Views from The Ridge 5.13.26
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
This Week’s Scripture: John 17:1-11
Watch previous sermons here.
Wednesdays
Join us Wednesday evenings for High School Formation Time from 6:00 - 7:30 PM in Room 220. Open to all students in grades 9 - 12, this weekly gathering includes food, fun, and meaningful group discussions as we grow together in faith and community. Contact Den to join the group. Please note that adult formation and community supper have concluded for the spring season.
Sundays
Worship
9 AM, Chapel, Acapella
11 AM, Sanctuary, Instrumental
10:15 AM, Bible Class & Discipleship for All Ages
Fellowship Hall
Between the Words: A gathering between our community’s two worship times where we unfold the facets of weekly Scripture together. Each week stands on its own; come as you’re able. Adults and teens welcome.
BEMA Podcast Discussion group
Room 220
BOYS 5th - 7th Grade, Formation Study w/ Bryan Wolfe
GIRLS 5th - 7th Grade, Formation Study w/ Den Slater
Roots: Children’s Discipleship through Godly Play
Bible Story Focus this Week: A Life of Strength, Dignity, and Rest
Key Verse: Proverbs 31:25-31
Room 102, PreK - Kindergarten
Room 122, 1st - 2nd Grade
Room 209, 3rd - 4th Grade
Sunday Setlists
What if worship started before Sunday morning? Listening to these songs during the week can help build familiarity and allow the words to begin forming our hearts before we sing them together.
This Week’s Setlist
All 2026 Songs
Community Connections
Anniversary Sunday
Seventy-seven years of faith, community, and grace—what a gift to pause and take that in. This Sunday, May 17, we celebrate Sunset Ridge Church's 77th Anniversary, grateful for every season that has brought us to this moment. Come worship with us at the 11 AM service, then head outside to Charis Park for paletas—a sweet, unhurried moment to soak in God's faithfulness and enjoy the company of our church family. We hope to see you there!
Upcoming Community Events
Every Saturday, 9 AM - 1 PM, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, Charis Park
Sunday, May 17, Anniversary Sunday,Join us as we celebrate Sunset Ridge Church’s 77th Anniversary. Enjoy paletas in Charis Park following the 11 AM service.
Monday, May 25, Office Closed for Memorial Day
Saturday, May 30, 8 AM - 1 PM, One Another Coffee & Nuevos Vecinos Thrift Pop-up, Fellowship Hall
Sunday, May 31, 5th Sunday, Kids in 11AM Worship Service
July 7 - 10, 9 AM - 12 PM, VBS Kinder - 5th, “Growing with God and Caring for Creation”
Beyond Sunday
Around the Table, Across the World
Den Slater, Pastor of Belonging & Formation, Sunset Ridge Church
I was alone this Mother’s Day, and I was grateful. Why? Because my son and husband—Colton and Todd—are currently in Japan enjoying their first trip outside the country. They keep in touch, and occasionally they send photos of a touristy landmark, but more often my guys send candid pictures of people and food. There are bowls of ramen from the back corner of a gas station. A vegetarian feast of Nepali food shared in Kobe. Neapolitan pizza delivered to their narrow little apartment tucked into an alley of Kyoto.
And the people photos are precious. Crowds at the train, locals at the market, and even a group of school children who approached Colton at a temple wanting to speak English with him. As I looked at that last photo, my eyes welled up, not because he was far away, but because I recognized something in him that also lives in me. He has inherited my wanderlust, my curiosity, and my desire to move beyond what is familiar in hopes of connecting with others. Even here at home, we both prefer wandering side streets, perusing ethnic markets, eating unfamiliar meals, and allowing life to unfold on its own terms. Food has become one of the ways our family understands connection. Across languages, cultures, and oceans, meals still invite people to sit together, listen, laugh, and learn from one another. We all remain connected around the table through stories, photographs, and shared delight.
Perhaps that is why this week’s passage from Proverbs 31 keeps pulling at me. As I reflect on the text, I linger on the Hebrew word chayil. Though often translated virtuous, the word carries a much fuller sense of courage, resilience, strength, and valor. It is not soft, passive language. It describes a person whose life is shaped by endurance and attentiveness. The woman of Proverbs 31 is said to nourish her household, even feeding her family by “bringing her food from afar.” There is something expansive in that image. Her world is not small. She reaches beyond herself to nourish others well. Her strength is formative and cultivates something that endures in the people around her.
I’m honored that some of who I am is also a part of who my son is becoming. Listening to Colton’s new stories, I have noticed that he moves beyond the visual and describes the pungent smells of backstreet restaurants and the strange quiet of the train, where passengers remain nearly silent out of respect for one another. From across the world, he is trying to share his experiences through the fullness of his senses. That detail shows in the images, too, where I see him wandering along narrow Japanese streets, sharing meals with strangers, and speaking with school children. It makes me proud to be his mom.
So, Mother’s Day was extra special this year. Still, I wish we would broaden the name to Caregivers’ Day because through love and care, we all quietly shape one another. The meals we share, the tables we gather around, and the ways we practice hospitality and attentiveness to the world become part of who we are as people of faith. The woman of Proverbs 31 reflects a deep courage, the kind that shows up in openness, generosity, and connection; that’s for all of us. Perhaps wisdom itself is found in learning how to nourish one another well, not only through food, but through presence and the willingness to step alongside people to experience other worlds—even the worlds right in our own neighborhoods.
Prayers of the People
Glennie Scalercio is hospitalized at NE Baptist. No visitors at this time, please, but cards would be welcome. Please mail them to her home address (available in the church office).
