Element Christian Church
James: Part Thirteen: More Grace
Locations & Times
Element Christian Church
4890 Bethany Ln, Santa Maria, CA 93455, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:45 AM
Welcome to Element
We strive to ensure the biggest thing people think when they hear about Element is Jesus! We are a Gospel centered community that finds our identity in Jesus.
New to Element? Need prayer? Just want to connect?
Click the link to fill out our Digital Connect Card so we can know you were here and send you a "Welcome" email.
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/295918The Weekender - THIS FRIDAY and SATURDAY
The Weekender is a 2-day event intended for anyone who wants to move beyond simply attending services on a Sunday and explore how to get better connected both to Christ and to our church. Things kick off on Friday night, April 8th, and includes dinner with some of our staff, elders, and other leaders, as well as an introduction to Element’s vision and core values. On Saturday morning, we’ll share the theological beliefs that shape those values, how your role and spiritual gifts can fit within our community, and answer any questions you might have.
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/354544Maundy Thursday
This year Element will be doing a Maundy Thursday service instead of a Good Friday Service. This service can be a little deeper than our other services and is intended for those who already believe and not necessarily someone who doesn't already know Jesus.<br><br>Maundy Thursday may sound odd to our ears, but it ranks among the richest and most complex of Christian celebrations. It is a prelude to Easter and anticipates Jesus’ coming suffering and resurrection power that will be given to followers of Christ to enable us to truly love one another. Maundy means mandate and we look at the mandate to remember the Gospel and how that remembrance leads us to love one another; as Jesus washes the disciples feet in the nature of a servant, so we too serve one another.<br><br>Childcare available for ages birth-Kindergarten.
Easter Celebration Services
Join us Easter Eve - Saturday, April 16th at 6:30pm for a smaller crowd*<br><br>OR<br><br>Sunday April 17th at 9am & 10:45am in person or virtually on our Livestream<br><br>*Saturday service will only have children's programs for ages birth-Kindergarten
Delta Prom - A Starry Night
Element is hosting the first ever Delta High School Prom on 5/13th and we need help!<br><br>Donations of formal clothing due 5/1<br><br>Bite sized desserts also needed. Contact Justine at justine.cassaro@ourelement.org
Baptism Sign Ups
Our next baptism celebration will be taking place Sunday, May 15th! If you are interested in being baptized, please fill out this link!
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/282489Church Center - the app
Free in your phone's app store and a huge resource to stay in touch with Element! Download today!
All the things
We mention all sorts of links throughout service, this is a summary of all of them in one place! Find our YouTube, current sign ups, ways to connect and more!
https://linktr.ee/ourelementMore Grace
There are 3 primary tools in regard to growing in true wisdom:
1. The Scriptures – The point of the Scriptures is Jesus.
2. The community of the church – If we want to walk in true wisdom, we surround ourselves with people who love Jesus and submit to His Word.
3. Those who are further along than us in “the faith” and in life – We should seek guidance, in humility, from others who have lived more of “life.”
Many times the church in America values our individuality more than it values the community God has placed us in. James 4:1 “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” The literal root meaning of the phrase “fights and quarrels” is “wars” which conveys the realities of the situation in James’ churches.
God’s jealousy over us stems from the love of His own name and the hope that our joy in that name might reflect more perfectly His goodness and grace. John Piper says, “God’s jealousy is not the reflex of weakness or fear. Instead, God is jealous like a powerful and merciful king who takes a peasant girl from a life of shame, forgives her, marries her, and gives her not the chores of a slave, but the privileges of a wife—a queen. His jealousy does not rise from fear or weakness but from a holy indignation at having his honor and power and mercy scorned by the faithlessness of a fickle spouse.” God is jealous for the Spirit He gave us, and He is jealous for us to experience the fullest joy possible that is made manifest only in knowing, loving, and following Him.
James is arguing that where we walk in true wisdom and understand the grace of God, quarrels and fights and judgments begin to dissipate. It’s not that we won’t have them, because we always will, but we are those who are quick to seek forgiveness and even absorb things that most people in the world would not... because we have been given more grace than we can understand or comprehend.
Read James 4:1-12.
• Have you ever seen conflict in a church?
• What did it look like?
• How do you think individualism has affected the health of the Church?
• How is the Church today at conflict in ways similar to James’ church?
• How can we gain wisdom from (1) Scripture? (2) Church community? (3) More mature believers?
• In what ways is community hard?
• How do you think we do as a faith community of looking out for each other vs our own needs?
• How has God used friendship to critique and mold you?
• What desires of yours have gotten in the way of Godly wisdom?
• How have you been more focused on what Jesus may give you rather than Jesus Himself?
• In what ways do you need to resist → come near?
• To wash → be purified?
• To grieve → be changed?
• To humble yourself → be exalted?
• How have you experienced Grace?
• Are you more prone to see the shortcomings in others or the strengths in others?
• How can we celebrate what God is actively doing in one another?