Second on the Mount

“Life Restored” – Mark 5:21-43
Sermon by The Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, June 27, 2021. "Today, we are urged to consider where Christ’s healing meets us. Where is his mercy bringing grace? How is his love mending the broken? Who is he calling beloved? Where are you in this story? The healing, the restoration doesn’t always mean the cure. But it does always mean relationship, wholeness, shalom. Christ’s kingdom is breaking in―wait for it, watch for it, and be bold to seek after it."
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/life-restored/

“Play” – Genesis 2:1-3, Matthew 18:1-4
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, June 20, 2021. "In a sense, we come into worship to play. We leave behind the judgement, expectations and supervision of the other six days and we playact. As God’s children, we practice the skills of association by imagining and acting out what it might mean to live the rest of the week as God’s adults in the world."
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/play/

“Faith in the Ordinary” – Mark 4:26-34
Sermon by The Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, June 13, 2021. "The kingdom is like a very small seed, often overlooked, unremarkable. It appears in the parts of your life that are not the things you’re most proud of―but when it comes, it takes over everything. When you know you’re forgiven and you’re loved, when you can live with the joy that is knowledge and faith in God’s grace, unmerited grace, it changes everything."
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/faith-in-the-ordinary/

“Outside” – Proverbs 6:6-11, 30:24-33
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, June 6, 2021. "I imagine that the beginning wisdom of such an informed life would know that to live well is to live in harmony with what else needs the same air to breathe, water to drink, and land on which to live. We would learn to be grateful for what sustains us, and to care for what is needed to sustain those to come. We would accept limits to life, but then explore opportunities within those limits. We would see the need to be good neighbors even to other species."
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/outside/

“Night of Unknowing” – John 3:1-21
Sermon by The Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, May 30, 2021. "Friends, this is the faith of unknowing. The ability to sit in the dark, reach out a hand, and be lead. This is the faith of unknowing we are called to, and the hand we are to reach for is Jesus Christ’s, the hand of God."
Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/night-of-unknowing/

“Storms” – Mark 4:35-41
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Pentecost, May 23, 2021. "There are two ways to hear this passage: on its own or as part of a story. To hear this passage on its own, with no idea of what just happened or what is about to happen, is to hear a stand-alone story of a miracle and a call to faith. . . . However, in looking at this passage as part of the larger story Mark tells, I wonder what this passage is saying to us when we realize that Jesus can not only lead us out of storms but also into them? . . . Maybe in asking, 'Have you no faith?' Jesus is saying, 'I am sorry we are in this storm and the way is rough, but don’t you understand that we are where God needs us to be?'"
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/storms/

“Sent” – John 17:6-19
Sermon by The Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, May 16, 2021. "As you respond to God’s calling and sending, as you encounter struggles in this crazy world in which we are to love and serve, as you wrestle with your own faults and failures and questions of faith, as you stand up and witness to the truth of the gospel, embodying the very union of God and Jesus, remember Jesus prays for you. Just as he prayed for the disciples, Jesus still prays for you."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/sent/

“Eulogy” – Philippians 3:1-11
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, May 9, 2021. "If we know that God can work something good even in our flawed hearts and lives, then we can find real purpose simply in seeking to reflect God’s goodness to others for their sake. Whatever we do, it will be flawed, but maybe when we selflessly live so good can come to others, we will be able to share something far more valuable than what can be found in a résumé: the love of God."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/eulogy/

“Abide in Me” – John 15:1-8
Sermon by The Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, May 2, 2021. "Throughout the gospel of John, Jesus has used a number of 'I am' statements to help explain who he is and how he is connected to God. . . . Into this pastoral moment, Jesus offers one last image, 'I am the vine.' He introduces this idea of extraordinary dependence and reliance on the vine, and he introduces them to a way they can hold onto that promise. It’s a deeply relational image, one of mutual dependence.I don’t know about you, but I need something deeply relational after a year like we’ve had. I find myself clinging more and more to the language of grace and love and abiding presence we find in scripture. Perhaps that’s why I was drawn to this particular lectionary passage for today. Jesus is speaking to his disciples’ hearts―and through his words, he touches our own."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/abide-in-me/

“Awe” – Genesis 1:26, Mark 3:1-6
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, April 25, 2021. "Out of the stillness of awe then comes the movement of our lives as we go back into the world that is created and live. That’s true worship―when to stop is then to stir, to wonder is then to work, to forget is then to find, to rest is then to restore, to be still is to begin something new."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/awe/