Second on the Mount

"God’s Promised Day of Hope Can’t Wait" – Isaiah 2:1-5Part I of the Advent sermon series, "What Can't Wait?"
Sermon by Jen Brothers from the first Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2020. "Despite what things may seem . . . Christians throughout the world are this day lighting the candle of hope. But we don’t stop at candle lighting. God’s coming new day asks something of us . . . To walk toward God’s presence is to constantly re-examine our commitments against God’s commitments. We must learn what it means to beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks so we can become the weaponless stewards God created us to be."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/what-cant-wait-gods-promised-day-of-hope-cant-wait/

"Giving in Is Not Giving Up" – Acts 28:17-31Part X of the sermon series, "Catching Up With the Spirit."
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, November 22, 2020. "We have to strive to be better, to do better, to better our world—to promote dignity, to fight against injustice and corruption, to promote the moral rule of Law in personal and communal life. But we do so because we are called to it—called to make a witness. So what if we witness to a grace that falls on deaf ears and dull hearts. It is still a grace that claims and saves us, gives us joy. And when we fail, we only then prove that we have taken up the cross of defeat to witness to God’s final victory of resurrection."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-giving-in-is-not-giving-up/

"More" – Acts 19:1-7Part IX of the sermon series, "Catching Up With the Spirit."
Sermon by Jen Brothers from November 15, 2020. "What strikes me most throughout the book of Acts is how unafraid Christ’s disciples seem to be. They are not afraid to change their minds. They are not afraid to try something new. They are not afraid to dream and hope and work for a better day. They are not afraid because they are convinced that Jesus is among them and that a new creation is unfolding. May we not stop short of the more God invites us into."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-more/

"Toward Light and Life" – Acts 17:16-34Part VIII of the sermon series, "Catching Up With the Spirit."
Sermon by The Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from November 8, 2020. "So, what do we say to those radically different? We start by recognizing the other’s search for something deeper, for something more. We start by remembering each person is 'God’s offspring,' God’s child whom God loves. We start with genuine conversation, and not clickbait memes, soundbites, and headlines."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-toward-light-and-life/

"Forward Remembering" – Acts 2:22-36Part VII of the sermon series, "Catching Up With the Spirit."
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from All Saints Sunday, November 1, 2020. "If I could summarize Peter’s sermon it would be to say that he is remembering forward. He remembers David who sees a future for himself because he is forgiven. He remembers Jesus who died, but whose sermons, teachings and works of kindness mean all the more for the future because the one who said and did them is raised and living among them. It is important how we remember."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-forward-remembering/

"The Community That Refuses to Break" – Acts 15:1-21Part VI of the sermon series, "Catching Up With the Spirit."
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from October 25, 2020. "The solution is not perfect, but it is a beautiful miracle. . . . The Jews in Jerusalem somehow found it within themselves not 'to settle for the love of their own people but surrender to a love that creates people.' That’s a great way to describe the work of the Holy Spirit. God’s love sees and claims us as we are… liberating us to love others as they are… and making way for the possibility that we might become something beautiful together."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-the-community-that-refuses-to-break/

"The Revolution Comes to Us" –  Acts 10:1-23aPart V of the sermon series, "Catching Up With the Spirit."
Sermon by The Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from October 18, 2020. "Throughout the New Testament, it’s like we are seeing Peter’s conversion and reconversion over and over again. God is continually revealing more of God’s self and God’s plan―and with each revelation comes a revolution, a change, an opening. God’s kingdom is growing wider and wider. . . . With God’s work, Peter is slowly being remade, and our understanding of the church is being reshaped, cell by cell, day by day."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-the-revolution-comes-to-us/

"What We Fled Has Found Us" – Matthew 14:13-21
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Commitment Sunday, October 11, 2020. "And what do you think happens when you are in small groups and someone begins to share with them? It is easy to imagine that they look in their own bags to see what they have. . . . In other words, it turns out that the crowd doesn’t just have needs, it has resources. And when they are given the right kind of inspiration, they become part of the solution of their shared problems."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/what-we-fled-has-found-us/

"Behold, an Invitation" – Acts 8:26-40Part IV of the sermon series, "Catching Up With the Spirit."
Sermon by Jen Brothers from October 4, 2020. "We are the descendants who get to share the good news that, though Jesus died, he rose again. . . . But the good news isn’t meant to stay within the pages of this book. The story lives on through us. The Holy Spirit dwells within us and among us. The Holy Spirit is in every wilderness, every desert, and on every lonesome road, inviting us to follow, inviting us to make our own contribution to this world God loves so much."
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-behold-an-invitation/ 

"The Shadow of the Church" – Acts 5:12-16Part III of the sermon series, "Catching Up With the Spirit."
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from September 27, 2020. "Healing in the shadow. That’s the image of the story that I want to remain with you. For in that image we have an ethical question with a miracle wrapping. The ethical question that Luke is asking of Jesus-followers then and Jesus-followers today is this: 'Will harm or healing be found in your shadow?' Will the shadow cast by your existence in this world be one that brings grace or disgrace?"
Read the manuscript on our website: http://www.spres.org/catching-up-with-the-spirit-the-shadow-of-the-church/