Element Christian Church
Not So Little Women: Week 5 - Rahab
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, transforming community into Gospel community, and planting churches.
Pumpkin Killin' TODAY
Invite your friends, neighbors, and coworkers! Our annual Pumpkin Killin is taking place today from 1:30pm to 4p at the New Love Picnic Grounds on Orcutt Hill.<br><br>Join us for food, pumpkin carving, eating and shooting out of cannons!
Suriving the Holidays
We know the holidays can be an especially difficult time in the wake of grief. Element will be offering a "Surviving the Holidays" event sponsored by our Griefshare ministry on Sunday, November 4th, from 2-4 PM in the barn. This event will feature a video and discussion covering practical tips for navigating the holiday season while grieving the loss of a loved one. We invite you, or anyone you may know, to this event to receive support for the upcoming season. For more information, please email griefshare@ourelement.org.
Delta Holiday Store
We are once again hosting the Delta High School Holiday store Dec 4th-8th. We need help with donations and staffing. List of items can be found at the Welcome Center and sign ups to help are at the link below
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/639461Youth Winter Camp
See dates and details at link below
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/calendar/event/140035913WE NEED HELP
We are in GREAT need of help in all areas on Sunday mornings. Time commitment can be as little as 15 minutes once a month. Please consider serving your church in some capacity.
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/395779Stay Connected - Download the Church Center App
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/setupThis 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>This is Amazing Grace - Phil Wickham<br>Our God - Chris Tomlin<br>Amazing Grace - Hymn (John Newton)<br>Come Thou Fount - Hymn (Robert Robinson)<br>How Great is Our God - Chris Tomlin<br>Grace Alone - Modern Post
Rahab
We are doing a series, called Not So Little Women, where we look at the stories of different women in the Bible. Today we look at an unlikely ancestor of Jesus, Rahab.
• Who was Rahab? – Rahab was a prostitute living in the city of Jericho when the Israelites were about to invade and conquer the land.
• What is her story? – When Joshua sent two spies to scout out Jericho before attacking, Rahab hid the spies and helped them escape, lying to the authorities about their whereabouts. She made the spies promise to spare her and her family when the Israelites attacked. When Jericho was conquered, Rahab and her family were spared, as promised, and she was allowed to live among the Israelites from then on.
1. God extends grace and mercy even to great sinners. Though Rahab was a prostitute, God still had mercy on her because of her faith. This shows us that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace.
2. Salvation is only by God’s grace, not by our own works. Rahab was saved because of God’s mercy despite her sinfulness. Like Rahab, we are all saved by God’s grace alone through faith, not by our own righteousness.
3. God’s grace is abundant. Not only did God spare Rahab’s life but He brought her into the covenant people of Israel, made her an ancestor of Christ, and commended her as an example of faith. The grace God shows His people far exceeds what we could ever deserve.
Sometimes when we see God extend His grace to wicked people, we can be a bit conflicted. We can doubt the genuineness of their faith and even doubt that God would really save a person so wicked.
But maybe we should not be focusing on the depths of their sin or the heights of their unworthiness. Maybe God would have us focus on the wonders and beauties of His grace and mercy shown to sinners! Maybe we should take a quick look in the mirror to see if we are thinking that WE are more deserving of salvation than they.
The story of Rahab gives us a story of God’s grace and mercy to a prostitute: a woman who regularly violates the sacredness of marriage for a living. But behind her story we see that our God is so amazing and merciful that He can turn a prostitute into a “Poster Girl for Grace.”
Ask/ Discuss:
• What did you learn about God in this passage/ message?
• What did you learn about yourself/humanity in this passage/message?
• How can we better reflect Jesus together as we live in diverse community?
• How do you feel led to foster healthy, Gospel-centered community this week?