Views from The Ridge 3.4.26
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
This Week’s Scripture: Nehemiah 4:1-9
Wednesdays
You’re invited to Wednesday Nights at Sunset Ridge Church. Join us for a community supper at 6:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall, followed by programming for children and high school students and a communal Scripture study for adults beginning at 6:30 PM. We wrap up by 8:00 PM. Come be part of our midweek rhythm. Contact Den with questions.
(There will be no Wednesday night programming next week, March 11, due to Spring Break.)
Sundays
Remember to turn your clocks FORWARD this Saturday, March 7, so you arrive at church on time this Sunday.
Worship
9 AM, Chapel, Acapella
11 AM, Sanctuary, Instrumental
10:15 AM, Bible Class & Discipleship for All Ages
Fellowship Hall
Between the Words: A gathering between our community’s two worship times where we unfold the facets of weekly Scripture together. Join us from 10:15 - 10:45 each Sunday in the Fellowship Hall. Each week stands on its own; come as you’re able. Adults and teens welcome.
BEMA Podcast Discussion group
Room 220
BOYS 5th - 7th Grade, Formation Study w/ Bryan Wolfe
GIRLS 5th - 7th Grade, Formation Study w/ Den Slater
Roots: Children’s Discipleship through Godly Play
Bible Story Focus this Week: The Baptism and Testing of Jesus
Key Verses: Matthew 3:1-17; Mark 1:1-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:29-34
Room 102, PreK - Kindergarten
Room 122, 1st - 2nd Grade
Room 209, 3rd - 4th Grade
Community Connections
Sprouts Pasta Party Fundraiser This Month
The Sprouts Pasta Party Fundraiser is happening at the end of the month on our campus. This festive evening will include dinner and a silent auction, with proceeds benefiting the Sprouts School Scholarship Fund. You can support the event by attending the dinner or donating an item or service to the silent auction. It’s a meaningful way to invest in local families and help expand access to the Sprouts program.
Upcoming Community Events
Every Saturday, 9 AM - 1 PM, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, Charis Park
Saturday, March 14, 9 AM - 1 PM, Second Saturday Market, Charis Park
Saturday, March 21, 9 AM - 1 PM, Community Garden Work Day, Charis Park
Friday, March 27, 8 AM - 12 PM, Moral Injury in Combat Veterans Conference, Fellowship Hall
Saturday, March 28, 5:30 - 9 PM, Sprouts School Pasta Part Fundraiser, Fellowship Hall
Beyond Sunday
The Courage to Rebuild
Jess Lowry, Executive Director & Pastoral Leader, Sunset Ridge Church & Sunset Ridge Collective
On the day the leadership of Sunset Ridge was told we had no chance of survival and should sell the property, the room fell silent. There was no hope, only heartbreak. It felt as though the air had been taken out of the space. There was devastation, repentance, and prayer.
Not immediately, but sometime later came the courage and strength to stand up and try again, to seek a second opinion through wise counsel after a season of fervent prayer. And then, by God’s grace, came the resolve to keep going, holding onto the hope that God was calling us forward to rebuild. Not from the ground up, but upon the deep foundation that had already been laid, a foundation built through decades of faithfulness, wisdom, prayer, warmth, and deep love.
Our leadership and Vision Team spent months in careful inspection. Every facet of our campus, our structure, and our finances was examined and turned over. We walked the walls of our building and the paths of our grounds, asking God to show us what we needed to see and to reveal God’s intended purpose for our church in this new season.
A place of deep belonging, connection, and love.
A church that flings its doors wide open so that the love of Christ pours out from its walls and into the streets.
A park offered as an open-handed gift of love to the neighborhood.
A coffee truck where strangers become neighbors.
A school that welcomes the youngest among us and supports local families.
A place where people find home.
The journey of rebuilding has not been easy. There has been opposition, heartache, and loss. We have stumbled, questioned, and made mistakes. But what we have not done is let go of the hand of the God who calls us to rebuild. Stone by stone, we have trusted that God placed this work in our hearts and that God would provide what we needed to carry it forward.
And we are seeing it all around us.
Each story of a person whose faith is being renewed.
Each moment when a neighbor encounters a new friend and feels a little less alone.
Each baptism.
Each new discipleship group.
Each quiet act of goodness, connection, and kindness we witness.
These are the living stones God is placing among us.
As a church, we have long believed that both contemplation and action are necessary to live the fullness of the Christian life. We see this clearly in the story of Nehemiah, which we have been walking through together this Lenten season. Nehemiah prays. He listens to God. He quietly walks the broken walls to see what must be restored. Then he gathers the people, makes a plan, and begins the work of rebuilding.
Prayer and action. Listening and rebuilding. Trust and courage.
And then the cycle begins again.
May we have the courage to do the same.
May we weep and lament the broken places.
May we pray and listen for God’s guidance.
And then may we rise and rebuild, restoring our little corner of the world one stone at a time, as God continues building a living community among us.
Praises
Congratulations to Des Weatherford and his family on the birth of his grand-niece, Brynn Maleski, on March 1st.
Prayers of the People
A memorial service will be held for Barbara Edens on Saturday, March 21st at 1 PM in the Chapel, followed by a reception in the Fellowship Hall.
