Element Christian Church

In our current What in the World Part 2 series, we are answering questions you had asked us at the end of last year. Sometimes, when we read the scriptures, there are questions about the text that we don’t know how to ask (or maybe verbalize); this series was a way to try to answer some of those lingering questions. It seems the questions that many have about the scriptures come from personal experience and pain. Here is this week’s question: “What is the deal with Lot’s daughter sleeping with him? As an abused daughter, I wonder why God would allow that in the bible. Nothing else is said, like it is no big deal. This gives weak minded fathers the ability to think it is OK?” First, the bible nowhere condones this type of behavior, the story is recounted in the Scriptures for a purpose. Second, it is a good question because our present understanding of these ancient narratives will affect how we live out the good news of what Jesus came to do in our lives.

In our current What in the World Part 2 series, we are answering questions you had asked us at the end of last year. This was the question this week: We lost our son 11 years ago and so many even now still tell us we have an angel in heaven. Can this be explained? I have always felt it was that we have a saint not an angel. Where in the Bible is this concept explained? Our son was silently born and was not baptized, is this an issue?

This week’s question is: “Why is Paul rejoicing that people are proclaiming Christ out of selfish ambition?” Last week Aaron reminded us that the story of the Bible is about an ultimate love story between a kindly intentioned Creator and us, His creation. All of the Bible is written by God and is for our teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Our Creator’s words written through the Apostle Paul have an important message for us even (and maybe especially) when we wonder, “What in the world?”

At the end of last year, Element did a series that answered some common questions about scripture that people have commonly asked. As the series ended, we asked the people of Element to write down their own questions that we would answer in 2017. Here we are in Part 2 of this series and the question, “What does the Bible say about homosexuality?” is definitely one of those topics that makes us take a deep breath as we think, “Hmmmm!” Kevin DeYoung’s book, What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? is a great resource for this challenging topic. There are 1189 chapters in the bible, with over 30,000 verses, and only a dozen or so will deal directly with homosexuality. That does not mean the “traditional” view of marriage is based on nothing more than a few fragments; it means there was a way of life that was accepted for millennia and most didn’t feel the need to create a case for a marriage being between a man and a woman because it was simply a given in Jewish and Christian realms. The controvers

In our current What in the World Part 2 series, we are answering questions you had asked us at the end of last year. This is week 6, and this was the question: In Genesis 15:17 it says that a smoking fire pot and flaming torch passed between the halves of the animals Abraham cut in half at God’s direction. What is the significance of the fire pot and torch moving between the halves? It’s a good question because our present understanding of covenant and redemption takes shape during this moment.

We are continuing our What in the World Part 2 series where we answer your questions about the Bible in an in depth setting. We also encourage you to check our website www.ourelement.org/blog for more What in the World questions that we answer in written form. Today’s question comes from a book that was on the New York Times bestseller list called, “ZEALOT, The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth” written by Reza Aslan. In the book ZEALOT the author makes the claim that most of what we understand about Jesus is false and that Jesus wasn’t the savior of the world, He was simply a zealot that the early church deified. The question that was asked is, “Was Jesus a Zealot?”

What happens every day in our homes defines what normal is for our families! It may be normal for you to eat a hamburger every Friday night, it might be normal for you to get ice cream every Tuesday after school, it might be normal for your family to have a game night each week (where you shut off the TV), but we must make sure to make Jesus a normal part of our family life. We must become a people who make worshiping Jesus a normal attitude of our hearts; not a special event set aside for a specific time once a week. Every parent will leave a personal legacy, the most important thing for your children to see in you is an authentic relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Note: .mp3 version contains the audio from 5 videos throughout the message. To watch, visit ourelement.org or our Vimeo page: https://vimeo.com/ourelement

This is Week 2 in our “What in the World?” Part 2 series where we tackle different biblical passages or questions that make us say “What in the world does that mean?” The question this week is: “What in the world is the Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?” In the New Testament, Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is also called the unpardonable or unforgivable sin. As we will see, by the very words of our Lord Jesus Himself, He states that there is an unforgivable sin, and it is to blaspheme or speak against the Holy Spirit.

At the end of last year, Element did a series that answered some common questions about scripture that people commonly have. At the end of that series, we asked Element to write down their own questions that we would answer in 2017. Here we are, and here is one of the first questions that was asked: “In Genesis, lots of dudes are lying about their wives being their sisters and then God blesses them… but they lied? What in the world?”

Anyone can die, but only the Son of the Father could resume His existence at will. The entire Gospel is motivated by the will of the Father, Jesus’ love for the Father, and the Father’s love for us; not because we are worthy, but because He is good. Easter is about Jesus’ authority to resurrect and call all of us to Himself. When we submit to His authority we become sheep who hear/listen to His voice.

Matthew rounds out His two chapters that focus on the authority of Jesus by reminding us that Jesus has sent His people out on mission with and for Him. He tells us to pray that the “Lord of the harvest” would send His workers out into that harvest…those workers are us. In an agricultural metaphor, Jesus is saying that God has done the work in people’s hearts before we ever go out and reap the harvest. When we pray for others to be drawn to Jesus, we must understand that we are part of the process.

Most people want to shy away from anything that deals with demonic oppression or possession in the Scriptures. In our modern world, we don’t want to seem like we are weirdos so we try to ignore and to deny things like demons. There are those on the opposite end of the spectrum who want to blame everything on demons as well, from failed relationships to job loss.

We have to understand that it is NOT our faith that saves us, it is the OBJECT of our faith. What does Jesus mean when he says “According to your faith be it done to you?” It means that they actually believed in Him as the Messiah. It was the OBJECT of their faith, Jesus, that was the factor behind the healing of their blindness. They are crying out for Him to heal them and they call Him, “son of David,” that is a messianic term; they believed Jesus was the Messiah.

Without meaning to be morbid, today we will talk about issues of life and death all the while looking at Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life. The New Bible Dictionary states, “From one point of view death is the most natural of things: ‘man is destined to die once’ (Heb. 9:27). It may be accepted without rebellion: ‘Let me die the death of the righteous’ (Nu. 23:10). From another, it is most unnatural. It is the penalty for sin (Rom. 6:23), and is to be feared as such. Both points of view are found in the Bible; neither should be overlooked.”

Today, in part, we will look at the question of Jesus’ seeming confusion over who touched Him during a healing and what it really means, but we will also examine His authority over what makes a person clean and unclean. We will look at how Jesus intends to restore people into community because the community around us matters.

Parables are illustrations or stories that Jesus used to convey deeper spiritual concepts. In the Greek world, parables were well known; the word “parable” even comes from a Greek source. Rabbis for ages used the idea of parables not just for moral storytelling, but they used to use it as broadly as possible. Parables became fictitious narratives that would generally refer to something that might naturally occur by which spiritual and moral matters might be conveyed. • In Matt 6 Jesus says, “Consider the lilies of the field.” • In Luke 12 Jesus says, “Consider how the wild flowers grow.” Jesus creates word pictures so we would understand more of God, the world He made, and how to live in it.

When Jesus says in Matthew 9:13 “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’” It does not mean that sacrifice is bad, it means that the scriptures are about understanding what truly separates us from God and then how to live the life of God in the world. Through the saving gift of Jesus’ death and resurrection, God is saying to His people that “I desire to show mercy to you, I do not desire to demand a sacrifice of atonement from you.” God deals with us in mercy because of His sacrifice. Jesus paid our debt to make us clean before God. Jesus restored relationship with us. Jesus wants us to live wholeheartedly for God, because God’s whole heart toward us is mercy.

Saying Jesus has authority is more practical than catch phrases or platitudes; it will directly relate to how we interact with others in the world around us. Jesus lived and taught in a way that amazed those around Him because of His authority; He taught in a way that was different than their normal teachers. So far we have seen Jesus prove His authority by healing sickness, calling disciples, calming nature, and casting out demons. Today we are going to see that Jesus has authority over the forgiveness of sins, something only God could do. This passage is about two things—one is about community and caring for those who are suffering, and the second is about Jesus’ forgiveness of our sins.

We are looking at Jesus’ authority over 15 different areas in the next 15 weeks. We do this because we often say we are under Jesus’ authority, but we don’t like it, or refuse to live like it. Today Jesus shows His authority over nature. This sounds like a biggie, especially for us in California; authority over nature is bigger than we typically imagine.

After the Sermon on the Mount the crowds are amazed at Jesus’ teaching because He speaks with such Authority. Matthew chapters 8-9 shows us that authority. Today we see Jesus’ authority in how He calls disciples to follow Him. In Matthew and Luke, Jesus seems to do the opposite of what most people would consider as “warm and friendly”; He actually seems to push people away. In churches today, we preach Jesus like He is chocolate and stand amazed that some people don’t want the “chocolate Jesus.” When people intentionally go to Jesus and tell Him they want to follow Him, His response is more often than not, “you better think about that before you commit.”