Second on the Mount

Luke 23:33-43
Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from Christ the King Sunday, November 23, 2025.
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

II Corinthians 1:3–7
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, November 16, 2025.
• "Sometimes encouragement looks like holding someone steady when they cannot hold steady themselves.
• "Sometimes it looks like absorbing the angry words of another without firing back—letting them sit with what they said without the comfort of your having said worse.
• "Sometimes it looks like sitting in a hospital room and saying nothing because nothing can be said that will help.
• "Sometimes it looks like offering a small word of support that helps another keep going during a very bad day.
• "And sometimes it looks like being the one person who doesn’t walk away when others do.
"This is the ministry Paul is naming—the ministry of presence that draws its strength from the God who is present with us. The God who in Jesus Christ stepped into our sorrow and our joy, into our failures and our hope, into our living and even into our dying."
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

John 14:1-3
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from All Saints' Sunday, November 2, 2025."Jesus comforts his disciples with the promise that he goes to prepare a place for them—but even more, that his Spirit will dwell within them now. To be a resurrection people is to live in the current of that coming world—• to forgive, • to create, • to mend what is broken, trusting that God’s life is already flowing downstream through us. Every act of compassion, every choice for justice, every word of mercy—that is resurrection life spilling downstream."
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/  

I Samuel 8:4-22, Galatians 1:6-9
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, October 26, 2025.
"Young People—feeling the pressure to keep up, to prove yourselves, to stay relevant. Remember, your worth is not measured by speed, likes, or novelty. You are loved by God, fully and unconditionally. Creativity is a gift, not a requirement.
"Workers—those working in offices, shops, schools, factories or at home, who are asked to adapt constantly, to innovate on demand. Rhythms of prayer, worship, and Sabbath can restore what the world drains.
"Parents and caregivers—juggling the endless demands of home and work: You cannot do everything. Grace meets you in ordinary acts of love, which shape lives more profoundly than any trend.
"Retired or Older Adults—who may feel overlooked in a culture obsessed with youth: Your wisdom, presence, and memory of what is true and what sustains, are invaluable. You can guide and sustain younger generations.
"No matter our age or work status, God’s grace sustains us. God helps us live in a world of rapid change without being consumed by it. We create, we learn, we innovate—but always from a place rooted in God’s steadfast love."
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Luke 17:11-19
Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Preschool Sunday, October 19, 2025.
"It’s what Jesus does over and over again. He gathers the ones we’ve been taught to fear or exclude. He restores a body, and also a community. He returns dignity, identity, and participation. And he says, in every way that matters, you belong.
"In a world where exile, in one way or another, touches nearly all of us, this is good news. And it’s the same, surprising, good news he gives to exiles in Babylon: 'Seek the welfare—the shalom—of the place where I have sent you, for in its shalom you will find your own.'
"This is what Jesus offers—not just healing, but shalom. Not just survival, but salvation. Not just being made clean but being made whole. 
"The question for us is: how do we respond to such incredible grace?"
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

John 1:6-9, II Corinthians 4:5-7
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Commitment Sunday, October 12, 2025.
"The one essential fact about light is that it is separate from what bears it. • The light of the sun isn’t the sun itself. • The light of a fire isn’t the wood that burns. • Even the glow from a candle or a bulb isn’t the wax or the filament. 
"Paul echoes the same truth in his own way. He’s not speaking of John, but of all of us who call ourselves Christians. He is even speaking of every congregation: 'We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus as Lord… We have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power to save is of God and does not come from us.'
"We are not the flame—we are the candle. We are not the light—we are the lantern.
"That’s worth thinking about as a congregation on Commitment Sunday."
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/

Luke 5:27-32, 17:7-10
Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from World Communion Sunday, October 5, 2025.
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***This sermon was originally intended to be a visual experience. We encourage you to watch the original live streamed recording of this sermon on YouTube.***Video: "The Light We Shine"
Thank you to Andrea Boone, Jane Winders Frank, Ginger Poole Avis, and the wonderful staff and technicians at Mill Mountain Theatre.
. . . 
Matthew 5:14-16
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, September 28, 2025.
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Mark 1:21-39, Acts 17: 24-28
Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth N.H. Link from Sunday, September 21, 2025.
"You are the living church when you forgive in a culture of vengeance. You are the living church when you speak truth in the face of lies. You are the living church when you love your neighbor more than your comfort. You are the living church when you sow compassion in a world that rewards cruelty. You are the living church when you refuse to bow to fear and choose hope and generosity instead.
"This is what it means to pray and live “Thy kingdom come.” May we follow Christ even when it leads us beyond the maps. May we be the living church in a world that needs it now more than ever."
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/ 

Isaiah 53:2-3, Philippians 4:8
Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, September 14, 2025.
"In the aftermath of [Charlie Kirk's] shooting—as with so many other publicized acts of violence, and the countless unseen ones—we all should be asking ourselves: Do our words carry the same ugliness we say we condemn and are we contributing to this dangerous climate?"Whether you're a leader, a public voice, someone on X, or with a Facebook page, or an Instagram account, or a loud voice in the neighborhood or at the dinner table—If you speak of those you disagree with as enemies…If you repeat wild claims that stoke fear and cast others as villains…If you talk like a war is starting…You’re not calling out violence.You’re contributing to it."...I don’t want to preach a gospel that takes partisan sides and becomes another form of ugliness. I want to preach the beautiful Gospel of Jesus Christ—the one who absorbed the world’s ugliest violence and answered it with love, grace, and peace."
Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/