Element Christian Church of Santa Maria

This week launches our 19 week series through the book of James, a book written by Jesus’ own half-brother. James moved from seeing Jesus not just as a family member, but as God and Savior. In his opening verses, James encourages readers to “count it all joy” as we come face to face with trials and suffering. The word “count” (NIV says “consider”) has at its root the idea of being first, meaning w...

Psalm 135 would have been sung after the ascent to Jerusalem. It’s a psalm that encourages true worship in which praise is the inevitable expression of a relationship with the living God and creator of the universe. God’s people would be reminded of the abundant reasons they have for praising and blessing “the name of the Lord,” and that our God is worthy of all praise. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTU...

Merry Christmas Element! Before we get to the new year, we are taking one more look at the 15 steps of discipleship we see in the Songs of Ascent. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE WATCH RELATED TALKING ELEMENT EPISODE

Michael and Aaron sit down and discusses the final Psalm in the Songs of Ascent series, and what’s next for Talking Element. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE WATCH This Episode of Talking Element

The reason we end all of these Songs of Ascent with the idea of hope is that hope is what those taking this journey were ultimately looking for. They traveled to Jerusalem for the feasts, the holidays, to remember who God is and what He had done…but they also remember what God promised He would do. When we look back at all that was written and said in the Hebrew Scriptures, we see God promising to...

Psalm 131 explores the idea of Humility. It is a prayer-song that some people are reluctant to recite or sing, because its claims are so bold! But it comes to us, not as a command to be humble, but as the honest prayer and testimony of a person who has spent his adult life working on humility through his failures and successes. An honest person knows that he or she is not perfectly humble, but thi...

Jesus tells us that the world around us will know that we are His disciples by how we love each other: John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Having true love for one another is the only way we will ever live in true community with one another. Why is it so important to God that His people live in community? Because it means we are living as we we...

Psalm 132 is meant to be a reminder of how our obedience comes about: it comes from God first being faithful to us. We obey, live by the Holy Spirit’s guiding, because we understand how great, worthy and good God is. We are told in the scriptures that Jesus came to fulfill the law, everything we couldn’t measure up to, He lived the perfect life of obedience for us. He wants to return us to who we...

Aaron, Michelle and Michael sit down and talk about Prayer and our Agape meals. LINK TO AGAPE SIGN UP: https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/311388 LINK TO TRIDUUM SERIES REFERENCED: https://www.ourelement.org/media/messages/serie/10035-triduum 00:00 Intro 00:36 Our Hopes for Agape Meals 05:50 How do we point people to Hope? 13:10 Prayer WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE WATCH This Episode...

When the Bible speaks of God declaring us “righteous” it is a term that denotes relationship. God extends relationship—and in turn, His righteousness—to us, because He is faithful. Peterson writes, “God sticks to his relationship. He establishes a personal relationship with us and stays with it. The central reality for Christians is the personal, unalterable, persevering commitment God makes to us...

Anything truly meaningful in life will come to a place that requires perseverance, this includes discipleship. We don’t persevere because it makes us worthy of a relationship with God, we persevere because of the Gospel. We are saved by grace, but perseverance will flow out of that grace. In Psalm 129 the pilgrims sing these words on the way up to Jerusalem, they took the journey. We live after Je...

Michelle sits down with Jason to talk about persevering through loss and hardship. How community plays a role and how it has affected how he leads the congregation in worship through music. 00:00 Intro 01:14 Psalm 129 02:48 Areas Jason has dealt with hardship 11:28 How it has affected leading the congregation WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE WATCH This Episode of Talking Element

We must trust that God intends good for us. Robert Roberts says “in a Christian context, there must be gratitude, but in order to be truly grateful, we must believe we are receiving something we did not earn, merit, or deserve.” Eugene Peterson writes, “Being a Christian is what we were created for. The life of faith has the support of an entire creation and the resources of a magnificent redempti...

The beauty of how we speak of the Gospel is that our salvation isn’t by our work, it is by Jesus’ work for us. Because He died we find rest in Him. We live, we work, we raise families and when it all feels overwhelming Jesus says (in Matthew 11:28) “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus will also tell us, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me…” Jesus i...

Michael sits down with Jesse to talk about about story and dealing with loss and being angry with God and how God is always faithful. And Aaron and Michelle talk about work. 00:00 Intro 00:42 Jesse’s Story 08:38 Aaron and Michelle join to ramble about work, rest and our need for Jesus to be our source of life. WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE WATCH This Episode of Talking Element

No matter where we find ourselves, we trust that God is good and will bring His good to us. The focus of Psalm 126 is on God and what He has done and will do again. The Bible speaks of joy, not like we experience on our own, but the kind that is characterized by God. The whole Old Testament’s sacrificial system was put into place so we could be returned to relationship with God again, to the joy a...

Sarah sits down with Clarence to talk about life struggles and how he finds Joy in the midst of crazy busy work schedule, his wife temporarily living in another state, and experiencing the loss of their son. And Michael and Sarah discuss what Gospel reminders have brought them joy recently. 00:00 Technical Issues Explanation 00:25 Intro 02:04 Psalm 126 - Joy 12:46 Gospel Joy with Michael 17:49 Bon...

One of the sad things about people who call themselves Christians, is that they are afraid of their worries and doubts. Too many people try to push any doubts out of their minds as if even having a doubt is a sin (as if it makes us not steadfast in our trust in Christ). Being steadfast doesn’t mean we don’t have questions, it means that we believe that ultimately we know (whether we fully understa...

This week, Michelle sits down with Allison and discusses what steadfastness has looked like in her life, and specifically the past couple of years of marriage and moving to rural Texas to be with dying father. 00:00 Intro 01:31 Psalm 125 2:45 Allison’s story WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE WATCH This Episode of Talking Element

The people making the ascent to worship God in these Psalms of Ascent endured multiple hardships. They walked and prayed what they did because they knew that God is a rescuer of those who cry out. We know that He is the God of the Passover, the God of the Exodus, and ultimately of Easter; the God of slavery, death, life, freedom. The cross is where the reality of our image bearing becomes a restor...

From the very beginning of the Scriptures, we see that God built us to be worshippers, it goes deeper than our DNA; worship is the fabric of our existence. Creation was made to glorify God because when God is most glorified, we live in the most joy. Once we begin to understand that our lives do not make sense apart from worship, we will take more seriously what we worship. There is a quote that ha...

This week, Michelle sits down with Allen and Janet to see how Worship and Community have grown over the past year. And Michael makes a meta appearance. Download GC Handbook: https://audio.ourelement.org/training/2021_GC Handbook_final.pdf WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE WATCH This Episode of Talking Element

There is no literature, ancient or modern, that is more realistic and honest in facing the harsh facts of life than the Bible. The Scriptures never once portray a life lived worshipping God as free of difficulties or pain. As a matter of fact, our God comes in the person of Jesus and is despised and rejected for us, to rescue us from our own rebellion. What God promises is that He will be with us...

This week, Michelle sits down with Judy Lees and sees where God has grown her trust in Him this year. And Michael makes an appearance to discuss what Gospel Community is. Download GC Handbook: https://audio.ourelement.org/training/2021_GC Handbook_final.pdf WATCH FULL SERVICE ON YOUTUBE WATCH This Episode of Talking Element

The Songs (or Psalms) of ascent are 15 psalms that pilgrims would sing or recite on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast days. This is week one of our series: discipleship starts with repentance. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE WATCH RELATED TALKING ELEMENT EPISODE