Views from The Ridge 9.10.25
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
Worship
Sunday
9 AM, Chapel, Acapella
11 AM, Sanctuary, Instrumental
Exodus 20:1-6
We are going through the Ten Commandments this fall.
Watch previous sermons here.
Discipleship
Sundays, 10:15 AM, Bible Class & Discipleship for All Ages
Studying Exodus 20:1-6
Fellowship Hall
Adult Bible Class: Open to all
BEMA Podcast Discussion group
Chapel Classroom, Discipleship Group
Chapel Classroom, Love in Chaos Bible Study
Room 220, Youth Group, 7th-12th grade
Roots: Children’s Discipleship through Godly Play
Bible Story Focus this Week: Jacob
Key Verse: Genesis 33:11
Room 102, PreK - Kindergarten
Room 122, 1st - 2nd Grade
Room 203, 3rd - 4th Grade
Sundays 10:15-10:45, Room 220, BOYS 5th - 7th Grade, Formation Study w/ Bryan Wolfe
Sundays 10:15-10:45, Room 220,GIRLS 5th - 7th Grade, Formation Study w/ Den Slater
Tuesdays, 7 AM & 9 AM, Men’s Discipleship
Scott Heare’s Office, Limited spaces; Contact Scott to join a group.
Wednesdays, 6 PM - 8 PM, Teen Alpha Course
Room 220, Contact Den to join this group, open to 9th-12th Grade
Wednesdays, 5:15 - 5:45 PM, High School Girls’ Sermon Study Group
Room 220, Contact Den to join this group, open to 9th-12th Grade
Connections
Join us this Saturday from 9 AM - 1 PM for One Another Coffee’s second Thrift Pop-Up benefiting Nuevos Vecinos. Gently-used children’s, women’s, and men’s clothing will be available for purchase with prices ranging from $2 - $7.
The first pop-up in July helped raise over $500, and 100% of thrift purchases will be donated directly to the nonprofit in their mission to support new immigrant neighbors putting down roots in San Antonio.
Upcoming Events
Daily, NYX Yoga & Fitness
Every Wednesday, 11 AM - 1:30 PM, Open Studio Painting
Wednesday, September 10th Teen Alpha & High School Girls’ Sermon Reflection Study begin
Saturday, September 13th, 9 AM - 1 PM Second Saturday Farmers Market & Nuevos Vecinos Thrift Pop-Up
Every Sunday, Worship at 9 AM and 11 AM
Beyond Sunday
Communing With Sunflowers
Taylor Bates, Deputy Director, Sunset Ridge Church & Collective
Last week I had the pleasure of communing with sunflowers in the English countryside on a retreat at a farm in Worcester. Since I was a teenager, I’ve often found that I connect with God most closely in creation—when the noise of daily life quiets enough for me to hear the symphony of sounds the natural world sings.
During my annual retreat, I picked rain-washed plums and apples, watched sheep graze from sunrise to sunset, and walked shaded paths perfumed by fruit hanging on the vine. But the field of sunflowers I visited nearly every day drew me in the most.
Rounding the path’s bend, the field burst into yellow. Each flower stood tall, “faces” turned toward the sun, basking in light. I lingered among them—some young, still full of petals; others older, bent heavy with the weight of their season. In their variety I saw reflections of myself, of humanity, even of the Divine.
I began to see the sun’s light as generous beyond measure. If the sun embodies generosity, then the sunflower embodies joyful receiving. As we proclaim each Sunday in worship: “God has always met, and will always meet all my needs. I give freely, and receive joyfully.”
This past Sunday Pastor Scott began our new series on the Ten Commandments—what he invited us to consider instead as the Ten Proclamations. Far from harsh decrees, they are gentle declarations of what a life of freedom in God’s love looks like. Just as the sunflower turns toward the sun, we are invited to turn toward God, receiving the light and love that make us truly free.
The Israelites didn’t know how to live free after generations of slavery. But God’s proclamations called them into rhythms of life that opened their hearts and minds to freedom.
The sun gives freely. The sunflowers receive joyfully. May this also be true of us.
Grace & Gratitude
Praises
Congratulations to Jan & Larry Bob Moore on the marriage of their son, John, to Bri Martinson on September 2nd in Iowa.
Prayers of the People
Nathan Carter, brother of Jan Moore, is in inpatient rehab recovering from a broken hip and broken elbow.
Services for Carol Gerhardt are as follows:
Saturday, September 20th at 10:00 AM
Lux Funeral Home (1254 N Business IH Hwy 35, New Braunfels, TX 78130)
Following the service, there will be a come-and-go reception from 12 PM - 3 PM at the home of Bob’s nephew, Michael & Chelsea Dishinger (362 Vuelo St., New Braunfels, TX 78132).
