The Apostolic Connection - "The Balanced Life"
by Kenneth Carpenter
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Luke 10:38-42

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kenneth-carpenter--the-apostolic-connection-the-balanced-life
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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you may be seated here in the auditorium I'd like for just a few moments something that I had felt led for several weeks now to minister upon Luke chapter 10 and verse number 38 now it came to pass as they went that Jesus entered into a certain village and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house and she had a sister called mary which also said at Jesus feet and heard his word but Martha was covered about much serving came to him and said Lord dust thou not cared that my sister had left me to serve alone bid her therefore that she help me jesus answered and said unto her Martha Martha thou are careful and troubled about many things but one thing is needful and Mary have chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her I want to preach just a few moments on the balanced life the balanced life you know just reading those passages of Scripture hardly need any preaching at all they just simply preach and you may be seated choir they simply preach they simply preach as you would read them but nonetheless Martha invited Jesus into her home I don't know I surmise she heard that he was coming I don't know what kind of time framed how many days advance I don't know if it was an hour or a day but nonetheless she heard that Jesus was coming and she desired for Jesus to be at her house that is Aimable is it not that is honorable is it not that is noteworthy anyone all of us should desire to have Jesus abiding in our house that's right we ought to all that ought to be the number one goal of our lives I want Jesus living right here I want him living right here so she she invited him in she's she has a sister by the name of Mary and she invited Jesus to her house now she's going to take care of him she's going to make sure that there's a room for him she's going to make sure that there is food for him and then like any good woman she's probably concerned that the rug on the floor is clean if she had one she's going to be concerned that if there's a table their furniture it's it's been dusted right that's just a that's just a woman thing they're going to have a guest at their house that that isn't you have chutney come over that wipe yours dual start saying we're going to have some Clinton so you know when you get ready to plan your football BBQ cookout and bring all the boys over you also need to be reminded you're going to do some cleaning all right because that woman is going to make sure am i right ladies that that woman is going to make sure that that a house is all clean i mean everything from the mailbox getting cleaned you're going to make sure everything i'm not far off base there I mean everything you're going to make sure that everything is clean and as a matter of fact if you get everything cleaned in time then she may even ask you about the garbage can outside I when's the last time it's had a good cleanser that's just a woman thing that's a they won't they just want to make sure that everything is just right for this guest and no doubt Martha she had that in her heart that she wanted everything to be just right but she began to make a mistake she invited him there and then became more interested in serving than him serving see Jesus is never he has never used anything without repaying it back oh yes let let him let him be in need of a boat let him being in need of a boat he will repay the fishermen for the few hours he used the boat for a pulpit with a catch of fish that they can't even get enough of getting them all into the boat because he'll always he'll always more than pay back if he is allowed to use something he is just not a god today that is concerned with being served he is also a god today that he is very much concerned with serving us so so Martha she's all concerned with the rug and the windows and the door in the food and everything being just right and all of a sudden she's I'll be going through in my mind in my imagination I can see her going through the rooms and and she comes through the room and one time she finds her sister Mary at the feet of Jesus and Jesus is teaching the word to her and she thinks well i'm gonna go ahead wash the dishes and and when i get done and come back through it surely marry will be done and she can come and help me but all of a sudden it dawns on her that Mary is not leaving the feet of Jesus and Jesus is not going to stop teaching until it comes to the time that Martha and she probably was out doing some chores she was saying you know what I know that I invited him here but I wonder does he really cared about me I mean after all he has seen me come through that hall he has seen me you ladies know how when you want to get your man's attention without getting his attention you you keep coming through that room where he is at a kind of in an inactive state you know you keep coming through then you you make your way through there because you're wanting him to know I'm coming through this room all right so no doubt Martha was coming through and Jesus was teaching and Mary was listening and and she got off and she begin to think I wonder if he really does care about me I mean after all he seen me carry these things so he saw me carry the towels they saw me up here Washington we saw me doing all these things I wanted us you really cared until it reached the boiling point can I get a witness today and until it reached that point that that boiling point to him over said she just stops in the room and she says Jesus do you don't care that marry my sister has left me alone to surf with you please Lord tell her to get up and help me would you do some because I'm beginning to think you really don't care about me and you're probably on the only one that can move Mary would you please do something about this now now think about this what if Jesus would have answered her request think about it just stupid what if Jesus would have said on Mary you know go help your sister do whatever she needs yes who would have been left alone Jesus so there's nothing any more uncomfortable than to be invited somewhere and to be left alone because after all he could have said go ahead Mary make sure that everything's ready on time go ahead Mary because after all it's all about me now people may feel that way but Jesus doesn't feel that way humans may feel like it's all about them but oh there's a God who wrote himself in flesh and Calvary alone tells you and I then it's not all about him he says you know what I don't want to be left alone oh sure let's have let's have parking lot attendants here at first Apostolic Church let's have me understand out front and greet you with a smile as your car pulls on the parking lot oh sure let's have wonderful women greeters out in the lobby and taking down the names of our guests and let's have a beautiful music that is played let's have a wonderful choir get up that's a raid in the roads and let's have a preacher that studies a message let's have lights and let's have cameras and let's have all of these things but can I tell you something we can make the fatal mistake of Martha in that all of a sudden we're so busy serving him that we forget to let him turn around and start serving us you've got a heartache this morning would you just put your sunday-school leaflet down long enough would you put your Sunday School teachers Edition down long enough to lift your hands and say Jesus I've got some lows in my life I've got some woes that I need to help you with oh I've got some lows that I need help with laura de come on first apostolic churches home to apostolic christian academy it's a daycare agent we take little baby six weeks old into our daycare and we have daycare workers and we have all kinds of people that work here five days a week from 630am 26 p.m. five days a week there's a Christian school that goes all the way up to the 12th cream there's all kinds of activities that go on the grounds of 1723 william blount drive but all of that is in vain if we just get our minds on serving and not letting the Lord serve us he's here today he wants to bless the choir today I don't know there's any choir members and need God hill but he's here today he thanks you for your song he thanks you that you said there was no God like him Jehovah he thanks you that you said that before time and eternity that he had you on his mind but yet that's not the end of it today he wants to come down and say what is your need after all and what is your need after all it and what is your need after all well he's just not in the choir what about the people that got up this morning set their alarm clocks scheduled their day said today is the day we go to the house of the Lord today is the day that we honor god today is the day that I'm going to drive the church take my kids to church and go to sit and listen to the preacher preaches Bible class even you today that had been serving God he wants to step out and say now would you let me help you would you let me put my hand upon your back and remind you one more time I am your father and you are my son and I want to bless you could could we stop long enough now would you please no stop coming to the end of this would you please notice that the Lord did not say Martha everything you're doing is not important you're not doing anything important the only thing important that's going on right now is what's at my feet is merely no he didn't say that he didn't rebuke her he didn't say you don't have anything Martha he simply said Martha you need a little priority readjustment we as church people need to be very careful that we get serving God and being served by God out of line we can get so wrapped up in teaching our lesson that we fail to see the hurting little boy or the hurting little girl we get so wrapped up in our youth class and we fail to notice the one that's not been here in a while right so sometimes Jesus wasn't saying Martha you don't have nothing Martha it's foolish that's what you're doing he simply said you need some priority adjustments you need to understand Martha Mary have chosen that good thing or good part which shall never be taken away the choir oh they'll have to learn a new song the musicians oh they'll have to keep on practicing greeters they'll come and they'll go that's right Christian school teachers take your teachers workers ministers will all come and we'll all go but when it comes to receiving from God that is something that will never be taken away from us I'm reminded today of 22 stories that happen and they all have to do with Alzheimer's and two people that serve God who later in life develop Alzheimer's didn't know what day it was and didn't know several things one brother Lewis hair one of the greatest songwriters of our time he came time for the end of his life and that dreaded sickness set in on him and they took him to the doctor to see how far'd had progressed and the doctor started off by saying what month is it but the hair really couldn't tell what month it was what your what would year who the president and several things he just couldn't really he couldn't tell you a lot of things that you should know finally the doctor took a piece of paper and a pencil and slid it across the table and he said Reverend hair he said just write down he's all you want me to write and said write anything brother hair it got that pencil and he began to write then Peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost he turned the paper around and shoved it to the doctor and said in dr. that means you too you see he couldn't tell you about the church he built in Charleston West Virginia he couldn't tell you about all the churches he pastored in Kingsport Tennessee he couldn't tell you what day it was what month it was he couldn't even tell you when he was born but there was a good part in him that he could still remember then Peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in Jesus there the second lady the second person will talk about the elderly lady there serve the Lord here many years ago in this church and I binili talk pastor a lesson that I have remembered and I'm still applying to my life that is you don't speak to elders like you speak to your peers we were at the mckinley street church the choir was singing and sister Neely had the continual habit of talking out loud he didn't matter when the music was going nobody could hear but if there was any quiet time in service you could hear I binili you don't take me to kroger after church remember sister Carper she'd call you remember she'd say she'd say I need to cover story well what do you need at the store we just go by the store for you sits that several items several items and so it wasnt apart this is she just wanted to get out of her apartment she wanted to shop all right that's what I have a neatly that's what she wanted well she she talk out loud in church I me I sitting on the front row the choir was singing I have a daily was behind in the choir they were doing a little song let's stop and then they start singing this stuff and you could hear sister neatly in between this singing and so I turned around I said sister Nellie Shh she looked at me and she said yourself whoever going to beat her up I mean you're really happy and I got tickled like you're getting tickled never said anything about I just let her talk for the rest of her life that disease got ahold of her she found herself in a nursing home we'd go to see her but every time we'd go if the Hammonds went to see her she'd tell them that's now you tell you tell brother Ammons I said hello she didn't know she's standing talk to brother hemnes we'd go to see her she tell him should tell me she'd say how his brother carpenter doing his brother carton girl all right and I would sit sister I am brother carpeting in this for a few minutes you could see her she would ok and then minute later she was back to please tell brother carpenter I said hello now all of that went on I said sister Nellie would you like to sing with me sure and I would start off Amazing Grace and then forgot that's all I got out she would say how sweet the sound that had saved a wretch like me I once and I distinctive listen to her and then I'd say you want to read some scripture and ride along some of the same scriptures neither is there salvation in any other name for there's none other name and that just dawned on me that there is something that gets put in us by God that sickness nor time can never rob us a hug and I say today Thank You greeters Thank you Thank You parking lot attendants thank you Sunday School teachers Thank You musicians thank you all but at the end of my life what I'm going to remember is not how well the choir sang this morning but I'm going to remember how well the Lord minister to my needs today and what a friend what a friend we have