Torah, learn the scriptures. When they were teenagers, they

could follow a rabbi. Girls, however, were expected to stay

at home in the care of their mothers and learn

from the women and their family until Jesus. Because Jesus

invites men and women to come and follow him. Jesus

invites everyone, regardless of their background, regardless of their race,

but regardless of their income, to come and follow him.

You are invited to the best seats in the house.

Jesus wants you to sit at his feet and learn

from him and be his disciple. And I want to

say today that if there is anything that has prevented

you from following Jesus, we break it off in the

name of Jesus. We break off addiction in the name

of Jesus. Your past does not disqualify you. Your family

history does not disqualify you. Your fears and insecurities, your hurts, habits.

And hang ups do not disqualify you. You are invited

to the best seat in the house. Jesus wants you

to sit at his feet.

Let's return to our text verse forty. But Martha was

distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.

She came to Jesus and asked, Lord, don't.

You care that my sister has left me to do

the work by myself. Tell her to help me, Martha Martha.

The Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things,

but few things are needed.

Indeed, only one.

Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not

be taken away from her. This story reminds me of

that TV show Master Chef. I've been watching this show recently,

and in this show, contestants compete in cooking challenges and

they're judged by professional chefs like Gordon Ramsey, and it's stressful,

it's intense.

They have sixty.

Minutes to prepare a gourmet dish, restaurant quality dish, all

from scratch, like they're deboning whole fish. They're fillying and

butchering meat off the bone. They're making pasta by hand

like it is intense.

All the while Gordon Ramsey is screaming in their face.

Sometimes he's so stressed he throws food across the kitchen.

I saw one episode where a contestant was so stressed

out that they fainted in the middle of the contest.

I can imagine Martha panicking like this show, running around

frantically getting the ingredients, getting the materials, and all the

things panicked.

Well, thankfully we don't have to imagine it.

The TV show That Chosen does a great job depicting

this story. Let's watch this. I think many of us

can relate to Martha in one way or another. As

we look at this text, I want to make a

few observations about Martha. First observation, Martha was anxious about

many things.

What are you anxious about?

What are you worried about even as we speak right now?

What is in the back of your mind?

What is heavy on your heart right now? Look closely

at the text and verse forty says Martha was distracted

by all the preparations. This word distracted comes from a

Greek root word that literally translates to be pulled, apart

to be pulled away. Martha was pulled in different directions.

I believe that Martha had good intentions. I believe that

Martha wanted to be with Jesus, wanted to sit at

Jesus's feet.

She loved Jesus, but.

She had other obligations, She had responsibilities, She had pressure

that was pulling her in different directions.

What pulls you.

The expectations of other people, the pressure you put on yourself.

Last week, I had a particularly stressful day, and I

knew that I was preaching this text, and so I

was acutely aware of what was happening to me this day.

The day began with driving Shepherd to daycare, checking him

in at daycare.

Then I had.

Emails to answer, texts to respond, and meetings to attend,

all day back to back. I was so busy that

day that I didn't have time to eat lunch at

a lunch meeting, so I packed up my leftover lunch

and carried it with me from meeting to meetings, little

bites whenever I could, and I picked Shepherd up from daycare,

and at home we ate dinner as a family quickly

before I had to leave for another appointment that evening.

At the end of the day, I got back home

and Lauren and I got the dishes clean and the

toys picked up and Shepherd put to bed, and then

I sat down in the best seat in the house

in front of the TV to watch an episode of

Master Chef. But I can't tell you what happened in

that episode because I fell asleep.

Can I get a day? Men, if you've had a

day like that? What's pulling you apart?

I know moms and dads who have second careers as

personal chauffeurs, driving kids to this activity, to this recital,

to this practice. You measure time by miles on the

road and hours in the car. I know some single parents,

maybe divorced parents, who are feeling pulled in different directions,

being pulled.

In custody negotiation.

Someone listening is working multiple jobs, just trying to make

ends meet financially. And I know some of our church

are in that stressful sandwich generation. You've got your young

adult children that you're trying to send off well. All

the while you have your own parents who might be

aging or might need a little more support, and you

feel pulled in these different directions.

What's pulling at you?

What did Martha say to Jesus Verse forty. She came

to him and asked, Lord, don't you care Observation number two.

Martha assumed Jesus didn't care. Have you ever prayed or

ever thought?

God? Don't you care? God? Don't you see God? I'm

so stressed. Can't I get a break?

When we're stressed, it's easy to feel unseen, overlooked, and forgotten.

When we're stressed, we often miss the best seat in

the house. Martha was so stressed that she resented her sister.

Have you ever noticed that stress changes your perception of

other people?

Look again at verse forty.

She came to him and asked, Lord, don't you care

that my sister has left me to do the work

by myself. Martha accused Mary of being lazy. When you're stressed,

have you noticed that you work a lot harder than

everybody else? When you're stressed, you start counting the hours

you're putting in. When you're stressed, you start keeping track

of what your.

Spouse is doing or not doing.

When you're stressed, do you notice the coworkers who seem

to show up late and early, all the while you're

trying to keep your head above water, and we're stressed.

It changes how we see other people. You see, Mary

was not being lazy. She was being intentional. She wanted

to be with Jesus.

And when Jesus commends Mary, Jesus is not commending laziness.

Don't get me wrong.

The Bible instructs us to work hard, to be diligent. However,

Jesus cares more about being with us than the tasks

we accomplish. Jesus values being with you more than the

things that you do, even the things that we do

for him. And some of us Christians, we need to

hear this. We're so busy doing for Jesus that we

are not being with Jesus. So many of us are

volunteering for this, helping with this, working this, doing this, go,

go go.

We're running around for Jesus and we're not sitting in

the best seat in the house.

Jesus values being with you more than the tasks that

you do.

And I believe the more.

Faithful we are to be with Jesus in his presence,

the more effective we will be in our.

Work and in our ministry.

And what's the last thing that Martha says to Jesus, Lord,

don't you care that my sister has left me to

do the work by myself. Tell her to help me

Martha's so stress she gives Jesus a directive. Last observation,

Martha asserted her own plan. When you're stressed, do you

have a plan? You got a strategy? That's how I

respond to stress. I'm a planner, and what that means is,

I believe there's a natural law that there's a plan

for everything, and for everything there's a plan. Have you

ever been stressed by a deadline that.

You have to meet? Not too long ago, I had

a really.

Big deadline for finishing my graduate degree, and I was stressed.

But I had a plan. I created a plan.

I circled the date the deadline on my calendar. It

was due on a Friday, and then I had a plan.

I marked out days to work on it, times of

days to work on it. I had a plan, I

had a strategy, and I had a reward when I

met the deadline, because that same Friday and Saturday, I

registered for a pastor's conference to go and refresh and renew.

And so I had this goal, I'm gonna work really hard,

get it done, turn it in, and then I'm gonna

go reward myself. And so I started working my plan.

I had my day set out early mornings, late evenings,

a cup of coffee in the morning, a cup of

coffee in the afternoon, another cup of coffee.

For good measure.

But I have to admit to you, I often have

more faith in my plan than faith in my God.

Sometimes I trust my own effort more than I trust

Jesus writes God. Ideas are only revealed in the presence

of God. Our biggest problems are only solved in the

presence of God. Prayer is the difference between the best

you can do and the best God can do.

Can you outwork stress?

No?

Can you outrun anxiety?

No?

So then what do we do? How do we cope?

How do we manage? How do we thrive in the

stress of life?

Should we just give up?

Should we call it quits, move to the countryside and

bake sourdough bread and sing kumbay Ah?

I don't think so. I don't think that's practical.

What does Jesus say to Martha? Look closely here at

the text Martha. Martha, the Lord answered, Now, I don't

know what translation of the Bible you're reading, but the

translation I'm reading it doesn't say Martha.

My translation says Andrew Andrew. You are worried and.

Upset about many things, but few things are needed, indeed,

only one.

When we're stressed. There is only one thing that matters.

When we're stressed, there is only one person who matters,

and it's Jesus. In a world of chaos, there is

one who brings order to our chaos. In a world

of hurt, there is one who comforts us in our pain.

When you don't know what to do, there is one

who knows what to do when you are at the

end of your rope. There is one who saves you.

I wonder if you know his name. Let me hear you.

Who is the one who saves you? Who is the

one who comforts you. Who is the one who heals you?

Who is the one who redeems you?

Jesus he is the one. He's the one who matters.

He's the one.

I want to encourage you today to sit at the

feet of Jesus.

I don't want to be task driven only I want

to be Jesus driven. I don't want to just be

goal oriented. I want to be Jesus oriented. He is

the one, the only one who matters.

Sit at the feet of Jesus. You're always gonna have stress.

We're always gonna have problems, We're always gonna have challenges,

We're always gonna have some kind of anxiety, some kind

of pressure.

But the best way to handle stress is to sit

in the best seat in the house.

Bring Jesus your stress, Bring Jesus your disappointment. In Philippians four,

we read, do not be anxious about anything, but in

every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your

request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends

all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in

Christ Jesus. Jesus doesn't promise us a stress free life,

but he promises us a protected life. A god your

heart in your mind, so you can put stress in

its right place at.

The feet of Jesus.

Bring him your troubles, bring him your concerns, bring him

your requests.

And today I want to share a practice that I

think will help us sit at the feet of Jesus.

Because you see, when we're stressed, we can have some

false narratives. Stress creates false perceptions, Stress produces false beliefs.

I often meet with a Christian counselor from my mental

and emotional health, and my counselor has helped me develop

a tool, and that is replacing false belief statements with

true belief statements. Let me give you an example. This

is straight from my therapy. I'm just being open and

vulnerable here. I've believed this false belief statement. If I'm

unfairly criticized, I must be a bad leader, So I

replace that with the true statement, I'm not responsible for

making everyone happy.

Another false belief.

If my efforts go unnoticed, I'm not doing a good job.

But I replace that with a true statement. God called

me to be faithful, not to seek recognition. So replace

false beliefs with the truth. Because stress produces these false beliefs.

Stress produces false perception, we gotta replace it with the truth.

In our text, we observed a few false beliefs that

Martha had, and I want to take you through this

text and show you that Martha needs to replace these

things with truth.

Her first false belief is Martha assumed Jesus didn't care.

If you identify with that false belief, replace it with

the truth. Acknowledge that Jesus does care for you. Someone

listening might have this false narrative that says you'll never

get over the grief of losing a loved one. Replace

that with the truth that God comforts and God heals.

There's that false belief that someone might be thinking God

gave you an illness to teach you a lesson or

to punish you.

That's false.

Replace it with the truth that God is with you

in pain and suffering. Onse Peter five seven says, cast

all your anxieties on him because He.

Cares for you.

He cares for you, He cares about your worries, he

cares about your troubles, he cares about your life.

He cares about your family.

So the next time you have this false belief that

says God doesn't care. God doesn't care about you. God

doesn't have time for you. You're too small for God.

The next time you have that false belief, hold God

to his word. He cares for you.

Martha had a false belief. She accused Mary of being lazy.

She projected on Mary. Replace it with the truth, except

that Jesus is in control. You can't control other people,

you can't control outcomes and results.

Except that Jesus is in control.

Replace the false belief with truth. For the parent who

has this false belief that you are a bad parent

because your children don't behave as well as other children.

Replace that with the truth you're simply doing the best

that you.

Can with what you have.

For the one who is single and has this false

belief that I'll never be with anybody, nobody wants to

be with me, replace that with the truth that God

is in control of your future and your relationships. Our

God is in control. Jesus is in control. He proved

that when he rose from the dead. He died for

our sins and our forgiveness, and he rose from the

dead conquering death.

He's in control. Listen to these words. I love these

words from Colossians One.

The Sun is the image of the invisible God, the

firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created,

not just some things, not just easy things. All things

were created things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, weather, thrones, powers, rulers, authorities.

All things have been created through him and for him.

He is before all things, and in him all things

hold together.

He is the head of the body of the Church.

He's the beginning and the first born from among the dead,

so that in everything he might have the surprise, for

God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in

him and threw him to reconcile himself all things, whether

things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace

through his blood shed on the cross. This gets me

so excited because Jesus is supreme.

He is over all things. He rose from the.

Dead, he defeated death, he conquered.

Sin, he put the devil in his place. So there

is nothing that he is not over. There is nothing

that he is not supreme over.

He is supreme over your stress, supreme over anxiety, supreme

over a disappointment. He is supreme over every problem and

every difficulty. Your God is alive, and he's a waymaker,

a miracle worker, and a mountain mover.

I wonder if somebody would praise him. He's supreme. He's supreme.

It feels like you're not in control, except that he

is in control. Martha asserted her own plan. She had

a strategy. I want to encourage you to remind yourself

of the truth and accept Jesus's invitation instead of overfunctioning

trying to manufacture results. Jesus invites you to the best

seat in the house. When you hear that false belief

that says it's up to you to fix your problem,

replace that with the truth God helps you with your problems.

When you hear that false belief that says you should

get even with that person, don't let them get away

with it. Replace it with the truth that God gives

you the strength to forgive. Remember that deadline I talked

about earlier, had a deadline to turn in an assignment.

And I had a plan and I worked my plan,

and I had a reward to go to that conference

to refresh and renew. Thankfully, I met the deadline, but

some things, different things outside my control, changed my plans,

and I had to cancel going to that event, and

I was disappointed, and I was bitter, and even remember saying, God,

I've been working so hard to spend time with you.

God, don't you care. Don't you see that I need

to refresh, I need to renew. I'm just so tired.

And that's when I sensed Jesus's gentle prompt in my spirit,

and he said, Andrew, Andrew, you don't need to sit

in the conference.

You need to in my presence. That afternoon, the weather

was beautiful, it was warm, the sky was clear, blue,

sun was shining.

I visited a park near my house, and I sat

on a park bench and looked out over the trees

and nature and the white river in the background, and

overhead I noticed a bald eagle circling until it landed

on a tree nearby. I had the best seat in

the house, and I just sat in the presence of Jesus,

sat at his feet, talked about my worries, prayed about

some concerns, received his grace, red from the Bible, sat

at his feet.

Jesus invites you to the best seat in the house.

He says this, Come all you who are weary and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I.

Am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find

rest for your souls. Do you need some rest today?

Does your soul need rest today? Is your heart burdened?

Are your shoulders tired? Jesus is gentle, Jesus is humble.

He invites you to the best seat in the house.

And so we're gonna spend some time right now in

the presence of Jesus. We're gonna sit at his feet

right now, our music team was gonna play some gentle

music in a moment. There will be a few scriptures

on the screens that we can read to reflect.

But I want to say right now, the seat that you're.

Sitting in at this moment, on this day, that seat

is the best seat in the house. Would you spend

a few moments in his presence, Let him speak to

your heart, let him speak to your mind, Tell him

about your worries, tell him about your concerns.

Spend some time, and then I'll close this.

S As we continue to respond, I want to remind

us that the greatest rest that Jesus gives us is

eternal rest. The troubles and worries in this life are

only temporary. Although painful and challenging, they do not last.

Because of his death and resurrection, Jesus gives us eternal

hope in heaven. And today, if you're sitting here listening

and you do not have hope for heaven, you do

not know whether you're going to heaven. But if you

want that assurance, and it's time for you to put

your faith in trust in Jesus, to stop running from him,

to stop avoiding him, to.

Stop trying to control the outcomes in your life, but

to surrender to him because he is gentle and humble

in heart. So would you bow your head and close

your eyes with me? And today, if you want to

put your faith in trust in Jesus, would you just.

Repeat this prayer after me, say, Dear God, I admit

that I'm a sinner.

I need your forgiveness. I believe Jesus.

Died for me and rose from the dead to save me.

Today I confess Jesus's Lord. I surrender my life to Jesus.

As we continue with our eyes closed and the heads bowed.

No one else is looking around. But if you.

Prayed to put your faith in Jesus, I wonder if

you would just be brave enough to raise your hand

just so.

I say, God loves you. I see you, to say

that God sees.

You, to tell you that God has forgiven you.

Your sins are forgiven. You have hope for heaven anyone else.

And then, Father God, we thank you for your great

We thank you for your presence Jesus.

We thank you that you rose from the grave. We

thank you that the tomb is empty, and we have

a hope for heaven.

So as we go from here, Jesus, would you give

us confidence, would you give us courage? Would you increase

our faith to trust you with the things we can't control.

We love you, Lord, and it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.