Views from The Ridge 01.31.2024

Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.

This Week

Sunday, February 4

9:15am Life Groups, children’s Roots gathering, teen gathering (see website for more info)

10:30am Worship in the Sanctuary (A Little Goes A Long Way - Matthew 5:13-16)
4:30pm Supper Church
6-7pm Parent Group: Every Season Sacred
6-7pm Youth group gathering

Upcoming…

Sunday, February 11

10:30am Worship in the Sanctuary
No afternoon gatherings. Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Wednesday, February 14 Ash Wednesday Service

Introducing: Men’s Group

Mark your calendars for our first regular men’s meeting. In the spirit of parallelism, we decided to be the Monthly Men’s Assembly (MMA) to match the Women’s Wednesday Fellowship (WWF). Beginning February 7th at 12 PM in the fellowship hall, we will be meeting for lunch on the first Wednesday of each month. This will be a time of connection, fellowship, and prayer for one another. Bring your own lunch and spread the word to the men in our community.

#BLESSED

Our culture has a weird relationship with the word "blessed." Instagram tells me there are 151 MILLION posts that include #blessed in the caption. Just for fun, I went to Twitter (I'm sorry, it'll always be Twitter to me) and found some recent posts that included #blessed. Here's a small selection.

"Thank you for all the birthday wishes #blessed"
"I've decided to accept an offer to play at Michigan State University #blessed"
"Taylor Swift is going to the Super Bowl! #blessed"
"Thank you for the 8,000 followers. #blessed"
"Just had my first toaster strudel in a quarter of a century #blessed"
"I asked God for a girlfriend but instead I got a Dr. Pepper #blessed"

I promise I didn't make up that last one.

We have a pretty one-dimensional view of blessing. We use the word to express gratitude for something good that has come our way, whether that be another year of life, an amazing opportunity, or a delicious soft drink. We say that we are blessed when our lives are full of stuff. And we use it to signal that that stuff can only be attributed to someone beyond ourselves, to the God who has chosen to bless us with it.

The beginning of the Sermon on the Mount tells a bit of a different story. It's full of God's blessings, but they aren’t the kinds of things you'd want to put in an Instagram photo. Instead Jesus takes us through a cast of pretty unremarkable characters to talk about what blessing really means in his kingdom.

Jesus says I have a word for you who are weak and insignificant. I have a word for you who are suffering. I have a word for you who have chosen the way of meekness, kindness, gentleness, and mercy. I have a word for you who are persecuted and bullied and abused.

You. Are. Blessed.

I know it doesn't feel like it, but in my kingdom, I'm turning everything upside down. It's not about what you have. It's not about what you can take. And it's not about what you could hope to earn. In my Kingdom, you will be seen. You will be fully loved. And you need to know that the blessings of God rest on you even now. You are nearer to the heart of God than you could have ever dared hope. And he will hold you in the strength of his blessing.

We need to reconsider our use of the word blessed. If nothing else, we need to allow for the possibility that people who have absolutely nothing are still blessed if for no other reason than God has a special concern for them. We need to remember that it's not the stuff that's the blessing. It's God's continued presence among us, his message of love that he brings, and the plan that he is enacting for his creation.

And we need to remember that God reveals his heart to us over and over again in scripture. He shows us time and again his special concern for those who are at the margins, who are at the bottom of the ladder, who are most desperate for a word of blessing. He sees the people we have chosen to ignore. And he lifts up the people we have chosen to hold down.

When all is said and done, God is to be praised for his blessings. I only hope we can work on expanding our definition of the word.

From Our Church Sign

It is never too late to be what you might have been. - George Eliot

Praises & Prayers

Ken Westmoreland will undergo treatment for a recurrence of prostate cancer.

Make me a peacemaker

Adapted from Have A Beautiful, Terrible Day by Kate Bowler

You sent the Holy Spirit.
You sent a dove.
You commanded swords to be beaten
into everyday tools.

You sent a baby.
You sent a fisherman.
You send a son to lay his own body down.

We are fools, holy fools.
There must be some
who see lions sheathing
their moistened teeth
and shepherds sent out for lonely lambs.
We cry out, “Save us!” to a God who listens.

Someday. You will bend all evil toward love
and melt every bullet into cogs
that turn wheels of justice.

But until then, Lord, put my body
between the children,
between the imprisoned,
between the widowed,
between the innocents (or not)
and their oppressors,
you made us swear we’d shield
before your kingdom comes.

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