Second on the Mount

Colossians 3:1-17 *Sermon title comes from James K. A. Smith’s book, You Are What  You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit, published in 2016. Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, January 4, 2026. "Friends, we worship today at the beginning of a new year. And we do so in anxious and uncertain days – days when many voices compete for our allegiance, our attention, and our trust. Knowi...

Matthew 25:31-46 Part VI of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from the First Sunday of Christmas, December 28, 2025. "There is a temptation to sentimentalize the Christmas season—to wrap it in nostalgia and soft lighting and comforting music. But Jesus won’t let us do that because Christmas has consequences. Christmas, at its heart, is the declaration th...

Luke 2:1-20, John 1 Part V of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Christmas Eve, December 24, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/  

Luke 1:26-38, I John 4:7-12 Part IV of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from the Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 21, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/  

Isaiah 35:1-10, Luke 2:8-20 Part III of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from the Third Sunday of Advent, December 14, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Isaiah 9:2-7, Luke 3:1-6 Part II of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from the Second Sunday of Advent, December 7, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/  

Isaiah 11 (selected verses), Luke 1 (selected verses) Part I of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from the first Sunday of Advent, November 30, 2025. "No matter where we are or how we feel this Advent Sunday, God is still telling the same story: • Hope doesn’t wait for perfect conditions. • Hope grows in unexpected places. • Hope shines through o...

Luke 23:33-43 Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Christ the King Sunday, November 23, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/  

II Corinthians 1:3–7 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, November 16, 2025. • "Sometimes encouragement looks like holding someone steady when they cannot hold steady themselves. • "Sometimes it looks like absorbing the angry words of another without firing back—letting them sit with what they said without the comfort of your having said worse. • "Sometimes it looks like sitting in a hosp...

John 14:1-3 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from All Saints' Sunday, November 2, 2025. "Jesus comforts his disciples with the promise that he goes to prepare a place for them—but even more, that his Spirit will dwell within them now. To be a resurrection people is to live in the current of that coming world— • to forgive,  • to create,  • to mend what is broken,  trusting that God’s life is alrea...

I Samuel 8:4-22, Galatians 1:6-9 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, October 26, 2025. "Young People—feeling the pressure to keep up, to prove yourselves, to stay relevant. Remember, your worth is not measured by speed, likes, or novelty. You are loved by God, fully and unconditionally. Creativity is a gift, not a requirement. "Workers—those working in offices, shops, schools, factories...

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Luke 17:11-19 Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Preschool Sunday, October 19, 2025. "It’s what Jesus does over and over again. He gathers the ones we’ve been taught to fear or exclude. He restores a body, and also a community. He returns dignity, identity, and participation. And he says, in every way that matters, you belong. "In a world where exile, in one way or ano...

John 1:6-9, II Corinthians 4:5-7 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Commitment Sunday, October 12, 2025. "The one essential fact about light is that it is separate from what bears it.  • The light of the sun isn’t the sun itself.  • The light of a fire isn’t the wood that burns.  • Even the glow from a candle or a bulb isn’t the wax or the filament.  "Paul echoes the same truth in his own way....

Luke 5:27-32, 17:7-10 Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from World Communion Sunday, October 5, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/  

***This sermon was originally intended to be a visual experience. We encourage you to watch the original live streamed recording of this sermon on YouTube .*** Video: " The Light We Shine " Thank you to Andrea Boone, Jane Winders Frank, Ginger Poole Avis, and the wonderful staff and technicians at Mill Mountain Theatre. . . .  Matthew 5:14-16 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, September...

Mark 1:21-39, Acts 17: 24-28 Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, September 21, 2025. "You are the living church when you forgive in a culture of vengeance. You are the living church when you speak truth in the face of lies. You are the living church when you love your neighbor more than your comfort. You are the living church when you sow compassion in a world that rewards cruelty....

Isaiah 53:2-3, Philippians 4:8 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, September 14, 2025. "In the aftermath of [Charlie Kirk's] shooting—as with so many other publicized acts of violence, and the countless unseen ones—we all should be asking ourselves: Do our words carry the same ugliness we say we condemn and are we contributing to this dangerous climate? "Whether you're a leader, a public...

Exodus 14:10-16 Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, September 7, 2025. "The ways in which God is calling you to show your faith might surprise you. It might require courage. It might require you to risk comfort and convenience for the sake of love. It might require you to silence the bickering noise of the world and courageously take one step forward—and then maybe another." Read the manus...

Matthew 4:1-11 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, August 31, 2025. "The temptations Jesus faces may sound distant from our lives—turning stones to bread, leaping from a tower, bowing to the devil—but what they represent is very real, and just as present in Roanoke as they were in the wilderness. . . . Just as a tuning fork causes an internal string to vibrate, these three temptations st...

Matthew 5:13-16 Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from our Rally Day Picnic on Sunday, August 24, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Scripture: Luke 12:49-53 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, August 17, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

"By Faith" – Hebrews 11:1-10, 12:1-2 Sermon by Nancy O. Gray, Parish Associate for Visitation, from Sunday, August 10, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

"The Armor of God" – Ephesians 6:10-20 Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, August 3, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

"Grace in Letting Go" – John 12:20-26, Philippians 3:7-14 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, July 27, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

"Why?" – Luke 13:1-9 Sermon by Nancy O. Gray, Parish Associate for Visitation, from Sunday, July 20, 2025. Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/