Views from The Ridge 09.25.2024
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
This Week
Thursday, September 26 De Colores Opening Reception (RSVP) Entrance through the main office, exhibit in Coworking.
Sunday, September 29
9am Worship in the Sanctuary (Scott Heare preaching: Mark 9:38-50)
10:15am Classes for all ages
Adult classes in the Fellowship Hall: Bible Class; BEMA podcast discussion
Women’s “Listening To Scripture”: Chapel Classroom
Youth Group
Roots & Roots 456: PreK-3rd grade in Roots Room; Grades 4-6 in Rm 104
11am Worship in the Chapel (Scott Heare preaching: Mark 9:38-50)
Upcoming
Saturday, October 5 10:00am – 12:00pm in Charis Park
All are invited to a Wedding Shower honoring Riley Mankins and Megan Troyer!
Registered at Crate & Barrel, Target, Amazon, and The Knot
Saturday, October 26 Charis Park Grand Opening 10:00am
Around the Community
If you are a Goodness Weekly subscriber, you got to read all about Sunset Ridge Collective’s upcoming photography exhibit, De Colores.
The works selected for this collection are not only beautiful, but signify friendship, intentional mindfulness, and the unexpected vibrancy that surrounds us all in San Antonio. We would love for you all to meet the photographers and see their works at our opening reception, tomorrow evening.
Love in Our Wake
Jess Lowry, Executive Director, Sunset Ridge Collective
If your church was gone, would anyone notice?
That was the title of an article that was passed around our leadership back in 2016. It was a compelling question.
We knew that each of us who called Sunset Ridge our church home would surely notice, and we wondered if that would be true of anyone outside our church walls. The answer to our wondering felt like a clear no.
As we began to engage with our Terrell Heights neighbors, the most common ways that people identified the church were either “oh that pretty building up on the hill” or “the church with the encouraging signs” (referring to the writings on the back of the church sign).
Last week the Terrell Heights Neighborhood Association held their annual meeting in our Fellowship Hall and nearly one hundred neighbors gathered. We were able to share the purpose behind not only Charis Park, but the kind of church we want to be in the neighborhood.
Today when you encounter a person and mention that you’re from Sunset Ridge, you will most likely hear the following:
Oh, that’s the church that built the beautiful park. I love the sounds of the church bells. I have visited there and everyone is so warm and welcoming. Che at the coffee trailer knows my order and my name, and even more commonly–it is the church home I have been praying for.
In Mark Elsdon’s book Gone for Good: Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition, contributor Eileen Lindner writes “A clear truth of the immediate and foreseeable church property crisis is that without intention, churches will not be gone for good purposes–they will just be gone.”
As I mentioned on Sunday, we have shifted a bit in recent years, but the center is always Jesus and welcoming who Jesus welcomes–which was every single one, most especially those that society considered to be of least importance.
I give thanks to God each day for God’s provision, for each of you, for the gift of this work, for the flourishing of our church. The question we asked nearly a decade ago has a clear answer today–if the love of Christ through Sunset Ridge Church of Christ was metallic and a magnet pulled it all up–this small corner of the world would notice.
Praise be to God.
And my sense is…God is just getting started.
This week, join me in leaving love in your wake; in the words of Bob Goff go out and spread kindness like confetti. May Jesus be witnessed through you by everyone you meet.
Love-Jess
Prayers & Praises
Dick Ihfe is now home after being hospitalized for a procedure.
