Views from The Ridge 4.22.26
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 10:22 - 30
Watch previous sermons here.
Wednesdays
You’re invited to Wednesday Nights at Sunset Ridge Church. Join us for a community supper at 6:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall, followed by programming for children and high school students and a communal Scripture study for adults beginning at 6:30 PM. We wrap up by 8:00 PM. Come be part of our midweek rhythm. Contact Den with questions. April 29th will be our last community supper for spring.
Sundays
Worship
9 AM, Chapel, Acapella
11 AM, Sanctuary, Instrumental
10:15 AM, Bible Class & Discipleship for All Ages
Chapel Classroom
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.
Chapel
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: The Shepherd Who Holds Us
Key Verse: John 10:22-30
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
Foundation Grant Applications FINAL REMINDER—Deadline April 30th
The Foundation funds Missions, Education, and Benevolence Ministries beyond regular church operations. Applications are due by Thursday, April 30, 2026. Pick up a 2026 application in the church office.
Upcoming Community Events
Every Saturday, 9 AM - 1 PM, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, Charis Park
Friday, April 24, Office closed for Battle of Flowers
Saturday, April 25, 9 AM - 1 PM, City Nature Challenge, Charis Park
Sunday, April 26, 11 AM Service, Senior Recognition Sunday
Saturday, May 9, 8 AM - 1 PM, One Another Coffee Birthday Celebration
Saturday, May 30, 8 AM - 1 PM, One Another Coffee & Nuevos Vecinos Thrift Pop-up, Fellowship Hall
Beyond Sunday
Encountering God
Taylor Bates, Deputy Director, Sunset Ridge Church & Collective
Have you ever had a moment—or even a season—when you felt God’s presence so tangibly it gave you goosebumps? At other times, it can be harder to feel God’s presence, and you might even wonder: Have I ever really experienced it?
This past Sunday in worship, Scott spoke about what spiritual formation teacher John Coe calls consolation—those moments of a felt sense of divine connection. Moments when you glimpse love permeating everything, when you tangibly sense the Holy Spirit, when Christ feels especially near. But consolation is not only about emotional highs or dramatic experiences. It is also a movement toward God—an increase in trust, love, and connection with the divine Creator.
While we may long for these experiences, they are often mysteriously fleeting. Therefore, upholding them as the goal of our spiritual life can become problematic.
I experienced my first season of consolation growing up here at Sunset Ridge as a teenager in the early 2000s. Our youth group took Wilderness Treks to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado with our beloved youth minister, John Harp. I went for the first time as a sophomore—a long-awaited rite of passage.
We prepared by training on the bleachers at the Alamo Heights football stadium with heavy packs. Once on the mountain, I felt strong and energized. I loved the simplicity of carrying only what I needed and being immersed in creation alongside friends.
One of the most meaningful parts of the trip was a three-hour solo time. Each of us was sent out alone with a whistle and a journal to spend time with God in creation. I was intimidated—I had never been alone in such a remote place at 16. As my three-year-old daughter recently reminded me (something learned at Sprouts School), you have to be scared before you can be brave.
In what first felt like isolation, I encountered God in a profound way—surrounded by the beauty of creation on Mount Elbert, a 14,000-foot peak. There was a deep awareness that I was not alone.
I came back from that trip changed and asked to be baptized here at Sunset Ridge by John. It was a defining moment of consolation in my life—an experience that drew my heart toward God with clarity and trust.
The next year, I couldn’t wait to go back. I even wanted to be a group leader. I expected the experience to be similar—maybe even better. But about halfway up the mountain, I began to feel terrible. It turned out to be altitude sickness. Despite all the preparation, my body responded differently this time.
The group rallied around me. They redistributed the weight of my pack, made sure I stayed hydrated, and walked with me—this time at the end of the line—with one person always just behind, making sure I was okay. At first, I felt embarrassed, even humiliated.
But in time, I began to recognize something unexpected.
The first year, consolation came through awe and wonder. The second year, consolation came through care.
Not as exhilaration, but through the love of others—through someone offering a jacket at the cold summit at sunrise, through a steady hand on my shoulder when I had to stop, through small acts of tenderness. What I had hoped to experience again in the same way appeared instead in a different form—still drawing me toward God, but through the care of others.
Over time, I’ve had several seasons of God’s tangible presence—each one distinct, often unexpected. And I’m learning to trust that in seasons when God’s presence feels less obvious, God is no less present.
Maybe in those moments, the invitation is to look around and ask, Who can I serve? To recognize the imago Dei—the image of God—in one another. To become, in some small way, a bearer of consolation for someone else.
A life of faith includes trusting that when consolation feels absent, God is not. This is especially true in worship, where it can be easy to expect a certain kind of feeling. But worship isn’t about chasing goosebumps every week. It’s about showing up—together—in a steady rhythm and practice. It’s about praising God not only for what is felt, but for what is seen: God at work in one another and in the world around us—even in quiet and small ways.
Grace & Gratitude
Congratulations to Noelle & Scott Adams on the birth of their son, Charles (Charlie) Scott.
