These questions are guidelines for your personal or small-group study based on Sunday's sermon passage. Feel free to study and meditate on the passage more deeply. ​​

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1. Luke says Mary “also” sat at Jesus’ feet, which suggests she had been helping with the preparations before she chose to sit down. How does seeing this as a decision made in the moment, rather than a personality type, change the way the story reads?

2. Both serving and sitting at Jesus’ feet are honored in this passage. What might help someone recognize whether God is calling them into a season of serving or a season of sitting and being fed?

3. The word translated “distracted” means pulled apart or dragged in different directions, and Martha’s words to Jesus quickly turn into a complaint about her sister. How might being pulled apart on the inside make it easier to start comparing ourselves with others?

4. Pastor Trey contrasted a volunteer, who keeps score of who else showed up, with a servant, who knows love keeps no record (1 Corinthians 13:5). What are some quiet signs that serving has turned into keeping score, and what might help someone set the scorecard down?

5. Jesus does not call Martha’s work the problem; He says she is “worried and troubled about many things.” What’s the difference between being busy and being worried and troubled, and why might Jesus point her to “one thing”?

6. Jesus says the good part Mary chose “will not be taken away from her.” What might it look like for someone to make time at Jesus’ feet the starting point of a full day rather than something squeezed in after everything else?

7. Jesus calls Mary’s choice “that good part,” a word for a portion or inheritance. Read Numbers 18:20, where the priests receive no land because the Lord Himself is their portion. What does it mean that God gives Himself, not just His blessings, as His people’s inheritance, and how does Mary at Jesus’ feet show that privilege opening to every disciple?

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