Views from The Ridge 1.31.23
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
This week…
Wednesday, February 1, 7pm: Youth Family Dinner in the Fellowship Hall
All Youth Group families are invited to attend
Childcare is available for young children
Sunday, February 5:
9:15am— Roots Children’s Class and Life Groups (see hall signs for current offerings and meeting locations)
10:30am— Worship in the Sanctuary
Sermon: “Hic Sunt Dracones”
Text: Numbers 13:1-3, 17-33 & 14:1-9
4:30pm— Supper Church
Upcoming…
Saturday, February 11, 9:30: Storytime on the Lawn & Coffee Trailer Soft Launch (read more details below)
Sunday, February 12, Noon: Waffles & Worship on the Lawn
“Failing Successfully”
Riley Stirman
We really need to fail better as a church, don't you think?
Or at least, we need to do a better job of remembering our failures and learning from them.
Our strange story from Sunday in Numbers 11 concludes with a mass plague where an unknown number of people died because of their complaints against God. And they named that place Kibroth Hattaavah, which translates into a pretty decent title for a Zombie movie: "The Graves of Craving."
It's fascinating to me that they memorialized this place. It seems like something awkward and uncomfortable in a family's past that most would sooner forget than enshrine with a name and the Hebrew equivalent of those brown highway signs that say "Historical Marker." It's not the first time this has happened, either. Just before this story, the Lord burns up the edges of the camp due to the people complaining, and they called it Taberah, which is related to the verb for burning. And in Exodus 17, when the people complain (are you seeing a common theme?) about water, they call the place Massah (from the word for "testing") and Meribah ("quarrel, strife").
All along their circuitous route to the promised land, the Israelites leave behind a string of monuments to their own failure. This may strike us as odd. We tend to be averse to reflecting on failure like this. We try to highlight our successes as much as possible.
But this remembrance had a purpose. In Deuteronomy 6 and 9, Moses rehashes these stories in order to call the people higher. He says "I want you to remember all the ways we got it wrong so that next time you can do it right." The people may have failed to trust in God, but every failure reminds us of how many times that God was still faithful. Even in their weakness, stubbornness, and fear, God pulled his people through.
Can you imagine if we did something like this? What if we walked through our church and hung placards commemorating our failure? What if we looked back through our annals and named each season in the life of the church after a specific way that we came up short when it came to trusting God?
"Oh yes, that was the year of the 'high budget, no benevolence.' And two years later of course we had the 'inability to discuss race and racism,' but that was nothing compared to 'loving our building more than our neighbors.'"
There's no use sugarcoating it: we're going to get it wrong, time and time again. Yet God will continue to be good. We have to remember these times so that we will learn to trust in the future.
Failure is never pretty, but it somehow reveals to us a God who hasn't failed us yet. So let's start failing better.
Daily Bible Readings
These passages supplement the upcoming Sunday sermon:
Monday: Matthew 6:25
Tuesday: Matthew 6:26
Wednesday: Matthew 6:27
Thursday: Matthew 6:31
Friday: Matthew 6:33
Saturday: Matthew 6:34
Something's Brewing...
We've got bittersweet news to share that the Rose Hip Coffee trailer will be changing hands. Our beloved friend, Katie Best-Richmond, has decided to focus fully on her new brick-and-mortar Rose Hip Market and is turning the trailer over to Charis to carry on its mission as the neighborhood coffee and gathering spot!
The trailer will get a new name but will be run by the same friendly faces you saw at Rose Hip - Alexis and Nancy. It will stay in the same location for now, eventually moving to the new neighborhood park across the street (currently pending final approval from the City of SA).
We are so PROUD of Katie and grateful for what she has created. She exemplifies the mission we began just over a year ago to work for the flourishing of one another and our neighborhood. She was able to create a beautiful business around her passions which grew more quickly than we all imagined.
This opportunity to take over the fully outfitted coffee trailer is a huge gift and we are honored that Katie has entrusted us with it. Coffee has always been a part of our vision for the future park to create a space for neighbors to connect, to offer job opportunities, and to support other local makers and entrepreneurs.
We plan to have a soft opening in mid February and a grand opening in early March. We can't wait to see you soon!
New Online Platform for Scheduling Volunteers & Giving
Be on the lookout! We have recently begun using a volunteer scheduling software called Elevanto (through Tithe.ly) that will help take the work of coordinating off of our staff. If you filled out the covenant survey in November, please be looking for an email this afternoon with login details to create your account. Your email may flag it as spam—so again, be on the lookout.
Once you log in, look at upcoming requests (we've started testing scheduling for February, so you might already be on the schedule!)
Accept or decline the requests.
Update your unavailability through the tab at the top.
Feel free to reach out if you have questions or would like help setting up your account!
If you do not receive an email, you might not be in our system as a current volunteer, so please email chelsea@sunsetridgechurch.org and let her know what areas you'd like to serve in. Thank you for helping us through this process!
Please note: The online giving portion of Tithe.ly will be operational very soon.
CAM Membership Council Volunteer Needed
We are seeking a volunteer to represent Sunset Ridge on the Christian Assistance Ministry (CAM) Membership Council. This representative serves as a liaison between CAM and our church and facilitates the sharing of information from CAM to the congregation. Representatives from sponsoring churches also meet quarterly with CAM staff. If you are interested, please let the church office know as soon as possible.
Ron Olson has served in this role for a number of years and has decided to retire from the role; we thank him for his dedicated service in this regard.
Randy Rutland, for the elders
Prayers & Praises
Kyle Fry’s sister, Kacie Fry, is scheduled for surgery on February 2.
We are very thankful for our children and teens who worked together to make nearly 250 Tacos for CAM this past Sunday morning. Tacos for CAM is an ongoing ministry of our community. To get involved, you may sign up in the Fellowship Hall or contact Maria Perry, who helps us coordinate this outreach ministry.
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
