Second on the Mount

"Preacher Paul" – Acts 20:7-12 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, January 19, 2025. "And what is Paul’s message? All those idols are promising something they cannot deliver. Because here’s the deal: There is no deal! While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We are saved by the unmerited grace of God. There are no political leaders, not even Caesar himself, who should be given the...

"God's Nickname" – Exodus 3:7-17 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Confirmation Sunday, January 12, 2025. "God knows each of us by name… which is to say that God knows what makes you 'you' and knows what makes me 'me.' I hope you understand that. I hope you understand that you specifically matter to God for specific reasons. And . . . I hope you understand that you matter specifically to the w...

"What's Next" – Jeremiah 31:7-14 Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, January 5, 2025. "Nobody wants to hear that pain comes before healing, or darkness comes before light, or dishonor before glory. But it is a pattern that is repeated in all aspects of faith. . . . Beloved, no matter where you are in that cycle, hear this: God is there with you. God is in the pain. God is in the darkness....

"Simeon and Anna" – Luke 2:22-40 Part VI of the Advent Sermon Series "Sing in Exultation" Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, December 29, 2024. "What is it that makes us feel like worth, value, specialness are a matter of comparison? That in order for one person to be really special, they have to be more special than other people." Read the manuscript: https://www.spres.org/sing-i...

"A New Song" – Psalm 96 Part V of the Advent Sermon Series "Sing in Exultation" Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Christmas Eve, December 24, 2024.

"Angels" – Luke 2:8-14 Part IV of the Advent Sermon Series "Sing in Exultation" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from the fourth Sunday of Advent, December 22, 2024. "From paying the fees of psychics to sending probes into outer space, finding answers to life’s mysteries can cost a lot of money. But these shepherds can only afford to live their lives. Yet, it is to them that a revelation comes tha...

"Mary" – Luke 1:46-50 Part III of the Advent Sermon Series "Sing in Exultation" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from the third Sunday of Advent, December 15, 2024. "So, what does Mary’s song mean for Christians who are to bear the image of Christ and we as the church that is called to be the body of Christ? It means that we are called to bear the heart of Mary and of Jesus—that we are to be the i...

"Elizabeth" – Luke 1:39-45 Part II of the Advent Sermon Series "Sing in Exultation" Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from the second Sunday of Advent, December 8, 2024.

"Zechariah" – Luke 1:67-79 Part I of the Advent Sermon Series "Sing in Exultation" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from the first Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2024. "Within the classroom of silence, Zechariah’s faith is reconstructed. The one who kept the rituals of faith but lost confidence in God working salvation regains the faith of a child who can sing with awe and wonder. He has the headsp...

"Stretch the Truth" – John 18:33-38 Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, November 24, 2024. "Beloved, the truth is both a gift and a calling. It is a gift in that Christ himself is the truth, a truth that stretches from eternity to eternity. It is also a calling in that we are invited to pause and listen to and follow the voice of truth. "As we find ourselves in the liminal moments of life,...

"Illusions and Dreams" – Isaiah 43:19-21 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, November 17, 2024. "... we should always be asking these questions of ourselves: • Who am I now?  • What do I now believe?  • What, by grace, can I become? "And ask the same kinds of questions of our relationships and communities:  • Who are we now?  • What beliefs are we now living by?  • What, by grace, can we...

"Christ Alone" – Colossians 1:15-23 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, November 10, 2024. "There will be those who will speak of Jesus as if he is a chaplain of their certainty—the chaplain of whatever social or political agenda they are pushing. "So, what are we to do but—again—be reminded. Go to the Jesus of the Gospels. Pay attention to what Jesus does and who he is with. Remember ho...

"Jesus Wept" – John 11 (selected verses) Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from All Saints' Sunday, November 3, 2024. "The good news of the Gospel is that the God who weeps for us and with us is also the God who resurrects. God is not finished yet. May we be instruments of God’s resurrection power and life here and now." Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/jesus-wept/  

"Chaos, Passion, and Pause" – Job 42:1-6, 10-17 Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, October 27, 2024. "God responds [to Job] out of the calm center of a chaotic whirlwind. In the middle of the storm of chaos, in the stillness of its eye, there is a pause.  What a gift a pause can be in the middle of chaotic conversations. . . . What the pause can give you is perspective. Not answers. Not...

"What Story Are You Telling" – Job 38:1-7, 34-41 Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, October 20, 2024. "So, what story are you telling? To your children? To yourself?  "Beloved, may the story you tell be one of God’s vast and mysterious love, a love that has been with you and has held you since the beginning of time! And may you believe the story of God’s love to be true for you, as well."...

"The Witness of Hope" – Romans 8:24-25, Matthew 13:24-30 Part V of the Sermon Series "Invest in Hope" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Commitment Sunday, October 13, 2024. "Wheat among weeds is what Jesus wants Second Presbyterian Church to be. . . . Our calling is to bear witness to the hope that God’s grace is real and shows itself when we resist what is unjust, work to mend what is broken,...

"Hope for the World" – Matthew 5:38-48 Part IV of the Sermon Series "Invest in Hope" Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from World Communion Sunday, October 6, 2024. "Violence persists in this world, and so what are we, the Body of Christ, to do? "In our passage, Jesus is trying to tell his disciples—Jesus is trying to tell us what to do. We get this piece of wisdom in Matthew 5 about loving o...

"Hope in Action" – Matthew 5:14 Part III of the Sermon Series "Invest in Hope" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, September 29, 2024. "• When we feed the hungry, house the homeless, provide help to those who need medical care, but hunger, homelessness and the untreated sick remain... • When we try to help with addiction and mental illness, but half of what we try doesn’t work, and half...

"Lived Hope" – Acts 1:1-11 Part II of the Sermon Series "Invest in Hope" Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, September 22, 2024. "Actively wait. Invest yourself in a community of those who will wait with you. Be open. Listen. Try things. And since I’m talking about the church, I’ll add worship, learn, pray, be there for others, and meet needs when you can. You see, so often the direction...

"Hope in Christ" – Romans 8:18-25 Part I of the Sermon Series "Invest in Hope" 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 p...

"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...

"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 unaccep...

"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 websit...

“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...

"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...