Goodness Weekly 4.10.23
Resurrection comes with the buzz of potentiality and promise; never again “it is what it is.” Instead (and forever),
“It might be.”
“It can be.”
“Let us work to make it so.”
What’s Good:
Another Second Saturday of the month came and went and it was a special one. With a big helping hand from our youth group, neighborhood families and little friends gathered around for storytime, an obstacle course, a stained glass bunny craft, cornhole, and lots of bubbles. Don’t miss our next Second Saturday for more family fun!
Happy Easter!!
This past weekend, our community gathered on the front lawn to celebrate the resurrection of Christ and the hope of new life through beautiful music, communion, and joyous children. Our little friends even had their own special Easter Egg Hunt following worship—one of our favorite traditions at Sunset Ridge. We hope you all had a very happy Easter!
We hope you all had a very happy Easter!
Charis Park Update!
Big changes will be happening around here very soon! Our construction partners for the neighborhood park will be installing a construction fence around the parking lot across the street in preparation for groundbreaking in the next couple weeks.
We will be giving weekly updates once the process begins to keep our neighbors and community informed about what to expect along the way. We’ll also be sharing a public invitation for the groundbreaking event.
Stay tuned!
Message from Jess:
At a dinner party Saturday night, we were well into the evening when the host came to the table with a pronouncement of a beautiful bottle of wine that was far superior to the bottles that had been previously opened.
Without hesitation, my friend Michael responded by tossing the wine in his glass over his shoulder and into the bush behind him to make room for the better wine.
We all burst into laughter at his decisive action. He was ready to make room for something he perceived to be better with a blind hope that this new wine was going to be worth letting go of what he’d had.
During Easter we talk about transformation and Spring bringing renewal—there’s a shift that happens in our natural environment when new life starts to emerge from creation. The grass is greener, the flowers are in bloom, the birds are chirping, and something feels a little more hopeful. Creation models for us this pattern of life, death, and rebirth, or as Richard Rohr names it in his book The Wisdom Pattern—order, disorder, and reorder.
Creation seems to embrace the disordered state, trusting that new life will follow. There are so many examples, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly or compost scraps becoming soil to create new food—perhaps we, too, must be willing to shed what we currently hold to make room for what is to come.
To me, this is hope. It's a hard-won hope that says there is a brighter future ahead than what we’ve left behind. It’s a hard-won hope that knows that every day there is pain and suffering in the world, and yet still we still choose to get out of bed and attempt to make the world kinder and more beautiful.
So, this spring, this Eastertide, may we be people who can radically embrace change and also hold tight to hope. May we be people who welcome, with open arms, the good future ahead of us and work for the goodness for generations to come.
How are you being invited this week to let go of something that is no longer serving you, to make room for hope?
Love, Jess
Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, April 12th, 7:00-8:30pm Youth Group at The Stirmans’
Sunday, April 16th, 4:30pm Chapel Worship & Liturgy
Wednesday, April 19th, 7:00-8:30pm Youth Family Dinner
Sunday, April 23rd, 4:30pm Chapel Worship & Liturgy
Friday, April 28th Young Adult Group
Inhale:
Free me from the things that hold me back
Exhale:
Help me to believe there are better days ahead
and give me the courage to believe in
and bring hope to my world
