Element Christian Church
Ephesians Week 8 - Family Remembrance
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 who finds our identity in Jesus.
Gospel Community Leadership Development Cohort
Are you interested in learning more about why Gospel Communities are so important to Element's life and ministry, or are you interested in even leading one yourself? Element's Gospel Community Leadership Development Cohort will take place over 6 sessions (plus a final celebration dinner) starting April 11th. Over the course of Thursday nights from 6-8 PM on Element's campus, you're invited to participate in an immersive experience in which we learn and practice what it means to live in Gospel Community. Aspects of the cohort include assigned reading, prayer, videos, and interactive exercises. Deadline for registration is Sunday, April 7th!
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/691563Spring Baptisms - Save The Date
Save the date for our upcoming Spring Baptism Celebration - April 28th at 1pm
I want to be baptized
For more information on being baptized, click the following link
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/282489Meet the Principal
Meet Delta High School Principal, Nate Moss, and hear how we can continue to support our neighbors.<br>Sunday, March 17th following each service in the Courtyard
Easter Service Times
Join us to celebrate our Risen King!<br>Saturday, March 30th at 6pm (no children's programs)<br>Sunday, March 31st at 9am & 10:45am<br><br>*willing to serve during this normally busy weekend? Email Sarah.McCool@ourelement.org
Seder Meal
Join us Friday, March 29th, as we observe Good Friday by participating in a traditional Seder meal.
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/690761The Weekender
Learn more about the Gospel, Element's theology, and what it means to be a covenant member. April 12th & 13th, more details at link.
https://ourelement.churchcenter.com/people/forms/697995Missions Newletter Update
Get the latest on the various local and global ministries Element helps support.
https://www.ourelement.org/downloads/2024/2024_Winter_MissionsUpdate.pdfStart serving at Element
If you are looking for a way to meet more people at Element or feel more connected, one of the easiest ways is to start serving. From once a month for 15 minutes, to helping in our classrooms for a longer time, we have needs to fit your gifts.
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>Rock of Ages - The Modern Post<br>Everything And More - Citizens<br>Good Grace - Hillsong United<br>No Longer Slaves - Zach Williams<br>Make Us One - Jesus Culture<br>Graves Into Gardens - Elevation Worship
Family Remembrance
In today’s passage, Paul reminds us how salvation entails being brought into God’s family. We are to be unified in our love and worship of Him; only by getting our eyes off ourselves and on Jesus will we ever see true and lasting unity. It’s important to remember that our very security in God’s family is a result of the work of Jesus Himself.
• What did your earthly family experiences teach you about yourself?
• How is God’s family meant to be different than your biological family?
In moving us to think about our new life in Christ, Paul says we are to remember:
1. WHEN YOU WERE alienated from the commonwealth of Israel… Paul is referring to God’s people of promise. Don’t miss the miracle of what God’s family is meant to be!
2. WHEN YOU WERE strangers to the covenants of promise… Paul is referring to our relationship with God that it is defined in terms of covenant.
3. WHEN YOU WERE having no hope and without God in the world... Paul is referring to our issues with despair and loss of hope when we wonder, “Will this get better?”
The world is without hope without God. The truth of our mission is that we can’t give anyone hope without first showing them Jesus.
• Talk about your life before knowing Jesus.
• Do you live with a greater hope now?
• How has Jesus transformed your relationship with others?
There is no way for us to bridge our separation from God and others...so Jesus comes, goes to the cross, and is put to death. Why did Jesus die if He never sinned? Our sin. This truth is hard to even imagine. Jesus takes our distance from God and gives us His intimacy. By Jesus’ blood, God is now connected to us.
Read Ephesians 2:11-22.
• What are your feelings about what Paul says in these verses? What does it stir up in your heart?
Paul says to remember what life was like without Jesus and now see what life is meant to be with Jesus. We move from disconnection to connection with God and with other people. Paul then gives poetic images so that our imagination can conceive what this means in our present and future.
• What is the hardest part about connecting to others?
• What is the greatest joy in connecting to others?
• What is the greatest joy in being connected to God?
Metaphor 1: God is a king and brings people into His kingdom as citizens.
Metaphor 2: We are a family – members of God’s own household.
In a family we belong, help, love one another, and work toward a common goal—it becomes practical! The issue is not if it is a big or a little family, but whether it is a healthy, Christ-like family. It is not having to choose biological vs. church family—it is both. The purpose of this is love of others and worship of God…it is a huge part of what it means to have an abundant life in Christ.
• If you could tell others what the purpose of being the Church is, what would you say?
• What would you say your specific role is in the family of God?