Sermons from Second

Love Deeply (Pledge Dedication Sunday; Sun, Nov 6)

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Read along with 1 Peter 4:8-11. 

Sun, Nov 6 was the Sunday we officially received pledges for 2017--our commitment of how we're going to serve God and neighbor. In particular, today we talked about the gifts God has given to all of us: MONEY. 

Sermon excerpt: 

I hope that this church is one of the places where you see and hear and feel God’s Holy Spirit at work and that you know that our efforts to love deeply and to offer hospitality, while often flawed and imperfect, are our sincere way of trying to be God’s partner and to help him finish the world.

And I pray that in 2017, God would use us, through these pledges and our faithful stewardship of whatever gifts God has given to us, to love deeply and offer hospitality to our broken world that is in such desperate need of some hope, of a light to shine into their darkness.

It’s simple, you see: when you drop your pledge card in the offering plate, you are acting as God’s partner to shine Christ’s light into someone’s darkness. 

At the Table (A Communion Meditation from Sun, Oct 30)

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Read Luke 19:1-10 here. 

Sermon excerpt: 

I can just picture a great big banquet table spread out with food as far as the eye can see, each side lined with chairs—tall ones, short ones, big ones, small ones, fancy ones, simple ones, and ones which are battered around the bottom of the legs from frequent use, like the ones at my family’s table.

And at the table in those chairs are people, all the saints of the church from all places and all times, laughing, telling jokes or stories,and asking for anther helping of mashed potatoes or another slice of pie.

As far as the eye can see, there are chairs at the table,including some empty ones sprinkled along the way which have not yet been filled by their owners because we’re still here on earth.  

Second Pres Chancel Choir Sings Brahms' "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place"

Enjoy this audio recording of Johannes Brahms' "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place," Second Pres's anthem under the direction of Dr. Stanley Workman from Sun, Oct 23, 2016. 

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The Pharisee & the Tax Collector (Sun, Oct 23)

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Read along with Luke 18:9-14. 

Sermon excerpt from Sun, Oct 23: 

And if we’re not careful, we might leave worship today thinking something like, “Thank you, God, I’m not like that dumb, old Pharisee, full of arrogance and pride.” If we’re not careful, we just might find ourselves doing the same thing that the Pharisee did, looking down on others.

In fact, I’m afraid, generally speaking, we have a lot more in common with the Pharisee than we do the tax collector. The Pharisee is like someone who goes to church every Sunday, who puts some money in the offering plate as it goes by, who sings in the choir, who serves on a committee, who preaches the sermon.

For those of us who do a lot of good works, it’s easy for us to rest on our laurels and think we are righteous because of the things we do. We even sometimes become a wee bit arrogant like the Pharisee. And we sort of forget about or even become blind to our sin. 

Seek the Welfare of the City

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Read along with Jeremiah 29:1, 4-14. 

Sermon excerpt: 

It would have been tempting for the exiles in Babylon to create their own little closed community, ignoring the world around them. But that’s not what God intended—God meant for them to become a part of the society in which they lived, not to retreat from it; remaining holy for sure, but to be in the world without being of the world, to borrow from Richard Niebuhr’s book,Christ and Culture.

I think it would be very easy for us (or any church, really)to build our own little closed community, to create our own little world where we only cared about ourselves and we ignored the welfare of the city in which we live. In fact, many churches do just that … and sooner or later, they die.

But that’s not who God calls us to be. God calls us to be an active, integral part of the community to which he calls us, to persistently seek its welfare, and to PRAY to the Lord for it on its behalf. In particular it is the command of Jesus to in the gospels to seek the welfare of others by caring for the least and the lost, loving the unlovable, and giving to those in need.

Refuge & Shelter

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Read along with Psalm 91. 

Sermon excerpt: 
It is so very easy to feel abandoned by God when tragedy strikes. It is so very easy to feel as though God has withdrawn his gracious presence when the news breaks of another clash between police and protestors,when someone reports on another weekend of heroin overdoses. It is so very easy to feel like God is absent when things seem to be spiraling out of control and there seems to be no way to stop it.  

But the truth is this: God is nearest to us when we need him the most, offering shelter under his wings and refuge in his fortress of strength. In Psalm 91, “the psalmist is affirming that God will be with the people in trouble, […] but may not make the trouble go away.”[1]Faith in God is not a bubble which keeps away all harm.

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[1] www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2727

Praising the Dishonest Manager

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You REALLY want to read along with this one: Luke 16:1-13. 

Sermon excerpt:

One of my very favorite words is “quotidian.” And one of the reasons I like it so much is that it’s just a fancy way of saying “ordinary.”Ours is a quotidian yet profound faith; a faith of the ins and outs of everyday; a life of faithfulness in little things which trains us to faithful in bigger things.

Too often we get distracted by the big things, thinking we need to solve all the world’s problems. But maybe this parable is telling us that it’s a more prudent and responsible use of our time and God’s resources to be faithful in the little things; maybe it’s about being good managers of our money and possessions to make a difference here, in our little corner of the world God has entrusted to us. 

Not in a big, flashy way but in a quiet,quotidian, faithful little way that may not win us awards here on earth, but when all the money and all the possessions gone, we will be welcomed into “eternal homes” for a life well-managed.

Mercy

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Read 1 Timothy 1:12-17 here. 

Sermon excerpt, based on a conversation from John Grisham's "The Chamber:" 

“You know, God,” Paul might have said to God during those three days he was blind, “it seems too easy. I just say one quick prayer and all the murders and stonings I ordered and all the people I unjustly threw in prison—all of that’s forgiven.”

“Why does that bother you,” God might have asked.

“Because I’ve done some bad things, God.”

And God might have replied, “That’s what I’m here for, Paul. ‘15 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners … just like you. I’m a God of infinite love.’” 

Radical Peacemaking

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Check out Mary Baughman's rendition of Psalm 139 from "The Message" as well as Pastor Allison's sermon on the WHOLE book of Philemon in this podcast. 

PS Use the hand-out below to follow along with the sermon! 

Naked Fruit: Self-Control

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Read along with Luke 14:1, 7-14. 

Sermon excerpt: 

The final characteristic [in our "Naked Fruit" sermons series] is self-control which comes from two Greek words: en which means “in” and kratos which means “strength or power or rule.” Literally, self-control means “strength from within.”[1]

Self-control helps us to choose a life guided by the Spirit instead of a life guided by the works of the flesh, resisting temptations and urges. In fact, without this “strength from within,” loving people would turn into using them to our advantage and generosity would become manipulation.

The Fruit of the Spirit is all about how we treat others,and self-control makes sure that we’re putting others first, instead of always looking to our own interests, like the people from the parable Jesus tells in today’s reading from Luke.

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[1]Trask & Goodall, The Fruit of theSpirit: Becoming the Person God Wants You to Be, p. 152.