Reimagined Part VI: Inheritance

"Reimagined: Inheritance" – Mark 10:13-16 
Part VI of the sermon series, "Reimagined."

Sermon by The Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, October 17, 2021.

Reimagined Part V: Confession

"Reimagined: Confession" – Mark 8:27-38
Part V of the sermon series, "Reimagined."

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, October 10, 2021. "Then, Jesus asks them a second question: 'Who do you say that I am?' That’s when Peter blurts out what we, the readers of Mark have known since the very first verse, but no one in the story has said out loud. Peter blurts it out: 'You are the Christ.' A suspicion turned into a confession; an opinion becoming a proclamation."

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

Reimagined Part IV: Meal

"Reimagined: Meal" – Mark 6:30-44
Part IV of the sermon series, "Reimagined."

Sermon by The Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, October 3, 2021. "By reimagining meals as an experience of the divine in community, our meals might look more like this great banquet—a meal where all are welcome, just as they are, just as you are, a meal to remember and do, a meal of thanksgiving, a meal to give and a meal to be fed. A meal where our Savior is present, seated beside you, forever extending compassion and love."

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

Reimagined Part III: House

"Reimagined: House" – Mark 2:13-17 
Part III of the sermon series, "Reimagined."

Sermon by The Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, September 26, 2021. "Wherever Jesus goes, he turns norms and expectations upside-down. From the outside, Mark’s house might look simple―but looking in, as the Pharisees saw, it is a glorious scene not just of a hodgepodge banquet table way back then―but of a Table to come."

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

Reimagined Part II: Call

"Reimagined: Call" – Mark 1:14-20, 2:13-14
Part II of the sermon series, "Reimagined."

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, September 19, 2021. "...we can remember that being called by Jesus is being called into fellowship with him and with each other. It is to be in fellowship with a cause: to live by, and witness to, the good news of God’s grace, however that is possible given the moment."

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

Reimagined Part I: Baptism

"Reimagined: Baptism" – Mark 1:1-11
Part I of the sermon series, "Reimagined."

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Rally Day Sunday, September 12, 2021. "The moment of Jesus’ baptism at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel has the shape of Jesus’ ultimate destination in the Gospel; the shape of the cross. . . . During the rest of the story of Mark’s Gospel, the vertical love of God for Jesus shines horizontally as Jesus teaches, heals, and sacrifices for others. This love which seems uniquely for Jesus ends up being love shown through Jesus for all."

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

Labor of Faith

“Labor of Faith” – James 2:1-10, 14-17

Sermon by The Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, September 5, 2021. "James urges his readers to adopt a whole-hearted faith, one that is lived out, acted upon, and bestowed to those whom God has shown particular care, the widows and orphans. James says, 'God has chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that God has promised.' Whole-hearted faith is works as a grace-response. A faith that is alive in you will come alive in and through your actions."

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/labor-of-faith/

Salvation to a Soundbite

“Salvation to a Soundbite” – John 3:1-17

Sermon by The Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, August 29, 2021. "If God were to make God’s love conditional, then we would have tremendous power. Then we could negotiate, we could threaten to reject God’s love, we could even tell God to get lost. But when God just loves us, steadfastly and unconditionally and sends God’s son for us, then there’s nothing we can do about it. God in Jesus has made that decision—a decision that is for us, no matter what. If that’s not good news we need to hear right now, then I don’t know what is."

Sung Prayer for Illumination: "Open My Eyes, That I May See" TEXT and MUSIC: Clara H. Fiske Scott, 1895. Public domain.

Dress Code

“Dress Code” – Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon by The Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, August 22, 2021. "It’s true, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with so much out of our control. We know how the ultimate story ends, but it is God’s to write. So, in the meantime, as we head out to face the evils of our world, we have been given new ways to wage war. We have the weapons of peacemaking, prayer, and the grace of our salvation; we have the armor of faith, taking comfort in God’s word and gaining strength in the prayers that have been prayed through the generations that also watched the world through anxious and lament-filled hearts. We have the weapon of a love that is revolutionary, a love that is brave enough to see no stranger, a love that sees the other as a connected part not yet known."

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

Right

“Right” – Genesis 1:31a, Psalm 133, Luke 7:36-50

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, August 15, 2021. "Last Sunday, I said that because human fallibility makes growth and discovery possible, there is a certain rightness to being wrong. Well, these Pharisees show that there can be a certain wrongness to being right. Jesus sees what the Pharisees do not see and that is the potential of the moment. He doesn’t see a sinner to be shunned but a person wanting to be healed within herself, and within the community. "

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