Second on the Mount

"Hope in Christ" – Romans 8:18-25

Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, September 15, 2024. "Given the high rate of despair, one could make the argument that we, as Americans, aren’t placing our hope in the right things. In fact, one could argue that the problem is that we are placing our hope in things. The Apostle Paul might say we are placing our hope in the kinds of people or things that are in fact perishable, subject to corruption, and depreciation of value—when what we really need is a hope that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. 

"What we need, is the kind of hope that is grounded on something beyond this present world and time. What we need is a living hope, grounded on the grace of our triune God."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/invest-in-hope-hope-in-christ/ 

"Getting to Know Jesus" – Luke 24:13-35

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, September 8, 2024. "This is the God that sees us for all that we are capable of being—the best and the worst of us—and who loves us anyway. With this God in our lives, we can be and do better because this God’s love meets us at our very worst. This is the God of the cross, where his son who is dying asks that God forgive the world that is doing this to him."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/getting-to-know-jesus/ 

"The How of Jesus" – Matthew 10:1-4, 22:15-22

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, September 1, 2024. "In a way, Jesus is forming his own party, but here is how he goes about doing it. He doesn’t start with ideology. He starts with the person. He starts with making a relationship with the person in front of him: Jew or Gentile, Samaritan or Roman, somebody or nobody, acceptable or unacceptable. Jesus gets to know the one in front of him. Then through meals, through conversation, through study and prayer with them and through other spiritual practices, he builds a community around him. He embraces debate among them as they try to figure out together what it means to keep the command of God to love God and others. They do not ignore the issues or the needs of the day. Of course they don’t. But it is on the basis of relationships and as a community that they do so. It is not ideology first. It is not issue first. It is relationship first."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/the-how-of-jesus/ 

"Stay in the Boat" – Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, August 11, 2024. "Faith isn’t about performing miracles or achieving the impossible on our own. Faith is seeing the boat for what it is: a shared experience in community, where we lean on one another, find support, and face adversity together, all while trusting that God is with us."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/stay-in-the-boat/ 

“Just One More Thing…” – Micah 6:8, Mark 10:17-23

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, August 4, 2024. "Can we catch a glimpse of God’s will in what Micah tells us to do—to do justice and show kindness without separating the two? When we are wronged, or see wrongs in the world, can we remain kind? That’s a hard question to ask of us as individuals, and certainly a hard question to ask of us as communities of people. But should we ever deny the lifeline to others that we need when we have been understood and rightly judged for having failed?"

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/just-one-more-thing/ 

"Penetrable Souls" – Acts 10, selected verses

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, July 28, 2024. "The book of Acts lets us know that as soon as we think we have figured out what is good and right, that we now know who is always in the right and who is always in the wrong, we are in spiritual trouble. Of course, this chapter encourages us to be open to others, to be open to what we do not yet see or understand. Of course, it encourages empathy . . . being so interested in another that you forget yourself. Of course, this chapter has a lot to say about how we should resist those who seek to apply their hardening agents on our spirits to enlist our blind support. But this chapter is not finally about what we should do. It is a call to prayer."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/penetrable-souls/ 

"On the Move" – 2 Samuel 7:1-14a

Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, July 21, 2024. "To think we have God figured out, to think we know all we need to know about God, to think God believes and wants exactly what we believe and want is to try to build a box around God. But God is here to say to Nathan, God is here to say to us, not, 'Thanks for the shiny box,' but instead, 'Try to keep up.'"

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/on-the-move/ 

"Are You In?" – Galatians 2:11-21

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, July 14, 2024. "Paul raises up the cross and calls for faith—Jesus’ faith, not the faith of an eye-for-an-eye and revenge. He calls for Christ to live in and through us. And Christ will, when and where people embody his heart for peace despite what their fantasies might be."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/are-you-in/ 

"No Place Like Home" – Mark 6:1-13

Sermon by the Rev. Rachel H. Vogado, PCUSA minister and Media Assistant at Second Presbyterian Church, who was invited to preach on Sunday, July 7 while the pastors were away.

"Open Wide Your Hearts" – 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, June 30, 2024. "Beloved, open wide your hearts to the reconciling love and grace of God, for now is the time, today is the day; open wide your hearts so that having been reconciled by God you may be reconciled to one another. Whether rich or poor, honor or dishonor, known or unknown, in need or in plenty, in sorrow or in joy, whether black, white, or brown, whether republican, democrat, or independent, whether Dominican, American, or any other nationality, open wide your hearts, receive the grace and love of God, and receive the new life in Christ, a life that is shared, a life that is abundant and eternal, and experience a life that really is life."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/open-wide-your-hearts/