Views from The Ridge 01.24.2024
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
This Week
Sunday, January 28
9:15am Life Groups, children’s Roots gathering, teen gathering (see website for more info)
10:30am Worship in the Sanctuary (Blessed - Matthew 5:1-12)
4:30pm Chapel worship
6-7pm Parent Group: Every Season Sacred
6-7pm Youth group gathering
Wednesday, January 31 Women’s Wednesday Fellowship
Upcoming…
Sunday, February 4
4:30pm Supper Church
6pm Parent group & youth group
Wednesday, February 14 Ash Wednesday Service
Worth A Try
-Riley Stirman, Preaching Minister at Sunset Ridge Church
"Kingdom obedience is kingdom abundance. They are not two separate things." - Dallas Willard
Which of us doesn't want the most fulfilling life possible? Is there anyone who actually wants a life marked not by joy and peace and authenticity but cynicism, anxiety, and monotony? Our lives seem specially designed to produce people who merely scrape by, running on fumes, exhausted and exasperated.
Out of the noise and clutter of the frantic pace of our lives, a voice calls to us, saying: "Follow me. I want to show you how to live."
Most people think about discipleship in terms of addition: if I can just add a little more spirituality to my schedule, then I'll be on the right track. I'll work in a set of new habits that I can squeeze in around the busy parts of my day. If I'm too busy for lunch, I can just call that fasting and then it's for Jesus!
I want to invite you to consider that Jesus is not on the fringes, waiting for you to shoehorn him into the parts of your life that you call "unspiritual." Perhaps Jesus is at the placid, tranquil center of your life, just waiting for your attention. Amidst the noise of incessant entertainment, endless scrolling, and fabricated outrage, there lies the steady voice of your creator, ceaselessly whispering a message of love to you.
In this way, I think discipleship is primarily about subtraction. Saying yes to Jesus means saying no to about a thousand other things. We make a conscious decision not to try to add Jesus into our lives but to remove the junk that prevents us from seeing that he's already there! Saying yes to Jesus means fighting against the incessant distractions that cloud our attention spans. It means resisting the urge to associate our worth with our productivity. It means making a choice to create margin in our schedules.
As we pursue discipleship, as we walk the Jesus way, we enter a new kind of reality. One that is peaceful, unhurried, and attuned to the present. A reality where silence is not empty but full - saturated with the abundant presence of our God who is love.
Jesus knows who we are. He knows what we need. And more importantly, he knows that the lives we've created for ourselves aren't as fulfilling as they could be. He's calling us to try it his way, to live in obedience to his way. Obedience is not our way of earning a place into the kingdom. Obedience is the way we experience the kingdom in all its abundance. And doesn't that make it worth a try?
Around Our Community
Each week, our parents and kids enjoy a meal together before the evening gatherings. We are so grateful for Patti Jennings and Joann Thompson for helping to provide that meal once a month. They care for our young families so well!
From Our Leaders
Nominee Update from the Sunset Ridge Foundation
Thank you, church, for your support of the Sunset Ridge Church of Christ Foundation. As members of the congregation, you are all members of the Foundation and your support allows us, the Board of Directors, to accomplish our mission to benefit and carry out religious, charitable, or educational purposes for our church and community. As a Board, we commend the service of our previous Board Members Mike Nyman, Randy Rutland, and Betty Awbrey, whose terms ended in December, for their support of our mission through the church's vision team process, COVID, and other changes to our congregation. We are excited to nominate three new members to the Board who represent our congregation's continued growth toward community engagement: Scott Skordahl, Elaine Novotny, and Annelise Campbell. These new members will continue the work of the Foundation toward a more community-focused benevolent ministry in our church.
Please provide comments, praise, or questions to any of the current Board Members by Wednesday, February 21, before our Congregational Election on February 25th for inclusion in the nomination process. The current Board of Directors are Clay Thompson, Nathan Lowry, Kelly Alba, Ashley Lockridge, Kim Gilbert, Melissa Branch, and Riley Stirman.
I also encourage members to begin thinking about nonprofits you may be active in that would help meet the mission of our Foundation. We will be looking to use approximately $50K on new projects, but more funding may be available as we are able.
Thank you all and may God grant you Peace.
Clay Thompson, President
Praises & Prayers
Please continue to pray for Jess Lowry as she undergoes ongoing testing related to health issues.
A Prayer for this ordinary day
Adapted from The Lives We Actually Have by Kate Bowler
Lord, here I am.
How strange it is,
That some days feel like hurricanes
And others like glassy seas
And others like nothing much at all.
Today is a cosmic shrug.
I might not need you.
I might not think of you at all.
Lord, let me notice you.
Show up on the small necessities
And everyday graces.
God, be bread.
Be water.
Be laundry.
Be the reason I feel loved.
Calm my mind,
Lift my spirit,
Make this dumb, ordinary day
My prayer of thanks.
Amen
