Element Christian Church of Santa Maria

Reading Scripture alongside tradition is different than reading Scripture through a lens of tradition. God wants us to be a people who trust the words of Scripture over our own opinions that we have turned into traditionalism. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

God uses everyday situations to change Paul in how he trusts God. Paul goes from a “self-referenced follower of God” to a “Christ-referenced person” as God changes him from being fearful to trusting, possessive to receptive, controlling to expectant, and divisive to expansive. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

Paul champions “saved by grace alone,” but in order to be culturally relevant to the non-Jesus believing Jewish community, he and Timothy will follow a custom that will help them make inroads. Paul’s aim in making himself a “slave to all” is three-fold: to win others, to save others, and to be a partaker of the benefits of the Gospel. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

Christians continually need to be “re-gospeled:” reminded of what God has done for us in Christ. This brings about a continual transformation of our hearts and lives, because like Paul and Barnabas, we tend to forget who we are, who God is, and what He has done for us. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

Love one another and adjust your lives to make space for one another – just as the Gospel welcomes us in, so should we welcome those around us as well. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

The law that was set up in the Old Testament was designed to point us to our need for a Savior. We can still fall into the same traps as the Pharisees by adding rules, structures, or guidelines that destroy the good news. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

The Gospel is both good and bad news – bad in the fact that it shines a light on the devastation of our sin, and beautifully good in the fact that it engulfs suffering and brings true joy because of what Jesus did for us. We can rest knowing that evil is defeated which brings hope, rejoicing, and fuels us to spread the Gospel as much as we can. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

If you love God to any degree, there are those who will not like it because you are reflecting God’s light into darkness. Suffering most often leads to the Gospel going further than we could have imagined. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

Paul preaches until it is prudent to leave. We can learn a lot about how to deal more graciously with opposition. 10 things that will help us all deal more graciously with opposition: 1. Don’t Be Surprised 2. Calm Your Outrage 3. Repent When Needed 4. Keep Loving Each Other 5. Love Your Enemies 6. Trust God and Do Good 7. Share Your Hope 8. Be Respectful 9. Remember Your Christian Family 10. Remem...

God’s Good News is for all people. Paul spent time studying the culture so he can speak the unchanging Gospel Truths contextually – just like we are to do today. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

Paul speaks the same Gospel message in different contexts by learning His audience and explaining it in a way that they can understand. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

The Holy Spirit prompts the missional church to send missionaries out into the world with the message of Salvation. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

Big Idea: We are empowered to live on mission and to cease being spectators. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

Today we pause before we start our new series next week by taking one last reflection of 2019 in the book of Ecclesiastes.

The sounds of Christmas that surround Joseph’s life tells us, “It’s worth it. God keeps his promises.” And that is why I can say to you tonight, Merry Christmas.

The details that surround the birth of Jesus are important because they speak of God’s nature and character (meek and lowly). The exact date of His birth has no significance whatsoever, which may be why God chose not to mention it. The fact is that Jesus was born, that He came into the world to atone for our sins, that He was resurrected to eternal life, and that He’s alive today. This is what we...

We are looking at the songs, poems, and words that were sung or spoken over the events that led to what we would call the “first Christmas.” The Gospel of Luke gives very specific details about the event: Jesus was wrapped in “swaddling clothes,” and placed in a “manger.” These details speak of the nature of God and His character: meek, humble, and true. The wonderful point of Jesus’ birth is that...

God brings glory to Himself by being the power, the authority, and the presence by which all things happen. When God redeems and rescues, He calls the weak and the broken, so He is most glorified. The whole idea of what we celebrate at Christmas was the fulfillment of God’s promises to us. The world is fallen and broken, and we are not simply victims of the messed-up world, we have participated in...

Zechariah was an Old Testament Priest, waiting for the Promised Redeemer. Though he and his wife were elderly, and unable to have children, he prays for a son. An angel appears, and tells him his prayer has been heard, and his wife will bear a son who will not only be an answer Zechariah’s personal prayer, but who will play a part in answering the prayers of the nation of Israel. But instead of ju...

Today we end the book of Ecclesiastes by looking at Solomon being wise enough to speak of his vulnerabilities. He spent the entire book pointing out all the ways he had failed God’s call in his life. He shows that wisdom is found in those who are willing to admit their failures and trust God in life for truth. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

Today in the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon continues to talk about youth and beauty versus getting old. He will point out how getting older is more painful for some and less painful for others depending on the focus. DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE

Solomon starts the section of Ecclesiastes that we are looking at today by being hopeful and encouraging. It is a departure from how he communicates the previous chapters of the book. He will say that when life and its rhythms flow in the perfect direction, life is (and can be) very beautiful. He says, “There are days that life is unbelievably sweet and the sun feels good to your skin.” DOWNLOAD P...

Wise people help those in need, but the larger concept that Solomon moves us toward today is the idea that we will never lack for excuses to not help one another (or to work in general). There will always be something we can point to that will give us a reason to not step into the things that we know we should be doing. Sometimes it is even tempting to wonder if anything we do for God really matte...

Today in Ecclesiastes, Solomon continues his push for us to listen to and live within wisdom. There is an infinite number of categories by which people can be classified in how they live. In much of the wisdom literature, of which Ecclesiastes is a part of, the division is among only two: the wise and foolish. Wise people are those who live their lives in rhythm with God rather than resisting His...

Today in Ecclesiastes, Solomon will write in a way that will hopefully get our imaginations to see how bad folly, or being foolish, is in our lives. He will use the analogy of perfume and say that nothing may have been wrong with the fragrance of a perfume to start off, but it had attracted a swarm of flies. Some of the insects had died, and the stench of their carcasses had turned the perfume ran...