The Kingdom of God

May 8, 2022 - The King is worth the Waste

Worship & Prayer - “Worship is the acknowledgment of, agreement with, and yielding to lordship, wholeheartedly offering attention and affection to ascribe worth.”

• Refer to the Navah Songs of the Season. These lyrics reflect the season we’re in as a body. Any one of them can springboard you into worship and response. YouTube videos and chord charts included.
• Ask someone from your Home Church to facilitate worship in a creative way. It could look like facilitating a time of gratitude, inviting people to testify of ways God met them last week, reading a scripture and/or playing a song.

Give - Pause to consider how we will give this week. For those that call Navah home, this is a time for you to give right now or review your giving to all God does in and through Navah. During this time, also listen and ask the Spirit if there is a need/person He wants you to bless. Let’s wait in silence for 2 minutes now.

• Give Online,
• On the app,
• Or text the word GIVE to 8337261069

Announcements

• Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonder moms, single moms, adoptive moms, foster moms, and spiritual moms!
• The Send: May 14th at Arrowhead Stadium (register here)
• Grief Group: Tuesday nights, 7-8:30pm at El Torreon. GriefShare curriculum will be used. This is for any type of grief, no commitment required, come and go as you please.
• New seasonal focus: We are a prayerful family on Mission.  In line with Navah’s yearly rhythm, we have turned our seasonal focus to Mission. During the next 3 months, we will explore ways in which we can prayerfully and practically join Jesus in His ministry to serve and bless others as a church and family of home churches.

Care  

• Hi/Lo or Good News Stories
• Invite each person to share a brief Hi/Lo (gratitude and prayer need)
• Consider having the next person who shares, pray a short blessing over the previous person who has shared.
   

Kids (time varies)

• Optional Craft: Follow instructions outlined here to create a card for mom this Mother's Day!
• Spend time honoring mother's during your home church gathering. Have mom's sit in the middle while kids and members from your home church bless the mom's. This is a great time to have kids share their favorite memories, things that make them smile when they think of mom, and pray over them!

Commentary and Questions - Mark 14:3-9

It was the last week of Jesus’ life. Not many days before, He had entered Jerusalem on a donkey, as the prophet Zechariah had said, and as kings had done before. We could imagine that Jesus would be preoccupied with any number of things during the last week of His life. After all, this was (in human terms) His last chance to teach, preach, and demonstrate the Kingdom of God. Yet, in Mark 14 we find the Lord reclining; resting at a table amongst His friends. 

Imagine, now, the woman in the room. Other Gospels tell us that is Mary, but Mark’s gospel does not mention her by name. The author does tell us, though, that she has an expensive possession; an alabaster jar filled with costly oil. Did she carry this around often? Was it always with her? Did she keep it in her bag every moment so that no one would steal it in her day to day life? It is curious that at a seemingly simple dinner, this woman would have something so precious. But she did. She seems to have brought her treasure to this dinner with great purpose. And with care and intention, she does the unthinkable: she breaks it and pours it over the head of Jesus. 

Those who belong to the Kingdom of God know that no matter how precious and costly any of our possessions or gifts are, every single one of them is worthy to be given back in adoration to the King. No cost is too great, no loss is ever wasted in worship of Jesus.

Reading and Reflection

• Before reading, invite the Holy Spirit to guide the community into all truth, as Jesus promised the Spirit would do (John 16:13).
• Read the passage one time, then pause for 30 seconds, letting the Spirit sow the word into our being.
• Read the passage again.
• After reading, enter a time of prayer and waiting, asking the Lord to begin to highlight to each person a phrase, idea, or anything else the Lord might be saying to them in this time from the text! Make plenty of room for creative sharing back: if someone has a picture, a song, or a prayer, let that come out during this time!

Questions

• What strikes us as curious in this text? 
• What strikes us as challenging? 
• Jesus blesses her act of worship in this passage. Where are you actively seeking opportunities to worship or adore Jesus in your daily life? Alone and  with others?
• Jesus affirmed the ministry to the poor in this passage. Where are you actively seeking opportunities for mission in the rhythm of your life? Alone and with others? 

Finish the time with listening to the Spirit, and then praying the Lord’s Prayer

Communion - Read a short passage  (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) - lead them in receiving the elements.