Elements City Church Podcast

The Scriptures call us over and over to a practice of remembering, as it comes to remembering God's activity in our lives and his faithfulness. As Joshua does here (ch. 3 & 4) - we're invited to make some 'memory markers' in our lives. Remembering builds our trust & relationship with GOD – the ONE who has helped us in the past and helps us now and will continue to help us securely into the future. REMEMBERING MATTERS – it refuels our soul, reinvigorates our minds, refreshes our hearts & reinforces our love for Jesus!

We're looking into the story of Rahab in Joshua chapter 2. A story where God is at work behind the scenes - where He, because of His love, looks beyond our past and our labels. Remember, God longs to draw people to Himself and lead them to new beginnings. He's always offering us a lifeline of hope and grace.

We begin a new series through the Old Testament book of Joshua and we will see God’s call to be strong and courageous as we follow him. We follow Him on mission, following faithfully and we trust His presence to be with us each step of the journey.

As we finish up our 'Focus' series around the mission of Elements, tonight we turn toward what it means to 'own' our faith and the mission of this church. It means we keep stepping forward in following Jesus. Owning our faith, isn’t about earning our faith, but it is about authenticating it. (Jesus challenges us to follow - see Luke 9:22-25). We (as The Church) are to OWN our contribution to partnering in the mission as well of His Church as well.

Jesus came to serve not to be served. He led by serving. He loved by serving.

Just like Legos, we were created to connect! First with God and then with others. Jesus didn't make this a friendly "suggestion" but rather commanded us to do so!

Tonight we begin our series: FOCUS ...looking at the mission of our church and the heart of our culture we want to have as we live it out. We want to be a people who are always INVITING people into next steps of faith and life with us. We know that what we care about, we share about. So all through the Scriptures we're encouraged to INVITE and share the Good News that we've discovered and been changed by through Jesus. We don't stockpile God's grace, we share it.

Tonight we want to talk about WHY Prayer Matters?! What's the intent of prayer and how can making it a pattern in your life actually refuel your soul? Prayer is one of the most common phenomena of human life. Prayer was vitally important to Jesus – he modeled it well and often, because for Jesus it wasn’t just a PRIORITY, it was a NECESSITY. Truth: Prayer is a learned behavior and nobody is born an expert at it and prayer is a habit that matters.

The practice of Sabbath is remembering that we are not what we produce. We are valued because of WHOSE we are, not what we do. We are a human BEING, not a human DOING.The rhythm of SABBATH matters to our physical, mental, emotional well-being and ultimately to our spiritual growth and maturity.

As we dive into looking at why worship matters - we wanted to expand our scope and our voice tonight. So we've got a panel of Elements partners who help us examine the role, benefits and our understanding of worship and why it should be a rhythm in our life. Here's a quick definition: "Worship is our response to the revelation of who God is." And it's way more than a song.

Tonight we address what discipleship is and why it matters. Jesus doesn't invite people into following a path or a plan, he invites us to follow him. A person. It's not having him as an accessory to our life, it's finding our lives in following him. If we were to better define it, we might say "it's apprenticing Jesus." It's less about activity FOR JESUS and more about proximity WITH JESUS – because when you spend time in proximity with Jesus, you’ll begin to pick up his rhythms, habits and heart. *Tonight we also take a moment to take a stand against racism in Jesus name. Elements Statement on situation unfolding in Charlettsville, VA.

In Acts 1:8 Jesus gives some of his final words to his followers before returning to Heaven. It's this challenge to be his witnesses "here, there and to the ends of the earth" - the direction was of primary importance: Beginning from where you are at this moment, take the message of Christ outward, like ripples caused by a pebble thrown into a pond. You could say it this way: "personal reach, local reach and global reach"

As we wrap up our series, we wanted to take some time to dive into the emotion of love. In a world that struggles to define it or demonstrate it well - the biblical call toward LOVE is something so much more than a manufactured or maintained 'feeling'. Jesus reiterates that the measure of spiritual maturity: is love. Agape love is what the Scriptures point toward. The deepest desire of the human heart - is for a love that will last. God's AGAPE love is an unchanging love - in the midst of a changing world. It's the love He has for you. It's the love He wants to grow within you.

As we look into the emotion of FEAR tonight, we examine some facets of fear. Natural fear (healthy) acts as a warning to us. Biblical concept of 'the fear of the Lord' is really more about having a healthy reverence for God. He's Big, I'm little. The destructive side of fear is when unhealthy fears tend to grow within us and can end up holding us hostage to the life God desires. When you let fear run your life, it ruins your life. Jesus promises his presence in our lives, so fear doesn't have to hold us back.

Tonight, we look into the emotion of anger. Anger is an emotion that we all experience from time to time. Anger itself is not sinful; it’s a signal that something is wrong. Anger presents us with an opportunity to do right or wrong. What we do with our anger can be HELPFUL or HURTFUL. The Scriptures speak with some wisdom and warnings regarding anger. Anger must have an appropriate shelf life: 'Let it stop by for a visit, but never rent it a room in your heart.' (James 1:19-20 & Ephesians 4:26-32)

Tonight, we look into the emotion of sadness. We don’t like discussing or thinking about sadness – the ramifications of it. But we ALL KNOW we live in a world where sadness dwells. The Scriptures call us to lean into our moments of sadness. God can do some transformational work within us in our moments. We are invited to bring our pain and heartache to the Savior who cares. As we stay connected with him, he can comfort us, grow our compassion capacity and equip us to be people of comfort to others.

As we begin our new series: Emotion Pictures - we're looking into the role emotions play in our lives. How to deal with how we feel. And what the Scriptures have to say about navigating our emotions in a healthy way. Tonight, we look into how JOY > happiness. Joy can help anchor us to the uplifting and ongoing hope we have in Jesus as he is the true source of joy that we can continually get refueled by. Friends, don't settle to pursue happiness that's limited to your conditions and circumstances being right - pursue JOY.

As we celebrate Father's Day - we want to lean into how the Scriptures show us a clear picture of God as our Father. Our perfect heavenly Father. Guest Speaker: Pastor John Miller (Saddlebrooke Community Church)

God WANTS to use YOU - don't let yesterday get in the way of tomorrow. We're to move forward: free - following after and focused on our Savior. (Hebrew 12:1-2)

We will never meet the BEST VERSION of ourselves inside our comfort zones. God can use chaos to mold and shape us. God moves towards us and He wants us to move towards the mess. Luke 10:25-37