Second on the Mount

Luke 5:1-11Part I of the Lenten Sermon Series "On This Rock"
Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, February 22, 2026.
"Simon is not exaggerating here. He is simply telling the truth. His truth. The truth of someone who has reached the limit of his own capacity. 'Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.' I can imagine Simon leaving a pregnant pause, hoping Jesus would say, 'No worries. I know you’re tired. We can pick this up another time.' But he didn’t. Nothing was said. Nothing was shared, except a gaze that lingered between Jesus and Simon, a gaze penetrating and inviting—penetrating Simon’s heart and inviting his soul.
"Then, out of the heavy silence, Simon adds five words that change everything."
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Romans 7:7-25
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, February 15, 2026.
"You already belong to Christ. He loves you. You love him. You already stand in communion with the One whose heart is aligned with the Father’s.
"Stay there. Even if you are well aware of how far short you fall, stay there! Don’t have a spiritual affair with some other social, political or personal ideology. Stay in relationship with the Jesus of the Gospels. Because over time, remaining with Jesus changes you. His love changes how you love, and what once looked beautiful to you but is ugly in his eyes… begins to lose its shine.
Revenge becomes thin.
Reconciliation becomes radiant.
Cruelty looks ugly,
Kindness looks lovely.
Power looks smaller.
Peace looks stronger.
"Desire is not converted by force. It is converted by fellowship.
"And that is why Paul can move from, 'Wretched man that I am,' to 'Thanks be to God.'"
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Genesis 1:1-25 (summarized), 26-27
From Youth Sunday, February 8, 2026.
Sermons by graduating seniors Ryan I'Anson (3:34) and Madelyn Lyons (11:42). Our Youth Group theme for the year is "Nurture Your Nature." May God's spirit remind you of who you are, that you might come to know more fully the love of God by which you were made.

Micah 6:1-8
Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, February 1, 2026.
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Psalm 121, Matthew 19:13-25
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, January 25, 2026.
"God guards not only our bodies, but our identities.God holds not only our actions, but our worth.In a culture that says we are what we achieve, what we post, and how we compare, the church dares to speak a deeper truth:We are God’s children.We are held.We are known.And we are loved."
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

John 1:29-42
Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Sunday, January 18, 2026.
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

John 15:12-17
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Confirmation Sunday, January 11, 2026.
"What can be shocking today is when realize that Jesus wants us to be his friend. The kind of friend who speaks for him, acts on his behalf, and bears his love into the world even when it is uncomfortable, inconvenient, or risky. It means going to the places he went, welcoming the people he welcomed. It means not embarrassing his reputation by speaking and acting in selfish, cruel, unkind, or prejudicial ways and then pretending that this is what Jesus would do.
"I want you to think about that, because Jesus is asking you to be his friend."
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

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. Knowing this, may we be a community that helps one another notice what we’re swimming in, and gently points one another back to Christ. May we be a community that bears with one another when it’s hard, that forgives when it would be easier to walk away, that sings the songs of Zion together, especially in a foreign place, until they begin to sound more familiar than the noise around us."
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Matthew 25:31-46Part 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 that God has chosen to be found not in power, but in presence. Not in domination, but in dignity. Not in abstraction, but in flesh and blood. If God has truly taken on human flesh, then every human body matters. Every person is an image bearer. Every life carries divine weight.
"The Word became flesh—and that flesh looks like you and me and the neighbor who needs help today. This is not an easy truth. It disrupts our assumptions about who is deserving and who is not. It challenges the narratives we tell ourselves about poverty, incarceration, addiction, immigration, and illness. Jesus does not ask us to decide whether the person who is hungry earned their hunger or the person in prisoner earned their sentence. He simply says, 'That’s where I am.'"
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Luke 2:1-20, John 1Part 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/