Login / Signup

Free Access

Happy Families

Children's Story
One of Martha's earliest memories was of her little sister Mary singing and dancing in the middle of an admiring crowd of friends. Mary had always been a dancer, from the time she could walk. Privately, Martha thought she'd always been something of a show-off and ought to go on the stage, for Mary loved an audience.

Martha was very protective towards her brother and sister. She was the oldest of the three, and when their mother had died while Larry was five and Mary was three, ten-year-old Martha had naturally taken over. She'd always loved cooking and home-making, and had slipped easily into their mother's position.

Larry was the quiet one. Being a middle child and the only boy, he was something of a loner. Although he had a group of friends, he rarely revealed anything of his activities to his sisters or their father. But he had a great sense of humour, and at times, teased Mary unmercifully. Mary loved him dearly, and the whole family adored his company.

Martha sometimes worried about her young sister. When Martha used to cook meals for their father and his friends, Mary would often creep into the room and snuggle up beside her father. She was so pretty, with her long golden hair and dark eyes, that they all accepted her presence. And when she began to sing and dance, they'd all applaud. Part of Martha was proud of Mary, but another part felt quite shocked. Martha knew of no other girl who would dare to enter the presence of grown men like that.

As Mary grew older, so she became more provocative. Her dark eyes were enhanced by mascara, her lips glowed with bright lipstick, and her skirts became shorter and shorter to reveal her long slender legs. Now she not only danced for the men, but took part in their conversation as well.

Sometimes Martha remonstrated with her. "Really, Mary, you ought to be more careful. You're getting quite a reputation, down in the village. Couldn't you keep your hems just a little longer?"

But Mary would laugh, and cry, "Lighten up, Martha! Come on!" and would grab her older sister round the waist, and whirl her around until Martha was breathless and laughing too much to continue scolding.

One day, Larry brought some friends home. He'd come home quite animated once or twice, talking about a group of people he'd met, led by a brilliant healer. "You'd love him," Larry confided to Mary. "He's just your type. When he speaks, we can't help listening. There's something very powerful about him, a kind of restless energy. Yet he has this kind of deep peace inside, which just shines out of him."

Martha bustled about, cooking and cleaning, making sure the house was perfect. When she met the new leader, his eyes twinkled at her and she found herself blushing. He was so nice! But Mary was completely captivated. She hung on every word the leader spoke, she laughed at his jokes, she sat herself at his feet in the position reserved for special students. Martha was embarrassed for her sister, but nobody seemed to mind.

The little group of friends clearly enjoyed Martha's cooking and her hospitality, for they came again and again. They fell into a routine of food and discussion, and Mary was treated just like one of the men. Mostly Martha was pleased about that, for she'd never seen Mary so happy or so fulfilled. But it was hard work, looking after them all by herself, and she felt really tired. On one occasion her patience snapped, and she complained to the leader, "Can't you tell my sister to help me? She never does anything. I do all the work around here, and it's just not fair."

The leader had looked at her with compassion, and said gently, "You don't really need to go to all this trouble, Martha. I think perhaps Mary's got it right. I shan't be here forever, it's good to listen to what I say while you have the chance."

Although underneath she was pretty sure the leader hadn't meant it that way, Martha had felt snubbed, and had retired to the kitchen hurt.

On another notorious occasion, when they were meeting at a different house, Mary had suddenly appeared in the room with an expensive jar of scented ointment and started to massage it into the leader's feet! And worse, she'd then started to cry, and had mopped ineffectually at his feet with her long hair. Martha had been deeply mortified when she heard. Why hadn't the leader stopped her making such an exhibition of herself? Whatever would people think of her sister now?

But shortly after that, all such thoughts fled from her mind, for Larry was taken ill. Martha was worried right from the beginning, but after a couple of weeks when Larry seemed to be getting weaker all the time, she and Mary sent an urgent message to the leader, asking him to come and use his healing powers on Larry.

The leader failed to appear, and Larry died. Martha felt numb. She hadn't felt like this since her mother died, all those years ago. But Mary plunged deep into depression. She'd always been moody, up one minute and down the next, but Martha had never seen her like this. She lay with her face turned to the wall. She refused to wash, and refused to talk, and refused to see any of the friends who came to offer their condolences. Most of all, Martha had the feeling her sister was deeply disappointed in the leader. She had admired him so much, and been so sure of his love, and so certain of his ability to heal. But he hadn't come when he was needed so much. He'd let them all down.

He turned up a day or two later. When she heard he was on his way, Martha slipped on her coat and hurried out to meet him. She was determined to have her say, and she wanted him to know just what effect his absence had had on Mary. She barely waited to greet him, but allowed her suppressed anger to simmer. "If you'd been here," she said bitterly, "he wouldn't have died. And you should just see what you've done to Mary."

The leader had looked at her with such love and kindness that she felt tears rising, threatening to overwhelm her. He'd taken her hand and said, "Martha, don't grieve. It's going to be OK, just trust me. Where is Mary? I'd love to see her."

And suddenly, a burden had been lifted from Martha. Suddenly, she knew how the leader valued her, Martha. Suddenly it didn't matter what sort of a person she was, she knew he loved her, just as he loved Mary and Larry. And suddenly she realised how important her role of homemaker was. For she was the strong one, the one who could handle it, the one who could be relied upon. And that was special.

She ran home, on air, feeling a joy and a peace she never knew existed. She roused Mary, and told her simply that the Master was asking for her. And she didn't begrudge the light which immediately shone in Mary's eyes.

For Martha now knew her own worth, and the worth of her brother and sister. She knew the leader would restore Larry to them, but more than that, she knew he would somehow enable each of them to be the best they could be. It didn't matter any more that each of them was different, for she knew they each complemented the others, and that made them a very happy family indeed.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 23 | OT 28 | Pentecost 18
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 24 | OT 29 | Pentecost 19
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 25 | OT 30 | Pentecost 20
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Nazish Naseem
Dean Feldmeyer
George Reed
For October 19, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 31:27-34
John Calvin makes very clear why a new covenant is needed according to this text. He observes:

… the fault was not to be sought in the law that there was need of a new covenant, for the law was abundantly sufficient, but that fault was in the levity and the unfaithfulness of the people. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.X/2, p.130)
David Coffin
What happens when one’s past life narrative or goals in life have drastically shifted or collapsed? How do they rebuild hope? For Israel, they lost their land, monarchy, and national identity. In the days of the New Testament,they could easily be identified as living in the “fourth world” country. That is, existing in substandard conditions in one’s own native land?

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
Rose sat back in her chair and opened her magazine. She heard the thump of the stairs and caught a glimpse of her daughter and son in the corner of her eye. She turned her head as they put water bottles in their backpacks.

“What are you two doing?” she looked over at the clock. “Don’t you have homework?”

“All done,” Paul and Linda announced at the same time.

Rose ignored Linda but locked eyes with Paul. He met her gaze for a few moments and then sighed.

“Okay, I’m almost done but still have some math questions,” he admitted.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus told us that we should always pray and not lose heart, for God is on our side. In our worship today let us pray to the Lord for the needs of others and for all our own needs.


Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes you don't seem to be there when I pray and I feel like I'm talking to myself.

Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes my prayers seem so dry and boring that I give up.

Christ, have mercy.

SermonStudio

James Evans
Psalm 119 is well-known as the longest chapter in the Bible. The poem is actually an extended, and extensive, meditation on the meaning of the law. Given the sterile connotations often associated with "law" and "legalism," it's hard sometimes to appreciate the lyrical beauty of these reflections. One thing is for certain, the writer of this psalm does not view the law as either sterile or void of vitality.

Schuyler Rhodes
There is perhaps no better feeling than knowing that someone "has your back." Having someone's back is a term that arose from urban street fighting where a partner or ally would stay with you and protect your back in the thick of the fray. When someone has your back, you don't worry about being hit from behind. When someone has your back you can concentrate on the struggle in front of you without worrying about dangers you cannot see. When someone has your back you feel protected, secure, safe.
David Kalas
I wonder how many of us here are named after someone.

Chances are that a good many of us carry family names. We are named for a parent, a grandparent, an uncle, or an aunt somewhere on the family tree. Others of us had parents who named us after a character in the Bible, or perhaps some other significant character from history.

All told, I expect a pretty fair number of us are named after someone else.

John W. Clarke
Our reading today from the prophet Jeremiah is one in which the Hebrew people, not knowing what else to do in terms of addressing their predicament, decide to blame it all on God. They believed their problems to be the result of their sins and the sins of their fathers. Of course, one person's sin does indeed affect other people, but all people are still held personally accountable for the sin in their own lives (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:2).
Donna E. Schaper
As usual, the epistle is a little more graphic than we can quite grasp. Itchy ears: what a concept just in physical terms. Experience it for a minute. You itch, you scratch, you sort of know you shouldn't scratch because it will only make the itch worse. But still you scratch, while wondering how the itch ever got started in the first place. What a concept: itchy ears as a vehicle for spiritual truth.

John E. Berger
Did Jesus ever do comedy? Indeed he did, and the Parable of the Unjust Judge is partly comic monologue. The routine began with a probate judge so ridiculously dishonest that he announced, "... I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone...." (There must have been a gasp of disbelief from Jesus' audience.)

The Unjust Judge was nagged by a widow, however, who had every right to nag, because she had been cheated by somebody in the community. A good judge would have helped the widow, but remember, this judge "neither feared God nor had respect for people."

CSSPlus

And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? (v. 7)

Good morning, boys and girls. Yesterday, I was riding in my car and I kept hearing this noise. I call it a squeak. Do you know what a squeak sounds like? (let them answer) Squeaks are very annoying. It is hard to find a squeak in your car, so it is still squeaking.

I also have a chair that has a squeak and I brought it in with me today because it is

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL