RIDGE POINT TRAILS

RIDGE POINT TRAILS
Adams St.
ca
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Riv
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6
Ma
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#3
Wetlands
#4
104th Ave.
#2
#6
#5
Grasslands
Mason St.
LEGEND
Path
#7
Fishing
Bridge
Camping
RIDGE POINT COMMUNITY CHURCH
#1
340 104th Avenue www.ridgepoint.org
Holland, MI 49423
616.395.2600
Saturdays at 6:00pm
Sundays at 8:30, 10:00 & 11:30am
Total Trail Distance
1 1/2 miles of mowed trails
Recreation
Home cross country course for:
Hope College
Holland High School
Zeeland East & West High Schools
Walking, Sightseeing, Bird Watching, Running,
Cross country skiing during winter
GRASSLANDS
Wildlife/Habitat
Animal Species:
Fox
White Tail
Deer
Coyote
Rabbit
Ground Hog
Weasel
WILDFLOWERS
Bird Species:
Redtail Hawk
Blue Heron
Wood Duck
King Fisher
Fish Species:
Brown Trout
Bluegill
Sunfish
Catfish
WETLANDS
RIDGE POINT COMMUNITY CHURCH
340 104TH Ave Holland MI 49423
616.395.5148 • www.ridgepoint.org
Saturdays 6:00 PM
Sundays 8:30, 10:00 & 11:30 AM
Contributors to the Ridge Point Wetlands Project
include: Ridge Point Community Church’s Green Team,
Macatawa Greenway, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its
Macatawa Watershed Project, Ducks Unlimited, Macatawa
Bay Waterfowlers Association, Grand Valley Pheasants
Forever, Connan Construction and the West Michigan
Wetlands Association.
REFLECTING AT THE STATIONS
The Ridge Point trail was designed to highlight and
protect God’s creation. Below are a set of Bible verses
celebrating God’s work in the natural world.They are
designed to correspond to the seven stations along
the trail. When you reach a station, pause, take in the
scenery and read the verse that corresponds to the
station.
You can walk the trail once using “God’s Creation”
and again “Heading Down the Road” provided in this
brochure. For additional scripture stations, go to
www.ridgepoint.org.
HEADING DOWN THE ROAD
(7 stations)
Where are you right now in your spiritual life? Are
you following Jesus? Are you still wondering what that
means? Read the verses below, one section for each
station you reach. They will walk you through what’s
called the “Roman’s Road”, outlining what Jesus did for
you, and what it means to accept and embrace the gift
of a life connected to God.
2. (Romans 6:23) “For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.” Wages are just what we earn for the work
we have done.What we earn through our sinful actions
is death.We’re alive physically, but dead spiritually. If we
continue in that condition, we’ll be separated from
God forever, never having a relationship with Him. God
says He will give us eternal life, a gift we cannot earn,
because Jesus, His Son, has paid the price for sin by His
death on the cross.
GOD’S CREATION
1. (Isaiah 55:12) So you’ll go out in joy, you’ll be led
into a whole and complete life. The mountains and
hills will lead the parade, bursting with song. All the
trees of the forest will join the procession, exuberant
with applause.
2. (Luke 12:27-28) Walk into the fields and look at the
wildflowers. They don’t fuss with their appearance—
but have you ever seen color and design quite like
it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the
country look shabby alongside them. If God gives
such attention to the wildflowers, most of them
never even seen, don’t you think he’ll attend to you,
take pride in you, do his best for you?
3. (Psalm 104:16-17) The trees of the LORD are well
watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.There
the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in
the pine trees.
W E L C O M E
3. (Romans 5:8) “But God demonstrates his own
love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.” When Jesus died on the cross
He paid the price for all sin. He bought us out of
slavery to sin and death. The only condition is that we
believe in Him and what He has done for us. He did
all this because He loved us. He made it possible for
us to be back in relationship with God, so that we can
experience God’s love.
4. (Romans 10:9) “If you declare with your
mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
A person receives God’s free gift of love and life by
placing faith in Jesus Christ.That means we believe with
our whole heart that Jesus is God’s Son who died for
our sin on the cross and who rose from the grave to
live in us as our Savior and Lord.
5. (Romans 10:10) For it is with your heart
that you believe and are justified, and it is with
your mouth that you profess your faith and are
saved.” If we believe in our hearts that Jesus can save
us, He will do so.This does not mean you have to know
more, do better, clean up your life, or in any way try to
add to what Jesus has already done for you.All we need
to do is tell others what He has done for us.
6. (Romans 10:13) “Everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved.” When you ask
Jesus to save you, God promises that you are saved. If
you pray, telling God you are sorry for your sins, and
if you believe in Jesus, you are saved. You have God’s
word on it. Are you ready to ask Jesus to save you
from your sin so that you can know God’s love and
forgiveness?
to Ridge Point’s running/hiking trails.
The rolling cross-country trail that runs through
fields and around ponds on Ridge Point’s property
was designed by Ridge Point’s “Green Team,”
in conjunction with the Macatawa Greenway
Partnership, Ducks Unlimited and the Holland
High and Hope College Athletic Departments.
The course itself is challenging for runners and
great for hiking, but the highlight of this particular
course is its environmentally friendly design.
These acres of grassland, marsh, river and
forested areas are preserved and protected so
that you can experience nature at its best. The
Ridge Point Green Team, a group dedicated to
following Jesus and caring for God’s world, has
designed a sanctuary for local woodland and
grassland species of plants, animals and trees. It is
their hope, and ours, that you will enjoy this trail
and the runs and walks it provides, but also get a
glimpse of God’s beautiful creation.
If you still have questions when you are done, please
give us a call at (616) 395-2600 or email receptionist@
ridgepoint.org, we’d love talk to you and answer any
questions you might have.
1. (Romans 3:23) “For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God” We’ve fallen short of
God’s intended purpose for us. God made us to know
Him, and gave us a choice whether or not to follow
Him. He refused to force us to love Him because
that would not be love. Rather than love God, we can
choose to love ourselves and chase after stuff we think
will fill us up, leaving ourselves empty and wondering
why there is not more to life. That is sin.
Currently, the land uses include cross country training for
local high schools and Hope College runners, Run the Ridge
event each September, bike races, walking and running trails
available to the public, educational programming, catch and
release fishing ponds and a large organic garden from which
produce is donated to local charitable organizations.
The goals for the project were to connect the trails into
the Macatawa Greenway system, open the property to
use by the public, encourage migratory bird populations,
improve water quality and enhance the aesthetics of the
property.
This wetlands project is proof that a religious organization,
governmental agencies, individuals, local companies and
not-for-profit organizations can work together for the
common goal of a greener earth. Beginning in 2003, the
Ridge Point’s Green Team conceived the idea of taking
the acreage surrounding its property, formerly used as
farmland, and creating new usages for the land that would
include trails for walking and running and wetlands. The
initial phase of the project was completed in 2005 with
the trails in place. Work to reclaim the natural wetlands
on the property began that same year and was completed
in 2006.
& The Ridge Point Community Church
Wetland Project
The GREEN TEAM
4. (Matthew 6:26) Look at the birds, free and
unfettered, not tied down to a job description, and
yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
much more valuable than they?
5. (Isaiah 44:3-4) For I will pour water on the thirsty
ground and send streams coursing through the parched
earth. I will pour my Spirit into your descendants and
my blessing on your children. They shall sprout like
grass on the prairie, like willows alongside creeks.
7. When you are ready, pray this prayer:
“Dear God, I confess that I’m a sinner, and I am sorry.
I need a Savior. I know I can’t save myself. I believe by
faith that Jesus, your Son, died on the cross to be my
Savior. I believe He arose from the grave to live as my
Lord. I turn from my sin. I ask You, Lord Jesus, to forgive
my sin and come into my heart. I trust you as my Savior
and receive you as my Lord.Thank you, Jesus, for saving
me.”
If you’ve prayed to receive Christ as your Lord and
Savior, be sure to tell someone of your decision to
follow Jesus.
6. (Psalm 104:12) Along the riverbanks the birds build
nests, ravens make their voices heard.
7. (Psalm 96:11-12) Let’s hear it from Sky, with Earth
joining in, and a huge round of applause from Sea. Let
Wilderness turn cartwheels! Animals, come dance!
Put every tree of the forest in the choir!