Views from The Ridge 1.14.26
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
This Sunday’s Scripture: Exodus 15:20–21
Discipleship
Formation Groups
Sundays beginning January 18, we will offer an ongoing, weekly Scripture Study focused on the passage being preached each Sunday (10:15 - 10:45 AM in the Fellowship Hall alongside our other small group studies). Facilitators will vary by week, and participants are welcome to attend any week(s) that they like. Den Slater will lead this week’s study on Exodus 15:20–21, the song of Miriam—a passage centered on praise, memory, and shared celebration of God’s faithfulness. This study is open to adults and teens and is designed to help us listen to Scripture together as a church community.
Roots: Children’s Discipleship through Godly Play
Bible Story Focus this Week: Jesus Calls the Disciples
Key Verse: Hebrews 11:1
Room 102, PreK - Kindergarten
Room 122, 1st - 2nd Grade
Room 209, 3rd - 4th Grade
Community Connections
Sunset Ridge Women’s Retreat
The Sunset Ridge Women’s Retreat takes place February 27–March 1 at Mo Ranch in Hunt, Texas. This weekend is an invitation to step away from the pace of everyday life and practice a slower, gentler rhythm together through shared meals, prayer, silence, creativity, movement, and community. It is open to women of Sunset Ridge and the wider community.
In the weeks leading up to the retreat, Preparing for Rest is offered as a free, optional pre-retreat class—no registration required—exploring different kinds of rest. Classes run Sunday, January 18th - February 15th at 10:15 AM in the Chapel Classroom. You’re welcome to attend the classes, the retreat, or both.
Registration for the retreat is now open, with scholarship support available.
Upcoming Community Events
Every Saturday, 9 AM - 1 PM, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, Charis Park
Sundays, January 18th - February 15th, 10:15 AM, Preparing for Rest Class, Chapel Classroom
Monday, January 19th, Church office closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Wednesday, January 21st, 6 - 8:00 PM, Spring formation groups begin for the New Year, Communal Dinner served in the Fellowship Hall
Saturday, January 31, 9AM - 1 PM, Thrift Pop-Up @ One Another Coffee
Saturday, January 31, 9 AM - 1 PM, Secondhand Saturday @ Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, Charis Park
Friday, February 27 - Sunday, March 1, Sunset Ridge Women’s Retreat, Mo Ranch
Beyond Sunday
The God Who Speaks
Den Slater, Pastor of Belonging, Sunset Ridge Church
Jesus sitting beside a well doesn’t seem like the start of a dramatic story. As both Scott and Dick reminded us last Sunday, the story begins at noon, when Jesus is tired and a woman comes to draw water (John 4:5-7). The drama, though, had already begun many years before.
The location of the meeting between the woman and Jesus took place at a water well in Samaria, a place where the land itself is old with memory. Years before Jesus and the woman met—about 700 years before—the surrounding land was home to the northern tribes of Israel. They succumbed to an Assyrian takeover, which caused distortion in the relationship between the northern worshippers of God and the southern worshippers who inhabited the area around Jerusalem. It got ugly, and distant cousins became bitter enemies.
That detail matters. We know that because the woman asks Jesus how he could possibly strike up a conversation with her. The gulf between the Samaritan and Jewish peoples had been too wide for too long. It begged the question. She’s acknowledging history when she essentially asks, “Aren’t we enemies?”
Her bewilderment is warranted, but when Jesus responds, the conversation immediately moves toward spiritual matters. One of this story’s most beautiful lines comes right after she says that she is waiting for the Messiah (for Christ), and Jesus responds, “I am the one speaking to you.” He could have said, “That’s me,” or just left it at “I am he.” He did not choose either response. He clarifies that he is the one speaking to her. God is speaking to her!
Their exchange might even remind us of the story where the desert-wandering Hebrews directed Moses, “Do not let God speak to us or we will die!” (Exod 20.19). Love, however, is never content to stay at a distance. God longs to speak with us still. The Bible is ancient and carries the weight of centuries, cultures, and histories very different from our own, but it is far more than a relic. When the Spirit breathes through Scripture, we experience the Word. Scripture refuses to be trapped in time; it speaks into the present.
I learned this in a quiet, personal way during a visit to Jerusalem. Being a bit reclusive, I needed some space to just breathe and be quiet, but I was inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Ever since the fourth century, this church has been one of the most visited landmarks in Christian history. It’s always filled with people, but on my visit, there were not many visitors down the Greek Orthodox corridor, which was undergoing some renovation work. That hallway was nearly empty and the lighting was very dim. Perfect for someone like me!
I found a dark, tiny alcove partitioned from the main hall by a waist-high marble wall. I slipped to the other side and slid down the wall onto the floor. Sweet relief from the crowds! I closed my eyes, calmed my mind, and soaked in some sweet prayer time. When I finally opened my eyes, I discovered something profound: I was seated at the feet of Jesus. I realized that there were three large paintings of the Crucifixion hanging above me! One focal point is the women who kept vigil beneath the cross. As I became fully aware of the moment that I was inhabiting, I joined them. I, too, took a place at the feet of Jesus. In that stillness, Scripture felt so present—so heard.
This is how Scripture forms us when we allow the Spirit to lead—before we act, we listen together. Over time, God’s Word shapes not only individual lives but a people, forming a community marked by shared commitments and practices. When we prepare meals for neighbors facing food insecurity or offer a dignified Christmas to families at a local elementary school, we are living out the kind of life Scripture forms among us. The same Jesus who sat at the well with a Samaritan woman—speaking across centuries of division—is still present and speaking through Scripture, Spirit, and Truth. Perhaps that’s why I see the story of the woman at the well as one of the great gems of the Bible. It’s astonishing that Jesus said, “I am the one speaking to you.”
Prayers of the People
Jay Browning is scheduled for surgery today, January 14.
Lynn Rutland is scheduled for surgery Friday, January 16. No visitors, please.
