Mark 14:1-15

Are you trying to do too much or are you doing what you can? Sometimes we try too hard and too much when we should simply be doing what we can.

Regardless of our reasons in the past, let’s make sure we honor the Lord’s wishes in this circumstance and others like it. Phil Ware continues his series of messages of how Jesus values women, focusing this week on the loving and extravagant gift of the unnamed woman who broke her alabaster jar and anointed Jesus with expensive perfume.

Let's move beyond remembering her story; let's also commit to being like her in these four ways. Phil Ware continues his reflections in the Gospels as he seeks to call us to continue pursuing Jesus so that we can be JesuShaped.

"Dear Friend, Can you remember your Christmas gifts from last year? ... five years ago? ... ten years ago? You probably don't remember most of your..."

"[To prepare for the Passover meal,] Jesus sent two of [his disciples] into Jerusalem with these instructions: "As you go into the city, a man carrying..."

"[After people said the money for the expensive perfume the woman poured on Jesus' head should have gone to the poor, he said,] "You will always have....."

"It was now two days before Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for..."

"Some of those at the table were indignant [that the woman poured the perfume over Jesus' head]. "Why waste such expensive perfume?" they asked. "It..."

"Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests to arrange to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted when they heard...."

"On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go to..."

"Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While [Jesus] was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful..."

"Jerusalem at the time of the passover was one great inn; each householder had invited his own friends, but no one had invited the Saviour, and he had...."

"It was now two days before Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for..."

"[After the woman had poured expensive perfume on Jesus' head, he said,] "I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the..."

"But Jesus replied, "Leave [the woman who poured perfume on my head] alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me?""

What have you broken open for the Lord? The woman anointed Jesus with perfume and Jesus made sure no one would ever forget it.

Who does Jesus value most? We will be judged by how we cared for the least, the left out, and the lonely.

What have you done for Jesus lately? How well do we care for the least of these -- the poor, the hungry, the tired, the faitn.