Element Christian Church
Galatians Week 13: Babysitters, Maturity, Baptism, and Family
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 aim to glorify God by teaching and living out the Scriptures, transform community into Gospel community and planting churches.
Easter Weekend
Please join us in worship at our various services Easter Weekend:<br><br>4/7 – Good Friday Service 6pm<br>*Childcare provided for ages birth-Kindergarten. Elementary kids and older are invited to attend service with their parents<br><br>4/8 – Easter Eve Service 6pm<br>*No children’s programs. Intended for those wanting a smaller crowd or those who are serving Easter Sunday<br><br>4/9 – Easter Services<br>Usual times, usual children’s programs.
The Classics
A ministry to encourage, equip and empower Element's older adults through service, discipleship, and witness.<br><br>Info and brainstorming meeting taking place after 1st service Sunday, April 30th in the Barn.
Griefshare
Registration closes April 24th and space is limited
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/504562Bible Display
We want to help parents find great, age-appropriate, Bibles for their kids. With this in mind, our eFamilies team has been researching great options and we will have them on display to browse as well as some available for purchase over the next few Sundays. So if you’re needing the perfect Easter gift for your kids or grandkids, be sure to check out the display after service.
Delta Egg Stuffing - TODAY
Help us celebrate Easter by stuffing Eggs for the students at Delta. We did this last year and it was so much fun to see these “cool” high school students still get excited to hunt for Easter Eggs! There will be a stuffing event on April 2nd at 12:30p in the Barn.
1st Sunday Culture and Theology Talk - TODAY
Join us as we focus this month's talk on theology. Bring your questions from things in the Bible that make you scratch your head or topics that you don't quite understand.
Serve Santa Maria
Serve Santa Maria is a group that organizes various community projects once to twice a year. Past projects have included repainting homes, helping with landscaping for elderly or at various schools, beautifying our parks and so much more. This year, one of the projects is to help a member of Element who recently became a widow and is in big need of help restoring her home. It is quite a big project and we could use as many volunteers as possible. The event is taking place April 22nd, however, there may be a couple days before then to help prepare for the big projects. If you are at all willing to help, either on the official day or in the days leading up to it, please sign up today and we will be happy to give you more information.
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/513251New 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/295918Start Serving
Click the link below to see all the various areas you can serve at Element and sign up to help
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/395779Church Center - the app
Free in your phone's app store and a huge resource to stay in touch with Element! Download today!
This week's song list
Interested in looking for some of the songs we sang this week? Here's the titles and original artists:<br><br>Lift Your Head Weary Sinner (Chains) - Crowder<br>Great Things - Phil Wickham<br>God of Miracles - Chris McClarney<br>Poison Tree - Ghost Ship<br>To Know You - Citizens<br>Oh How I Need You - All Sons & Daughters
Week 13 - Babysitters, Maturity, Baptism, and Family
The Jewish people held Moses as the greatest messenger of God’s will and blessing because he brought the Law to the people. Paul will say something both amazing and offensive at the same time:
• Moses was a mediator
• Moses was a terrible mediator
When Moses showed up (as a mediator), he made things worse, because the Law only revealed the depth of our sin; the Law was powerless to actually save us.
• In what ways have you mediated for others?
• Why was Moses a terrible mediator?
• How do you describe what the Law is, and was, for?
Babysitter: Galatians 3:23-24 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. A guardian was either a slave or a household servant whose job was to look after the children on the parents’ behalf (much like a babysitter). The realization of the Law’s purpose is meant to lead us to Jesus, who fulfilled the Law, and taught us to trust in God’s mercy and grace found in the Gospel.
• How was the Law a babysitter for Israel?
• In what ways have laws or rules pointed you, personally, to Jesus?
• How can we better understand our need for a Savior by understanding the Law?
• How have you grown in maturity, no longer relying on the guidance of the Law?
Maturity: Between the time of Moses (the Law) and the coming of the Messiah, Israel was still a child and needed special looking after. That did not mean, however, that the babysitter should continue to do the job once Israel had grown up (after Jesus fulfilled the Law). Paul argues that with the coming of the Messiah, Israel has, at last, reached maturity as God’s children--this includes us! The sign of maturity is FAITH IN JESUS, NOT IN OUR WORKS! The faith of a believer is the sign that a person is a full and complete member of God’s family.
Read Galatians 3:23-29.
• Are there ways you resist growing in maturity (by relying on the Law)? Why?
• Where in your life do you choose slavery over freedom in Christ?
• In what areas of your faith would you like to see growth/maturity?
Baptism: Faith is what unites us to Christ and all of His saving benefits. We are placed into God’s family through the Holy Spirit baptizing us and placing us into God’s family (1 Corinthians 12:13). Paul says that we all have been baptized by the Spirit; all believers have received this baptism as a result of salvation. In speaking about baptism, Paul is referring to the work of the Spirit, not our act of baptism, but our act reflects what God has done. For the earliest Christians, repentance, faith, conversion, and baptism were often experienced as a single event. Baptism was the principal way in which people professed their faith in Christ.
How have we been baptized into God’s family?
• Why is the practice of baptism important?
• Could you explain how and why Element does baptisms?
• Does anybody want to get baptized?
Family: God promised Abraham a single family in Genesis 12. Now (in Christ), as a result of the Gospel, God has created that one family. This is why Paul speaks about being saved by grace through faith; it is like he is telling the Galatians, “You have become part of God’s promised family by faith and not by works.”
At the moment of faith: through faith, we belong to Christ, are baptized into Christ’s family, surrender and submit to Jesus, and become heirs of the promise.
We give up our own rights and are instead given the right to become children of God. We lay down all that we have and receive all we could ever want.
• What does it mean to be in the “family of God” and “coheirs of the Kingdom”?
• How does the Gospel bring unity among the family of God?
There is nothing more relevant or more practical than our new identity “in Christ.” Do we really believe and trust in Jesus, or do we secretly prefer to be looked after by a babysitter?
Galatians Reading Plan
For a deeper study of the passages covered this week, download this helpful guide
https://audio.ourelement.org/galatians/notes/2023_galatians_readingPlan_discussions.pdf