A prayer for the people of Ridgeview: Heavenly Father, so gracious with gifts and love. Thank you for turning heads to hold a perspective of God that continues to impact others through their decisions to bring the divine into focus. Blessed are they to show every good comes from God. By focusing on your Word daily, revealed weaknesses are transformed to reveal wisdom. Seeing weaknesses, allows gifts to be revealed. Continue to provide the right environment to plant the Word of Life in them to guide their every move. Amen.
A word for the day: One of the particularities of this congregation is leadership. The history shared on their website is a timeline of the dedicated, gifted, and called leaders. Audrey and Robert are now added to that list. Many members are seasoned leaders and active members of the Mennonite community.
A background story: Time together during a carpool, with John, his wife Deb and I, is where this tour of ACC churches began! We were dreaming aloud about what we would do with our time, if we had a year off from church responsibilities. John’s idea of visiting all 34 ACC churches was born. I took that idea and ran with it. It’s been a fascinating experience so far, and I hope he gets to have a turn at some point!
Reflections
More gentlemen holding the door for me as I walk into lively conversation! I’m really enjoying this welcoming theme! Ridgeview’s lobby is open and inviting. Especially with its round table in the center, adorned with coffee choices, mugs and accompanying coffee condiments. Friendly faces greeted me warmly, inviting me in to what felt like their sacred family space. I see some familiar faces. Pastor Robert Kenagy and I exchange a hug and hello. He directs my attention to the sanctuary where Pastor Audrey is finalizing details for the worship service. I engage in conversation with John Denlinger and am introduced to three other church members.
I’m learning the outline of each church service has a particular rhythm:
Gathering, praising, listening and reflection. The ministry that happens in between Sunday to Sunday is the remarkable difference.
Welcome
More gentlemen holding the door for me as I walk into lively conversation! I’m really enjoying this welcoming theme! Ridgeview’s lobby is open and inviting. Especially with its round table in the center, adorned with coffee choices, mugs and accompanying coffee condiments. Friendly faces greeted me warmly, inviting me in to what felt like their sacred family space. I see some familiar faces. Pastor Robert Kenagy and I exchange a hug and hello. He directs my attention to the sanctuary where Pastor Audrey is finalizing details for the worship service. I engage in conversation with John Denlinger and am introduced to three other church members.
There were about 11 people in the 9:00am Sunday School class I attended. Of those eleven, three had seminary training, three had pastoring experience, one was a charter member of the church. One was a life-long member of the Mennonite church with a wealth of education on scripture study. Even with all of that knowledge in one room, we STILL found much to learn about scripture. The more I learn about God, the more I realize there is so much more to know.
The class began with a gathering of prayer requests. We offered and prayed for one another.
Our discussion was led by John Denlinger with a focus on Matthew 5:13-20. The question at hand: How does salt lose its taste? We first defined the value of salt in Christ’s first century and compared it to something of similar value today today. One example was bread, another water, another electricity. Electricity is similar to salt, in that we find it almost impossible to live without in parallel ways. As salt, we are a presence, much like electricity. Salt’s presence in food brings out the best flavors, electricity brings out the best light - this is for the first century and today - we are salt when we are God’s presence in the world. Without light, (electricity) no one can see the God colors in the world.
Worship
The children’s time was endearing, beginning with two children, then four, then more came running through the sanctuary to find their places up front on the steps. Out of breath, one little girl offered an explanation for her rushing: “My Daddy didn’t drive fast enough!” which brought out much laughter!
The story of the wind and the sun was shared thoughtfully expressing a fundamental translation of the story in James 1:17. You can find a summary of the story here: http://www.storyarts.org/library/aesops/stories/north.html
Sermon
The sermon was an extension of our Sunday School lesson. Not everything matters. There are some things more than others that we need to pay attention to in our lives, and in which to give precedence. As Pastor Audrey carefully and thoughtfully moved around the platform to deliver her sermon, she used gentle gestures and whispers to emphasize important words. This style kept me engaged and eagerly listening. A PowerPoint presentation on the screen emphasized her main points, which were: Our God perspective matters. What we value matters, and what matters to us, matters. We take on a certain “smell” - an air about us - with our values. Others are able to “smell” or sense our values by the way we choose to live out our lives. How do our values impact others? Don’t just believe in your value system. Live out your values.
Takeaway
Ridgeview’s sermon series on James, Practical Faith: Living it out in community inspires me to not just write about what I’m learning, but to live it out in my day to day decisions.
Ridgeview’s sermon series on James, Practical Faith: Living it out in community inspires me to not just write about what I’m learning, but to live it out in my day to day decisions.
