Views from The Ridge 10.11.23
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
This Week
Saturday, October 14, 11am-1pm Family Eclipse Party, hosted by Sprouts Day School
Sunday, October 15
9:15am Life Groups, children’s Roots gathering, no teen gathering (see website for more info)
10:30am Worship in the CHAPEL
(Our Relationships In Christ - Philemon)
Sabbath Sunday - No chapel worship or evening gatherings
Upcoming…
Tuesday, October 17 Good Acres Roundtable, hosted by Sunset Ridge Collective
Wednesday, October 18, 6:30pm Sunset Worship
A Poem For Your Week
-Riley Stirman
Two Sundays ago, I preached on the simple prayer of "Wow," on recapturing a sense of wonder and awe that comes from experiencing the greatness of God.
This Sunday, I preached on the word of identity that this God speaks over us. The one, unending message that God gives us is one of love. I think these are pretty intimately connected. Awe, love, wonder, identity. Accordingly, I thought this poem by Chelan Harkin fits remarkably well with our discussions. My thanks to Randy Rutland for introducing it to me.
"Say Wow" - Chelan Harkin
Each day before our surroundings
become flat with familiarity
and the shapes of our lives click into place,
dimensionless and average as Tetris cubes,
before hunger knocks from our bellies
like a cantankerous old man
and the duties of the day stack up like dishes
and the architecture of our basic needs
commissions all thought
to construct the 4-door sedan of safety,
before gravity clings to our skin
like a cumbersome parasite
and the colored dust of dreams
sweeps itself obscure in the vacuum of reason,
each morning before we wrestle the world
and our hearts into the shape of our brains,
look around and say, “Wow!”
Feed yourself fire.
Scoop up the day entire
like a planet-sized bouquet of marvel
sent by the Universe directly into your arms
and say, “Wow!”
Break yourself down
into the basic components of primitive awe
and let the crescendo of each moment
carbonate every capillary
and say, “Wow!”
Yes, before our poems become calloused
with revision
let them shriek off the page of spontaneity
and before our metaphors get too regular,
let the sun stay
a conflagration of homing pigeons
that fights through fire
each day to find us.
Men’s Retreat
Mark your calendars! On Saturday, November 18th, all men in our community are invited to join us for a one-day retreat from 11 AM to 8 PM. Dick Ihfe has generously offered to host us out at his house. We’ll use this day to get to know each other better, to listen to the Spirit and to each other, and to ponder the question “Who am I?” The cost is $30 per person to help offset the cost of food, but please don’t let cost be an obstacle to joining - we’ll be happy to work something out with you. To RSVP or if you have any further questions, contact Riley Stirman at riley@sunset-ridge.org
Around Our Community
This past Saturday, we welcomed fall with our monthly storytime. Caregivers and kids from our community joined us for story, play, and special crafts for adults and kids. We are so excited for next month!
From Our Leaders
This week’s update comes from Glenna Miranda, our Trustee over Human Resources.
Glenna has been giving a large amount of her time and energy into researching Benefits programs and is working through the process of finding an improved program for our Staff. She is working with the staff to identify the most important elements of the plans and also focused on keeping costs as low as possible for our staff and our church, while providing a fair, competitive benefits package.
Praises & Prayers
Cyndi & Terry Whitson request prayers as their son, Michael, is deployed.
Patrick Howard’s sister, Gera Foster, is recovering from injuries sustained in a fall.
