Views from The Ridge 1.3.23
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
It’s always difficult to start down a new path, especially when you don’t know exactly where it’s leading. In our new series, Riley will take us through the story of the Israelites journeying to the promised land and invite us to consider how God works through times of transition and uncertainty.
This week…
Wednesday, January 4, 7:30-9pm: Youth group hosted by the Stirmans (232 Harmon Dr. )
Sunday, January 8:
9:15am— Roots Children’s Class and Life Groups
10:30am— Worship in the Sanctuary (children remain in worship)
Sermon: “The New Way”
Text: Exodus 14:1-31
4:30pm— Supper Church
Upcoming…
Tuesday, January 10, 6:30pm: Life Group in the Fellowship Hall
Sunday, January 15: Kids’ Worship resumes
“Over the Line”
Riley Stirman
In Acts 10 and 11, we read the story of God coming to Peter in a vision and instructing him to kill and eat every sort of animal, including those deemed unclean. Peter is hesitant, because he has never allowed himself to eat anything unclean, but God reprimands him and instructs him not to call impure what God has purified. Upon waking, he realizes that this vision was in reference to the prevailing Jewish attitudes toward non-Jewish people.
Peter did what we all do. He drew neat little lines around himself to try and determine what was good and what was bad. Sometimes this is an easy exercise. Murder is bad. Not murdering is good. And sometimes those lines get a little more complicated and fuzzy. But we all draw them, whether consciously or not.
Part of the reason we do that, I think, is because we want to know that we’re on safe ground when it comes to God. God is good, and I want God to be with me, so I should be sure that I find myself on the good side of the line more often than the bad side of the line.
The problem comes when the lines are drawn not between holiness and evil but between me and the people God has called me to love. In trying to draw lines between good and bad, Peter created a boundary that would effectively keep him from ever interacting with ninety percent of the people in the Roman empire.
Let’s admit it, we take this exercise too far. We make judgments about the people who are in and the people who are out. We decide not to interact with someone because they would be a bad influence or because they scare me or because they think and speak and act and vote differently than I do. We decide that they - not their choices or beliefs - are bad or good.
God isn’t a fan of us creating these arbitrary barriers. In Galatians 3, Paul says that in Christ Jesus, every social distinction we could possibly make has evaporated into nothing: there is no longer any Jew or gentile, slave or free, man or woman. There are the people for whom Christ died.
This week, I invite you to look for where you’ve drawn lines. Who are the people you’ve written off or chosen not to interact with? Who do you think you’ve got all figured out? Who drives you up a wall? Try following Peter’s example and stepping across the lines. You may be surprised to learn that God is over there too.
Daily Bible Readings
Monday: Genesis 12:1-3, 7
Tuesday: Exodus 1:6-10
Wednesday: Exodus 3:7-8
Thursday: Exodus 3:11-12
Friday: Exodus 3:13-14
Saturday: Exodus 4:29-31
2023 Church Budget
The 2023 church budget is posted in the Fellowship Hall. Copies of the budget are available in the church office. The budget will be presented to the congregation for approval and voted on Sunday, January 8, 2023 at 10:30 AM. If you have any questions, please contact one of the elders.
Praises & Prayers
Kenneth Emrie is home and doing very well following triple bypass surgery.
Ellen Kiser, Geraldine Kiser’s daughter, is scheduled for a biopsy on January 12th.
God, we gather in gratitude, thankful for the ways you seek to revive us! Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts work together to praise you in this hour. Grant your Spirit to move our hearts and inspire each of us to share your steadfast love with all whom we encounter. Help us to join in giving only what is good, not only today, but every day. Amen
