Element Christian Church of Santa Maria

Today we are looking back at Colossians 1 to see the prayer that Paul prayed for the church in Colossae. There is a way we should pray for those who trust in Jesus that is different than how we pray for those who don’t believe. Our prayer for those who don’t know Jesus is that they would come to trust Him; our prayer for believers is about growth, knowledge, and a walk that honors God with all of...

Through much of the Fall, Element will be answering questions posed by those at Element. We do this to help us understand the Bible and Jesus better. Today we deal with the phrase, "God helps those who help themselves" which is probably the most often quoted phrase that is NOT found in the Bible, yet people think it is. We can chalk this up to “conventional wisdom.” Conventional wisdom is somethin...

God’s Love for Us — Verses 1–3 John 3:1 — “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” John intentionally focuses our attention on the astounding nature of God’s fatherly love for us: steadfast, unconditional, and unearned. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

The last couple of weeks in Colossians, Paul has been telling us about the gifts God has given us and our potential for hurting ourselves with those good gifts. He will specifically talk about gifts dealing with our flesh (impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness) and gifts dealing with our speech (anger, wrath, malice, slander). Paul now says, Col 3:14 And above all these put on love, whi...

Repentance comes into our lives because we return home to God. It is a part of the cycle of growth we then start to live in, again, that comes as a result of walking with Jesus. Repentance can have a negative connotation for some people, but it is a beautiful gift that allows us to mature in our walk with Jesus. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

Colossians 3 starts with a proposition based on everything Paul has said so far. The first two chapters of Colossians are essentially: “This is who Jesus is and this is what He has done. Your only hope at being made right before the God of the universe is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.” In chapter 3, he narrows the scope by saying, “For those of you who have been raised with Christ …”...

The beginning of Colossians 3 is what is known as a transitional text—it is bridging the previous section of Colossians to what comes next. The first part of Paul’s letter reiterates the Gospel message (over and over), he then speaks about the nature and character of God (over and over), and now he moves into application. Col 3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ… WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUT...

When the Apostle Paul planted new churches, most of the time, they consisted of Jewish people who came to be a part of Jesus’ movement. When they became Christians, they were still Jews, but now believed Jesus was the promised Messiah. The whole culmination of Judaism WAS Jesus. Tensions arose when Jewish believers wanted gentile believers to become Jewish in identity through outward observance. T...

Matthew 15:21-28 (and its parallel in Mark 7:24-30) challenges us to see ourselves in the story, to approach Jesus with our lives and trust that He is good and strong and will bring us through even desperate situations. The passage begins with Jesus and the disciples seeking time away likely for rest and renewal. And a desperate mother finds them seeking the same - help, rest, and renewal for hers...

PSA refers to Penal Substitutionary Atonement and has to do with how and why Jesus’ death on the cross reconciles us to God. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

God’s salvation is a gift, and once we receive this salvation, we should begin to see everything in life as a gift—even our faith. This immense gratitude allows us to stop boasting and rest in who Christ is. Paul says we can experience a life of faith and rest in grace. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

Paul pushes very hard for us to identify our lives with who we are in Christ. Many times we think we identify with Christ, but our lives (and choices) tend to reveal a different narrative. Today we define ourselves by the job we have (or don’t have), the car we drive (or don’t drive), the house, family, health, etc…it is all about identity. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES H...

When Paul tells the Colossian church that “Jesus is Lord,” it would have meant something significant to Hebrews and Greco-Romans. To the Hebrews, this would have conveyed that Jesus is fully God; to the Greco-Romans, this would have been politically subversive, emphasizing Jesus over Caesar. As disciples of Jesus today, we should continually seek to display Jesus as Lord in our own lives. WATCH FU...

There are many signs that surround Jesus’ crucifixion in Matthew 27:45-54, such as Jesus' cry of abandonment ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"), and three hours of supernatural darkness at midday as Jesus bears the weight of humanity's sin. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

The Gospel is the announcement of what Jesus did to save and restore us through His birth, life, death, and resurrection. Our salvation is found in no other place than the work of Christ on our behalf. There are many in the world throughout the ages that have turned the Gospel from good news to bad news by moving its focus away from Jesus and onto someone or something else. This is why it is impor...

After finishing Chapter 1 of Colossians, today we take a side excursion to jump deeper into Paul’s understanding of discipleship. The Bible contains truths that, when lived out, can yield deeper fulfillment than we could have ever imagined. What we look at today will hopefully help us honestly figure out where we are on our discipleship journey and hopefully be excited for the next steps. WATCH FU...

Paul sees his own sufferings as part of Jesus’ afflictions. He is drawing on this ancient Jewish belief that the great suffering we pass through leads us into the age to come. Jesus has already brought us to the Kingdom of God in our lives, but there is still a struggle in tension with the “present age.” There is still suffering to be undergone. This is not an addition to Jesus’ suffering; rather,...

The suffering we see, or personally experience, in this world can lead to numerous questions about God and our lives. In Colossians 1:24-25, Paul makes a statement that some have taken out of context, where they believe our sufferings are added to the work of Jesus; that is blatantly false. Jesus’ work is complete, but that doesn’t mean all suffering is removed from the world. WATCH FULL SERVICE O...

When we come to the understanding of our reconciliation with God through the work of Jesus, it can be both exciting and painful. It is exciting because of God’s love and grace extended to us in Christ, but it can also be painful as we acknowledge the reason we needed that reconciliation—our sin. Paul believes that the purpose of God’s work is to reconcile the whole creation to Himself. In doing so...

Over the last few weeks we have looked at what it means that Jesus is preeminent in all things—heaven, earth, and our lives. Today we will recap all of these ideas with one of the clearest descriptions of who Jesus is. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

Today we are (continuing) to look at a section of the New Testament that has one of the highest views of Jesus (Christology). C.S. Lewis wrote, “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say.” Many people say they lo...

This is our second week looking specifically at what it means that Jesus is over all things (the Creator, the supreme, the highest). This is one of the main reasons that Paul writes the letter to the Colossian church the way that he does—to show the preeminence of Jesus. Colossian 1:15-20 teaches us that Jesus is God in one of the clearest manners, and that He is the firstborn over all creation. W...

We are going to take a few weeks to look at Colossians 1:15-20 as it is one of the highest Christological statements anywhere in the Bible. Yes, we celebrate Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, but sometimes forget how great Jesus is even in the midst of those holidays. Paul starts like this Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE DOW...

In Colossians Paul will deal a lot with the issue of syncretism. Syncretism is where the church “synchronizes” with the world around it, sometimes so much so that it ceases to look like Jesus. Syncretism was becoming an issue in Colossae because they were beginning to combine Christianity with what was known as Gnosticism. Paul starts off redirecting them back to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God th...

Paul’s address of concerns in the book of Colossians reveals a view of Jesus’ preeminence. In Colossians you see one of the highest portrayals of Christ. This high view of Jesus comes from what we call the Gospel. Gospel means a joyful announcement of something that is impacting those who hear it in a positive way. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE