Second on the Mount

"Not Alone, but Lonely" – Mark 1:29-39

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, February 2, 2024. "We are all lonely sometimes. No one can reach those inner parts of you that only God can reach. I encourage you to embrace sacred loneliness. In being alone with God, become comfortable with being alone with yourself. . . . Find your identity in being alone with God. That is where your clarity and strength will come while being among others as one who follows Jesus... the one who calls for justice, shows mercy, and works for reconciliation in the world."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/not-alone-but-lonely/ 

"Truth: God Is Here" – Mark 1:21-28, 1 Corinthians 8:1-3

Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, January 28, 2024. "There are demons—whether they be personal, communal, global, or even cosmic—that draw us away from Jesus. Yet, with God’s boundary-breaking power and love made know in Jesus Christ, we can stand up to the demons and be freed. 

"How might we speak with authority to these demons just as Jesus did to the demon in the synagogue? Well, for starters we can name them. We can acknowledge the truth of their reality; thus, we recognize they exist. We name the demon of unbelief, and we continue to name others we encounter: racism, inequality, religious and ideological intolerance, nationalism, classism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, bigotry, violence at home and at school, bullying, poverty, greed, war, human trafficking, terrorism, globalization for exploitation, information manipulation, media-infused fear. This is certainly not an exhaustive list. 

"'But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.' We should do well to name not only our demons, but also our privilege."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/truth-god-is-here/ 

"Waiting Work" – Acts 1:13-26

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, January 21, 2024. "Prayer is sometimes dismissed as avoiding responsibility, such as when people who actually can do something about a problem say instead, 'Let’s pray about it.' But though prayer can be used to avoid the truth and dodge responsibility, it can also be a means by which to face the truth and deal with it. . . .

"Prayer is grounding oneself in God and remembering you are not alone. It is reminding oneself of God’s love; It is asking to be forgiven and it is asking to forgive; It is seeking some guidance, and asking for patience while waiting for the guidance; It is listening for some truth that so far hasn’t been heard; It is asking for a path forward that so far cannot be seen... Prayer is Waiting Work."

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

"Come and See" – John 1:29-46

Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, January 14, 2024. "The invitation to 'come and see' is an invitation to leave our comfort zones. To 'come and see' is an invitation to approach all of life with a grace-filled curiosity. To 'come and see' is to enter into the joy of being deeply seen and deeply known. . . .

"Is there anything that feels lonelier than the experience of being unseen? And is there anything more lifegiving than the experience of being seen for who we truly are?

"'Come and see,' Jesus says."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/come-and-see/ 

"Under the Apple Tree" – Genesis 2:15-17, Romans 12:1-2

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Confirmation Sunday, January 7, 2024.

Can one believe what both science and the Bible have to say? Dr. Anderson explores this question by looking to epiphanies under the apple tree by Adam and Eve, Sir Isaac Newton, and Karl Barth. "Though God is a mystery beyond proof, I believe in God because I have had my own epiphanies of being known, loved and claimed by God. Intellectually, I can’t prove it; I even doubt it sometimes. But my being loved and claimed by God defines me. I can’t prove it, but I’m trying to live it. That is my witness."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/under-the-apple-tree/ 

"Jesus’ Birth Certificate: (Mother's Name)" – Luke 1:26-38

Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, December 31, 2023.

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/jesus-birth-certificate-mothers-name/ 

"Jesus’ Birth Certificate: (Father's Name)" – John 1:14-18

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Christmas Eve Sunday, December 24, 2023. "But, as I said before, in saying God, something more needs to be said. . . .  Something must be added to what is meant by God or we end up adding whatever we want God to mean. God can mean 'Merciless Judge' if the blanket is just a quilt of God’s demands. God can mean 'Absent Creator' if the blanket is only the idea that someone had to make the universe and keep it running. God can mean 'Me' if God is defined in my image. Then I can pick and choose passages to line up with what I already think and want. Narcissists love that sort of blanket.  

"What we have written as 'Name of Father' will work fine as long as we remember that it is on the same birth certificate with the 'Name of Son.' John says that Jesus, as God’s only son, makes God known. The Gospel presents Jesus as God’s spitting image. Jesus is the blanket that the Gospels use to throw on the mystery that is God to give the mystery shape."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/jesus-birth-certificate-fathers-name/ 

"Jesus’ Birth Certificate: (Place of Birth)" – Micah 5:2, Luke 2:4

Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, December 17, 2023. "The birth of the Messiah will be a sign to the world of healing and life. This child was born with a name, born at a time in history, born in a place we know. In Bethlehem, heaven has come down. In Bethlehem, House of Bread, we encounter the Bread of Life.

"Where we come from matters. Where we have been, what we have lived through and experienced shapes who we are. I am, in part, who I am because of where I come from. You can take the boy of out Bethlehem, but you cannot take Bethlehem out of the boy."

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

"Jesus’ Birth Certificate: (Date)" – Luke 2:1-7

Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, December 10, 2023. "Jesus was born when Quirinius was governor of Syria and was charged with conducting the registration, a symbol of Roman authority and oppression. To this, Jesus was born as the Messiah who would overthrow the powerful and lift up the oppressed.

"In those days, Jesus was born, period. Against and amid all that was happening in the world at that particular time, Jesus was born, born into this world, born into a family, born into a community, born into human history. 

"Why does the date of Jesus’ birth matter? Because we see in it that Jesus the Christ was born into a world of tyranny, inequality, and pride. Born to be a light in that darkness. A world and darkness we also know all too well."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/jesus-birth-certificate-date/ 

“Jesus’ Birth Certificate: (Name)” – Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, December 3, 2023. "Let’s put a formal name on the certificate, and in that day, the most formal way someone was introduced was not only by name but also by relationship. So, let’s imagine Joseph answering the question, 'What is the child’s name?' in this way: 'Yeshua Ben Yosef,' or 'Jesus, Son of Joseph.' Our imagining Joseph answering in this way honors the spirit of the passage and the glory of Joseph. The glory of Joseph is that despite his and Mary’s reputation being opened to question, he adopts his fiancé’s child that is not his own. He does what is right after being tempted to do what is righteous in the world’s eyes. Another way of putting this is that Joseph, as a righteous man, is led by God’s Spirit to do what Jesus will later ask other righteous people to do. Joseph is asked to reconsider what being righteous really means."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/jesus-birth-certificate-name/