Welcome and Opening Prayer
Activity
Set up seven stations, each with one bottle of the following essential oils: Cedarwood, Cinnamon, Frankincense, Hyssop, Balsam, Fir, Myrrh, and Myrtle. Most can be purchased at Walmart or found on Amazon. The following website gives a description of the seven oils, their purpose and scripture reference. Place the description on a card beside the oil. While soft worship music is playing in the background, have the women visit each table, smell the oil and reflect on the words written about it.
Refreshments
Serve pieces of bread with dipping oil along with grapes and Martinelli’s sparkling cider. You can find a recipe for the oil here.
Give–away
Purchase tiny jars and fill them with olive oil or buy olive oil gift jars on Amazon. Wrap the jars in burlap and tie with a tag that says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
How is Your Faith?
Today we looked at how seven essential oils impacted many people years ago and in some cases still are being used today. Our Scripture tells a unique story about another oil we likely use almost every day—olive oil.
Read 2 Kings 4:1–7
Olive oil can be used for many things beside cooking. According to this article, there are a few other ways olive oil can be used: Removing eye makeup, soothing chapped lips, moisturizing skin, nourishing hair, soothing stretch marks and repairing cracked heels.
In Biblical times olive oil was typically used for cooking and as fuel for heat and light. It was vitally important in the people’s daily lives. In 2 Kings, we learn about a widow who cried out to Elisha: “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” Elisha’s response was “How can I help?” Elisha was about to demonstrate a kind deed to a poor widow. This miracle was one of four miracles performed by God through Elisha. Each one reveals the tender care the Lord had for the recipients. In this story, you see that God’s outpouring of love was as large as the faith of the widow and her son and their willingness to obey.
Elisha’s instructions were: “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.” As they collected jar after jar, it was miraculously filled with olive oil, which they used to pay off their debt and live on what was left. The Lord provided for them so that they in turn could live a life of freedom, not worry.
In the same way, the Lord provides for us so that we can live free lives in Him rather than lives subjected to spiritual bankruptcy. The Lord wants us to seek Him to meet all our needs. We read in Ephesians 3:20, “God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” Do we truly trust the Lord with all aspects of our life—from our children to our finances? Do we give to the Lord only that with which we are comfortable, or could we possibly give more, trusting that the Lord will meet our need? I don’t think any of us wants to limit the Lord’s blessing by a lack of faith or by being comfortable in what we can do in our own strength. Let’s challenge ourselves to listen to the Lord, trusting He will surely meet our needs so we can act in faith. “The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it” (1 Thess. 5:24).
