The Kingdom of God

February 13, 2022 - A New Way

Eat Together - Please practice current safety measures if gathering in-person, seeking to enjoy the devotion of sharing a meal. Consider how to safely eat together.

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 (Winter 2022). 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

• February 20th, 4pm, All Navah Gathering at El Torreon.
• Strengthening the Family this quarter (email hello@navahchurchkc.com if interested in the following):

1. Marriage Refresher - March 11 & 12 (Fri night on Zoom and all day Sat)
2. Parent Equipping - April 23rd, (all day Saturday)
3. Grief Group - beginning weekly on February 22nd from 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.

Care  

• LTS Testimonies - If you have anyone in your home church who participated in the most recent LTS, we encourage giving space for them to share a testimony during this time.
• 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

• Resource for kids
• Resource for youth

Send kids ministry resource feedback to sarah@navahchurchkc.com

Commentary and Questions - Acts 2:42-47

The Lord Jesus had been crucified. He rose from the dead and ministered for 40 days bringing greater revelation about the Kingdom of God. He had since ascended back to the Father and invited His followers to wait for the Promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit. When the day of Pentecost had come, the Spirit was poured out, making possible the ways of the King, the demonstration of the Kingdom, to be put on display through the believers. The power of God coming upon His people.

In Acts 2:42-47, we get our first look at the work of the Spirit through people. Instead of storming the places of power, seeking areas of influence, these Jesus followers met in homes and the city sanctuaries. They were devoted to each other and to prayer, according to the scriptures. Instead of sharing their best ideas for cultural transformation and civil upheaval, they shared their food and possessions with anyone who had need. Though it was not the way in which Israel imagined the Kingdom of God coming, it came with power nonetheless. This power was proclaiming the way of love, and affirming it through real life and real people. In this first expression of God’s plan and purpose, a new way was established and we are participating even now, in this moment of history! As it was then, may it be so now: May the Body of Christ, the Church, bear witness to the wonder and ways of the Kingdom of God.

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!
• If there is time: ask questions and look for connections in the Scripture.

This time is for formative learning; seeking ways to take in and apply the scripture in our lives.

Potential Questions:

•  In this week's reading, we get our first glimpse of day to day life in the first church. What are the day to day rhythms seen? What activities are practiced day to day? 
•  For our family and in our church family, what activities are practiced day to day? 
• How does our experience and the experience of the first century church look similar? How are they different?

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.