Views from The Ridge 8.27.25
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
Worship
Sunday
9 AM, Chapel, Acapella
11 AM, Sanctuary, Instrumental
Luke 14:1, 7-14
We are going through the lectionary this summer.
Watch previous sermons here.
Discipleship
Sundays, 10:15 AM, Bible Class & Discipleship for All Ages
Studying Luke 14:1, 7-14
Fellowship Hall
Adult Bible Class: Open to all
BEMA Podcast Discussion group
Chapel Classroom, Discipleship Group
Room 220, Youth Group, 7th-12th grade
Roots: Children’s Discipleship through Godly Play
No class this week for 5th Sunday. Our children’s ministry will join the congregation for worship in the sanctuary. The nursery will remain open, and we will continue to offer a class to children in Pre-K and Kindergarten.
Room 102, PreK - Kindergarten
Tuesdays, 7 AM & 9 AM, Men’s Discipleship
Scott Heare’s Office, Limited spaces; Contact Scott to join a group.
Wednesday, Sept. 3rd 6 PM - 7:30 PM, High School Tableship & Study Group
Room 220, Contact Den to join this group, open to 9th-12th Grade
Connections
Finding Your Rhythm Of Formation
At Sunset Ridge, we believe life with God is nurtured through community. Each of us is invited into a rhythm we call 2+1—two places of formation in community (like worship, a Discipleship Group, Bible Study, or Youth Group) and one place of formation through service (like the welcome team, kids’ ministry, hospitality, safety, or missions).
When you step into these rhythms, you’re not just participating—you are being shaped into Christlikeness and helping form the very DNA of our church family. Together, through the gifts and callings of each person, we are becoming the community God has called us to be.
That’s why we’re inviting everyone to complete our Connection Survey: a chance to share how you’re finding your rhythm of formation and where you feel called to serve.
A Look at September
September 1st Offices and One Another Coffee closed in observance of Labor Day
September 7th 10 Commandments series + new classes begin
September 10th Teen Alpha & High School Girls’ Sermon Reflection Study begin
September 13th Second Saturday Farmers Market & Nuevos Vecinos Thrift Pop-Up
Daily, NYX Yoga & Fitness
Daily, One Another Coffee
Wednesdays, Open Studio, The Art Room
Wednesdays, Mission Compost Pick Up
Thursdays-Sundays, Scott’s Pizza
Saturdays, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market
Sundays, Worship at Sunset Ridge Church
Beyond Sunday
Mended Toward Wholeness
Jess Lowry, Executive Director & Pastoral Leader, Sunset Ridge Church & Sunset Ridge Collective
Monday night, these images came from Taylor—little pieces of paper carefully mended back together with rainbow and butterfly stickers by her three-year-old daughter. Because of our shared history, she knew they would be as meaningful to me as they were to her when she found them.
For Taylor, rainbows are a reminder of her firstborn son, Ellis, who was stillborn. For me, butterflies are a reminder of my firstborn daughter, Ava, who was also stillborn.
The sacred pictures, so tenderly pieced back together, became something even more beautiful than they were before—
a bit of toddler kintsugi.
Kintsugi is a form of Japanese art with a breathtaking process: broken pottery is mended with lacquer and dusted with gold, transforming what was once broken into something even more extraordinary. The steps look something like this:
Gather the broken pieces
Adhere them with glue
Paint the seams with gold
This practice is about embracing imperfection, honoring brokenness, and celebrating the beauty of resilience and transformation.
Kintsugi has become a central part of my faith journey. I am learning to let Jesus gather the shattered pieces of my life, heal them, and form them into something new. Often in prayer, I imagine Him carefully picking up each fragment and fitting it back together, one piece at a time. This image steadies me when I pray for marriages that are hurting, for bodies longing for healing, and for hearts in need of tender mending.
On Sunday, when Scott described the weight of trauma on our bodies and the image of the bent-over woman, I was reminded again of this art and this practice. There is profound freedom in being healed from the things that have kept us bound. I believe this is exactly what Jesus longs for each of us to experience—that we might allow Him to restore our brokenness and, in doing so, become something even more radiant.
Imperfect. Resilient. Whole.
May it be so.
Love, Jess
Prayers of the People
Please continue to keep Carol Gerhardt and her family in your prayers.
