Views from The Ridge 3.5.25
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
Worship
Wednesday, March 5th 7-8 PM, Ash Wednesday Service, Chapel
Daylight Savings Time Begins Sunday - Remember to move your clock forward 1 hour Saturday night.
Sunday, March 2, Chapel
9 AM Acapella
11 AM Instrumental
“Nope”
Main Passage: Jonah 1:1-3
This week as we begin Lent, we’ll be exploring the themes of:
Reluctance and Avoidance: Exploring the human tendency to flee from challenging divine assignments.
Divine Pursuit: Understanding that God’s call persists despite our attempts to evade it.
Discipleship
Sundays
10:15 AM Bible Class & Discipleship for All Ages
Adult Bible Classes: Open to all
Fellowship Hall 1: Bible Study, Jeremiah
Fellowship Hall 2: BEMA podcast discussion group
Women’s Discipleship Group: Studying Jonah 1:1-3
Youth Group 7th-12th grade, Room 218, Studying Jonah 1:1-3
Roots: Children’s Discipleship through Godly Play
PreK - Kindergarten, Room 102
1st - 2nd Grade, Room 122
3rd - 6th Grade, Room 203
Bible Story Focus this Week: Matt 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-11
Key Verse: Luke 2:10-11
Tuesdays
Scott Heare’s Office, Jonah 1:4-17
Limited spaces, Contact scott@sunset-ridge.org to join a group
7 AM Men’s Discipleship Group
8:30 AM Men’s Discipleship Group
Connections
Second Saturday in Charis Park - Happy International Women’s Day!
8 AM - 1 PM, One Another Coffee featuring Plantaqueria Vegan Tacos
9 AM, Donation-based Yoga with Nyx Wellness
9 AM - 1 PM, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market
10:15 AM, Storytime with Miss Anastasia
Around the Community
Have You Watched the Charis Park Grand Opening Recap?
Charis Park is a story of transformation—once a hospital park, then a Red Cross center, even a parking lot. Today, it stands as a gift to our neighborhood, a place of peace, inspiration, and community.
If you didn’t see the video airing last Sunday’s, we invite you to watch and celebrate what this space has become!
Special thanks to our community, The Impact Guild, and Coral Studio, as well as the video team: Mae Czarnecki, Joshua Aldama, and Octavio Gonzalez.
Serving with Nuevos Vecinos Supper Club
We have a wonderful opportunity to serve as the Hospitality Team at tomorrow’s Nuevos Vecinos Supper Club, a gathering that welcomes and supports our newest neighbors in San Antonio. Nuevos Vecinos is the only organization in our city providing long-term shelter and support for immigrant families as they settle and build new lives. Their mission is to create strong, vibrant communities by walking alongside these families with hope and promise. Our Sunset Ridge Hospitality Team will help with setup, offer a kids' activity, share in a meal, and assist with cleanup. It’s a simple but meaningful way to practice hospitality and be part of this important work. If you’d like to join us, email jess@sunset-ridge.org by noon Thursday. Learn more atnuevosvecinossatx.org.
Beyond Sunday
Putting the Word into practice this week
SLOW GLOWING
Den Slater, Community Member, Sunset Ridge Church of Christ
Luke tells us that when Peter, John, and James climbed the mountain, the appearance of Jesus was “changed” while he prayed,1 and I wonder if the change was a sudden burst of light or a slower illumination. Mark and Matthew use a different word2—transfigured—and the Church now uses this language to speak of the dazzling revelation of Christ’s brilliance as the “Transfiguration of Jesus.” So, when Scott mentioned the transfiguration of the disciples, I admit that I felt an odd prick of wonder at the word being repurposed. I had to look up a definition, and it turns out that transfiguration signifies “a complete change of form or appearance into something more beautiful or spiritual.” Perhaps then, as Scott said, the three disciples were indeed transfigured by their experience.
Then Paul’s words to the Corinthians broke into my thoughts, “Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?”3 I once knew a young woman—let’s call her Celeste—who struggled through a difficult season in her teenage years, making choices that left her feeling lost. As she grew into adulthood, her life began to change when she encountered the love of Christ and chose to follow Him in baptism. Her transformation didn’t happen overnight, but she was on a new path. She still wrestled with some of her habits, but her heart was shifting—she was seeking God, showing up to church, and learning to walk in grace.
She eventually started attending a Bible study, and after a few years, she began to help lead those studies. She kept growing in her faith, and God still isn’t finished with her. She is growing; or, maybe she’s glowing. Christ is in her, and she is being transfigured ever so slowly by the experience.
From the inside out, Jesus is changing her into a beautiful woman, the one she was always meant to become. I see it. Like Peter, John, and James, I behold Christ’s radiance pressing outward, beyond Celeste’s flesh and her once questionable choices; and, her transfiguration is changing those around her. As I witness it, I confess that her redemption is transfiguring me, too. Sharing a cup of coffee with her means that I will walk away with more hope. A little of her star dust lands on my skin, and I know that the Spirit is changing me in that moment. Perhaps I’m a little too close to my own flesh to see it, but maybe...just maybe...I’m glowing, too. I would venture a guess that I’m surrounded by radiant people being made new by God’s divine love every day! May we have eyes to see even the smallest of sparks, and let’s not worry if our transfigurations are slow-glowing.
1 Luke 9:29
2 Mark 9:2 and Matt 17:2 3 2 Cor 13:5
Grace & Gratitude
Mary Lee Embry is in rehab following her recent hospitalization.
A dear friend we’ve been praying for, Keri Solomon, received lab work indicating there are currently no signs of cancer, leaving her in full remission after a Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer diagnosis last year.
