Element Christian Church of Santa Maria

This week we talked about God’s call in our lives to return to our original purpose, being His image bearers and light in the world. All the prophets God sent included a “return” as part of their message. This return was a call to come home and be restored (just like the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15); this theme is consistent with the entirety of Scripture. This Week's Gospel Statement: “T...

This week, we looked at what Israel lost in their exile and how this affected their hope and expectations of the Messiah. When Israel received a human king they started to behave like the cultures around them, and not like a “set apart” nation (exactly as God said they would). Through this assimilation, their disobedience continued to grow. This Week's Gospel Statement: “The Gospel is the good new...

Our culture places huge emphasis on freedom from external constraints (e.g., freedom of speech, 2nd amendment, “don’t tread on me,” etc.). However, our culture also has a poor understanding of freedom for—meaning being set free for a purpose. “Freedom for” encapsulates the ultimate design; it acknowledges that we are not the center of the universe, and that there is a God that is not us. God has c...

This week, we explored Israel’s transition from a theocracy to a nation ruled by a human king. While the entirety of Scripture highlights God’s plan for redemption through His people, it’s important to remember that Israel exists among many different cultures. These surrounding cultures influenced Israel, resulting in Israel wanting a human king to demonstrate power and influence to the surroundin...

This week we continued to look at the Exodus story. So far, we have learned about people’s ruin, the culture of death, and the restoration by the power of the Gospel. We heard about God delivering His people out of Egypt, and this week, we talk about God leading His people to a place called Sinai, which is on the way to their country. (This is all due to God’s grace and no one saw it coming). This...

DOWNLOAD DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING DIGITAL BOOK HERE This week, we rocketed out of the book of Genesis and plunged into the Exodus story, where we learn of the Israelites’ enslavement by the Egyptian people. During this horrible time of oppression, the Israelites cry out to God and God hears their cry and is moved to action. This is a remarkable picture of an empathetic God that is active in our rede...

DOWNLOAD DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING DIGITAL BOOK HERE In our series about the Gospel, Didn’t See That Coming, we just finished the flood narrative, which is designed to show us that God gives us grace when we don’t deserve it. It is to serve as a reminder that we are sinful and prone to forgetting the good and loving character of God. This week, we talk about people messing up again and forgetting God...

DOWNLOAD DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING DIGITAL BOOK HERE The story of the flood can conjure mixed emotions because it entails so much death and so much grace at the same time. It is part of our favorite Sunday School stories, probably because of the animals and not the fact that, essentially, all of humanity dies. The story of the flood introduces us to three theological constructs: - Total depravity: Wh...

DOWNLOAD DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING DIGITAL BOOK HERE This week we delved into the Fall in Genesis 3, where we see the tov (good) and shalom (peace) God created disrupted by sin. It is a tragic contrast to the paradise described in the first couple chapters of Genesis, with the consequences still seen today. As bleak as sin and death are, we can know that God’s work entails restoration, renewal, and r...

DOWNLOAD DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING DIGITAL BOOK HERE This week, we kick off our new series exploring the story of the Gospel throughout the entirety of Scripture. Today's Gospel Truth: “The Gospel is the good news that in Jesus, God came to restore and renew humanity to what He meant for it to be - image bearers who love and serve Him and others in humility.”

The Christian life, our service, is not lived to earn the favor of God, it’s lived in response to the favor of God. we serve, we work, we follow Jesus not to earn grace, but in response to grace!

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE John Piper calls adoption the Heart of the Gospel. He writes, “The deepest and strongest foundation of adoption is located not in the act of humans adopting humans, but in God adopting humans. And this act is not part of his ordinary providence in the world; it is at the heart of the gospel.” Galatians 4:4-6 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his...

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE This week, in our series "Jingle All The Way," where we look at the stresses of Christmas, we look at family members or people who are Hazardous. Before you start thinking, “Hey, it’s Christmas time! Let’s talk about all things merry and bright!” keep in mind that with the reality of Jesus’ birth, God provided a way to restore not just our eternal hope for salvation,...

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE Tis the season…for all things merry and bright and family and drama…or is it? This Christmas here at Element, we are focusing on what God says about family. After all, because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, God has adopted us into His perfect family and that is cause for rejoicing (and maybe even a few jingle bells!). Last week we talked about stressed out...

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE Our very first study in our new home is a short Christmas series about families and different ways we encounter the holidays. Today we talk about stressed out situations and families. We tend to look back at the birth of Jesus (and the first Christmas) as a completely serene and peaceful event, we even sing songs about Jesus’ birth where we say, “All is calm, all is...

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE The story of Ruth is all about God’s story… and God’s story is all about Jesus. Sure, we can call this Gleanings of Ruth, but I think we can also call the story Gleanings from Element! At Element there is really only one message every Sunday morning, and that is Jesus. The truth is that Jesus lived, died, and rose again for us; He is making all things new, even today...

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE Today we finish the narrative from the book of Ruth. Ruth is a book that teaches us that in God’s redeeming work in our lives NOTHING IS WASTED. For God; every situation, every circumstance, and every poor decision we have made can all be redeemed in light of the good news of Jesus. We may not understand how He will redeem it while we are in the middle of our heartac...

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE Over the past 10 weeks, we have looked closely at redemption from a few perspectives. What it looks like to be redeemed, who provides redemption, and why it matters in our hearts, our families, and our communities. We have seen the non-miraculous story of a brave, humble, and faithful immigrant widow bring the one true God into the mundane details of life and what ha...

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE If you are newer to Element, we have been in journey called “Planting Roots” over the last three years. This journey focused on generosity, God’s leading, and finding Element a permanent home. In amazing providential care, God has done all of these things in renewed ways over the last 3 years; many times these “ways” were unexpected, but still a blessing. In the most...

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE When you hear the term “Redeemer,” usually we’re talking about Jesus (and all redemption really is because of Him) but today we see how redemption is something we are all apart of and have the ability to extend to each other. Boaz and Ruth are examples to us of this redemption, Boaz is a Christ-like hero, Ruth embodies the humility and faithfulness of Jesus. Boaz doe...

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE Last week we looked at practical tips for men from the text in how Boaz treats Ruth, today we will look at the very practical ways that Ruth navigates and honors a burgeoning relationship with Boaz, and Jesus. The things that stand out about Ruth are indicated in the text as follow: • Ruth is a person of character (Ruth 2:11). • Ruth is respectful, but honest (2:10)....

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE Today we will look at the very practical ways that Boaz honors Ruth (and others) in ways that are strong and masculine, while not being chauvinistic. Boaz is a great catch for Ruth based on 15 indicators in the text. • His character (Ruth 2:1). • Boaz isn’t afraid to show that he knows God! (Ruth 2:4) • He NOTICES. (Ruth 2:5) • Boaz honors what is front of him. • Boa...

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE Ruth is a book that gives us stories within stories! Ruth might be a short book in the Old Testament, but it is a big part of God’s sweeping redemption story being told throughout all of the Bible. Sinclair Ferguson wrote that “all great narrative…is composed of a problem, an unraveling of it, and a solution to it.” This is true of not only the book of Ruth, but of o...

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE As we close out the first chapter of Ruth today, we start to see the book of Ruth showing more and more God’s bigger story of Redemption. Last week, we began to go deeper into the theology that God is sovereign, good, and kind; He keeps His word no matter what! Before we get to the next part of Ruth, we must first understand that all of Ruth’s history is a redemptive...

DOWNLOAD PDF SERMON NOTES HERE We learned last week that Ruth’s story is meant to remind us that our past doesn’t have to decide our future. There used to be a phrase that was spoken a lot: “it’s all in the name.” This week we see that that is overwhelmingly true! God is faithful and the heart of the Gospel is that everything that comes to you is either from the hand of God or has passed through t...