Second on the Mount

"All Ate and Were Filled" – Matthew 14:13-21
Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, August 6, 2023. "The people aren’t asking Jesus for anything. They just want to be with him. He is so different from any leader they had ever seen before. They are hungry, they are frightened, they are hurt—and they hang on Jesus’ every word and action. He has shown them something special. He has given them a glimmer of hope. And he has shown them that the character of the God he reveals can be captured in one word: compassion. . . . A God who cares: this is the first real miracle in the scene."
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/all-ate-and-were-filled/ 

"Kingdom Consciousness" – Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, July 30, 2023. "These parables, as mashal, offer us riddles that open our eyes to the kingdom of heaven in the here and now, teasing the mind into reflection and response. They draw us into a kingdom of consciousness."
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/kingdom-consciousness/ 

"Two Faiths" – Jonah 4:1-5
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, July 23, 2023. "In this sanctuary, we remember who we are and keep the tension alive. We don’t let our faith break into two. We pray for our enemies and work for the blessing of all people. While it is admirable to love our families and community, and while it is admirable to love and serve one’s country, the Bible and our theological tradition demands that our core identity is in Christ. This is where we pray for our enemies and work for compassion and justice for all people."
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/two-faiths/ 

"Next" – Luke 3:15-22
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, July 16, 2023. "Luke is talking about a moment where it doesn’t matter whether you are a Pharisee or a Sadducee, a Zealot or an Essene, a person of substance or a person of the streets. It doesn’t matter what you have done to build up a reputation, to make a name for yourself, to accomplish something, even selfless and kind. In the moment, none of that matters. Standing in that line, you are simply a person in need of grace. But what is there to gawk at? What is there to mock? For 'Jesus also was baptized.' There’s the best kind of dignity there is. It is the dignity we proclaim at baptism where God knows no favorites but adopts us all as children. And it is the dignity we must hope for at death where there is nothing left but God."
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/next/

"To What Will I Compare This Generation" – Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, July 9, 2023. "Beloved, children of each and every generation, you do not have to carry the burdens of the world in which you grew up all by yourself, the burdens of a world left to you by generations before you. No matter what generation you belong, Jesus is inviting you to come, all of you, and find rest from the weariness and burdens of life."
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/to-what-will-i-compare-this-generation/ 

"In This Together" – Luke 10:1-11
Sermon by Nancy Gray, Parish Associate for Visitation at Second Presbyterian Church, from Sunday, July 2, 2023.

"Jesus Chooses Kairos Time" – Genesis 2:3, Exodus 20:8-11, Matthew 12:1-8
Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, June 25, 2023. "I don’t know about you, but it can feel like I’m all over the map sometimes. There is so much to do, so much to produce. It can feel like my life lacks prayerful attention. And because my attention is so scattered, it can feel like I don’t have enough time for the kind of Kairos moments Jesus makes possible here. It can feel like we’re hungry for some grain, but we don’t know how to stop and pluck it."
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/jesus-chooses-kairos-time/ 

"Final Interview" – Matthew 25:31-46
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, June 18, 2023. "'Were you kind?' Oh dear! Even without being literal about end-times, that question is intimidating. The question Matthew’s Jesus leaves us with in his last sermon is that one. In the parable, the question is in the past tense so that we’ll ask it in the present one: 'Are you kind?' Never mind the unforgivable sin, that is the unavoidable question."
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/final-interview/ 

"Handing Out Invitations" – Luke 14:1, 16-24
Sermon by the Rev. Millie Snyder, Executive Pastor of Myers Park Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC and our Evening VBS guest speaker, from Sunday, June 11, 2023.

"Unqualified Teaching" – Matthew 28:16-20
Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Trinity Sunday, June 4, 2023. "Much like the disciples and the early church, as we teach, we gain a better understanding of what we believe, we become more comfortable in sharing our beliefs, and through practice we develop the ability to ask different and deeper questions, to look beyond the surface for meaning and connection. And teaching goes beyond the classroom. Jesus charged his disciples—from the first church to today— to Go. Make. Baptize. Teach. Go, leave your comfort zone; Make, that is to be in relationship with others; Baptize, call others into the family of God; and Teach, humble yourselves in the way of Christ and relinquish control, so that others may come to better understand the good news of the gospel!"
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/unqualified-teaching/