Devotion – At home with Martha and Mary

Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her (Luke 10:42).

Imagine being at home with Martha and Mary. Luke tells us that it was Martha who opened her home to Jesus, and she had a sister Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. In John 12:1–3, we read that the village is Bethany, and Lazarus lived with them also. In both settings, Martha is serving, probably exercising a gift of hospitality. Jesus was obviously at home with them, more than welcome to be there.

Luke says that Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She was probably feeling under pressure and increasingly frustrated doing what needed to be done. Many of us, and predominantly women, most likely, can identify with her, whether we have the gift of hospitality or not. And if we are not responsible for preparing the food, we probably don’t even give it a thought.

From observation, Mary’s focus and priority were not on preparing food for the guests, and we can imagine there were other people in the home listening to Jesus also. Where would you be – in Martha’s shoes or Mary’s? Hospitality and food preparation are necessary parts of life. In any culture where it is expected that women do the food preparation and serving, people would agree with Martha’s frustrated plea to Jesus for him to tell Mary to help her. Do you sense the moment? Jesus heard Martha’s request, knew her heart in her frustration, but said, ‘Martha, Martha … only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her’. Do you sense a shift in priorities? And that sitting at the feet of Jesus is open to women also?

What catches your attention in this Scripture passage? Are you willing for Jesus to be at home with you?

Lord Jesus, we welcome you to be at home with us also. Enable us to hear what you are saying to us, and by the power of your Spirit, enable us to change focus to pursue listening to you. Thank you!

Prayer Points

We give thanks for our parents who as the primary carers of our students provide them with love and care

We pray for the work of Australian Lutheran World Service in their work of helping people in need around the world

We pray for the Le Raw, Lian & Luthyng families

Micah Award

To Deborah for showing courage

School Choir Shines at ACLE

During the school holidays, over 500 staff from Lutheran schools around Australia congregated at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre for the Australian Conference on Lutheran Education. The theme of the conference was One Voice, Many Paths which provided the inspiration for the conference. During the three day conference principals, teachers, and administration staff delved into many current educational and societal issues led by inspirational key note speakers and experts in their field of knowledge. There were many other highlights across the conference including colleagues enjoying quality community time and worshipping together as one in Christ.

Undoubtedly, one of the highlights for all the participants was the performance of the Sunshine Christian School Choir at the closing worship service. The choir, under the tutelage of Mrs. Francis, sang the most beautiful rendition of The Blessing written by Chris Brown and Cody Carnes. It would be fair to say that the children not only enhanced the worship experience but melted the hearts of the participants; there was not a dry eye to be found among the worshippers. It was an incredible honour to see the children deliver such a wonderful gift to the conference.

We must say a very big thank you to Mrs. Francis for the incredible amount of work she put in to enable the performance to be as wonderful as it was. A thank you must also go to the parents for enabling their children to participate in the event during the school holidays… we had a quarter of the school turn up! And of course a big thank you to the students who sang with such enthusiasm and grace.

We also acknowledge Joyce (School Captain) and Bawi (SRC Member) for their clear bible reading during the service.

Prep

In the Prep classroom we are learning about adding collections together.

You can help us practise by showing us two small collections and asking us how many there are altogether. Try to show us physical items, it helps us when we can see it!

Year 1/ 2

In the 1/2 classroom we are learning about Onomatopoeia which are words that describe their sounds. We created sentences with these sound words.

Ask us which sound words we wrote in our sentences.

Year 3/ 4

In the Year 3/4 classroom we are learning how to plan a narrative and use our plan to write. We have learned how to write a paragraph too!

Ask us how we set out our paragraphs (it involves a burger!)

Year 5/ 6

In the Year 5/6 classroom we are starting a project to make the yard a more inviting and friendly place. We are brainstorming some of the concerns that Mr Pietsch might have with our project.

Ask us about what we have found.