Second on the Mount

"Toward Light and Life" – Acts 17:16-34

Sermon by The Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from November 8, 2020. "So, what do we say to those radically different? We start by recognizing the other’s search for something deeper, for something more. We start by remembering each person is 'God’s offspring,' God’s child whom God loves. We start with genuine conversation, and not clickbait memes, soundbites, and headlines."

Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-toward-light-and-life/

"Forward Remembering" – Acts 2:22-36

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from All Saints Sunday, November 1, 2020. "If I could summarize Peter’s sermon it would be to say that he is remembering forward. He remembers David who sees a future for himself because he is forgiven. He remembers Jesus who died, but whose sermons, teachings and works of kindness mean all the more for the future because the one who said and did them is raised and living among them. It is important how we remember."

Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-forward-remembering/

"The Community That Refuses to Break" – Acts 15:1-21

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from October 25, 2020. "The solution is not perfect, but it is a beautiful miracle. . . . The Jews in Jerusalem somehow found it within themselves not 'to settle for the love of their own people but surrender to a love that creates people.' That’s a great way to describe the work of the Holy Spirit. God’s love sees and claims us as we are… liberating us to love others as they are… and making way for the possibility that we might become something beautiful together."

Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-the-community-that-refuses-to-break/

"The Revolution Comes to Us" –  Acts 10:1-23a

Sermon by The Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from October 18, 2020. "Throughout the New Testament, it’s like we are seeing Peter’s conversion and reconversion over and over again. God is continually revealing more of God’s self and God’s plan―and with each revelation comes a revolution, a change, an opening. God’s kingdom is growing wider and wider. . . . With God’s work, Peter is slowly being remade, and our understanding of the church is being reshaped, cell by cell, day by day."

Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-the-revolution-comes-to-us/

"What We Fled Has Found Us" – Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Commitment Sunday, October 11, 2020. "And what do you think happens when you are in small groups and someone begins to share with them? It is easy to imagine that they look in their own bags to see what they have. . . . In other words, it turns out that the crowd doesn’t just have needs, it has resources. And when they are given the right kind of inspiration, they become part of the solution of their shared problems."

Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/what-we-fled-has-found-us/

"Behold, an Invitation" – Acts 8:26-40

Sermon by Jen Brothers from October 4, 2020. "We are the descendants who get to share the good news that, though Jesus died, he rose again. . . . But the good news isn’t meant to stay within the pages of this book. The story lives on through us. The Holy Spirit dwells within us and among us. The Holy Spirit is in every wilderness, every desert, and on every lonesome road, inviting us to follow, inviting us to make our own contribution to this world God loves so much."

Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-behold-an-invitation/ 

"The Shadow of the Church" – Acts 5:12-16

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from September 27, 2020. "Healing in the shadow. That’s the image of the story that I want to remain with you. For in that image we have an ethical question with a miracle wrapping. The ethical question that Luke is asking of Jesus-followers then and Jesus-followers today is this: 'Will harm or healing be found in your shadow?' Will the shadow cast by your existence in this world be one that brings grace or disgrace?"

Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-the-shadow-of-the-church/

"Universal Restoration" – Acts 3:1-26

Sermon by The Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from September 20, 2020. "Thanks to the boundary breaking work of the Spirit, all peoples may have a new future in Jesus and a new story to tell. Because of the Spirit, we have hope. We need not follow the way of the many, but the way of the One. May we do our part to seek and work for the peace and justice he has ushered in."

Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-universal-restoration/

"Out of Reach" – Acts 1:1-14

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from September 13, 2020. "And it is precisely then that Jesus rises from them as if to demonstrate that he is not, nor ever will be, in their grasp, or in the grasp of any nation or agenda. The Spirit of Jesus will return and work wonders, and if they want to be with that Spirit, they will want to keep up."

Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-out-of-reach/

"A Second Language of Faith" – Proverbs 8:22-31

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from September 6, 2020. "The Wisdom writers sought God’s truth, however it is revealed, and were particularly fascinated with what could be learned from the world in which we live. . . . They saw the study of nature as a means of praise. It is no leap to say that if they had been introduced to modern science, they would have seen scientific study as a means of praising God. . . . When faith learns to speak the language of science, faith becomes the worldview, and science becomes the tool."

Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/a-second-language-of-faith/