Views from The Ridge 5.14.25
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
Worship
Sunday, May 18th,
9 AM, Chapel, Acapella
11 AM, Sanctuary, Instrumental
“Peace in the Storm”
Main Passage: Mark 4:35–41
Watch previous sermons here.
Discipleship
Sundays, 10:15 AM, Bible Class & Discipleship for All Ages
Studying Mark 4:35–41
Fellowship Hall
Adult Bible Class: Open to all
BEMA Podcast Discussion group
Chapel Classroom, Women’s Discipleship Group
Room 218, Youth Group, 7th-12th grade
Roots: Children’s Discipleship through Godly Play
Bible Story Focus this Week: John 21:1-23
Key Verse: John 21:17
Room 102, PreK - Kindergarten
Room 122, 1st - 2nd Grade
Room 203, 3rd - 6th Grade
Tuesdays
Scott Heare’s Office
Limited spaces, contact Scott to join a group
7 AM Men’s Discipleship Group
8:30 AM Men’s Discipleship Group
Wednesdays
Chapel Classroom
Contact Den to join this group
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM High School (9th-12th Grade) Fellowship & Discipleship Group
Connections
This Week:
Friday, May 16th, 8:30 AM Creative Mornings SAT, Free Registration Here
Friday, May 16th, 7:30 PM Movie Night in Charis Park, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Upcoming Events:
May 24th, One Another Coffee Birthday Celebration
May 31st, Beginner Watercolor Wellness for Adults, Exploring Metallics Limited Spaces, register today!
Every Wednesday, 11:00 AM - 1:30 PM, Open Studio Painting
Every Saturday in Charis Park, 9 AM - 1 PM, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market
Every Sunday, 9 AM and 11 AM, Worship
Beyond Sunday
Let go…
Jess Lowry, Executive Director & Pastoral Leader, Sunset Ridge Church & Sunset Ridge Collective
During the pandemic our family ministry sent butterfly kits to each family. Caterpillars that would be cared for and nurtured through their transformation to butterflies. Shiloh was three years old with her ringlet curls coaxing her shy little butterflies from the only habitat they had known.
“You’ll do this!” “It’s alright” “You can do this” she exclaimed gently, in an encouraging tone that she no doubt had heard from all around her as she herself learned to do new things.
As I watched the video of this moment again I noticed that under her words the sentiment was–trust me, you’ll be ok.
As I have navigated through my own journey of rest, I have come to believe that rest and trust are bound together, that we cannot rest without trust and that from the place of rest we learn to trust.
Resting says that we understand that God is God and we are not. It says that we understand that our human capacity is limited and God’s is unlimited. All work that comes from resting in God is truly miracle work.
When I operate as if everything depends on me I am implicitly claiming that I do not trust God. When I work without stopping, refuse to be still, refuse to listen to the voice of peace within me, refuse to practice Sabbath I am explicitly claiming that the world cannot go on without me forcing my way in it.
We have this invitation that sits before us, that has always been present from the beginning, to stop, to trust, to rest. I believe we find ourselves like those baby butterflies–afraid to let go, after coming so far…what if…?
May this serve as a reminder to you as it has been to me, it’s alright, you can do this…you can let go.
I invite you to join me in practicing stillness this week. Through 15 minutes of silence, through a whole day of Sabbath, through a 5 minute time of breathing…whatever it looks like for you.
Remember–there is enough time in any given day to do all that God is asking you to do.
May we have the courage to open our hands to whatever that is.
Love-Jess
Grace & Gratitude
Prayers of the People
Janie Corona, Theresa Whigham’s sister, is now home.
Praise of Thanksgiving
We honor and celebrate how God has moved in our church community at Sunset Ridge for 76 years. This Sunday we will celebrate together through our worship and through fellowship together at our luncheon. Let us pray prayers of thanksgiving for all of the faithful provision we have witnessed for our long history and prayers of hope for what is next.
