Sunday Bulletin - July 12

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

 “Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Jesus”

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - If you’re a visitor, online or in person, and would like more information please feel free to fill out a card or email Pastor Cress.

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and where you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here.

Watch Second Presbyterian videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.

Believing In, Believing, Trusting

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

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SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, July 12, 2026

Dear Friends in Christ –
 

"And God took Abram outside and said, 'Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.' Then God said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Abram believed the Lord, and God credited it to him as righteousness"
(Genesis 15:5-6 NRSV)

The King James version reads, “Abram believed in the Lord…”

Over millennia this phrase has shaped three major faiths. Some have come to group them together into the Abrahamic faiths – Jewish, Christian and Muslim – contending that they all witness to the same God. But do they? Perhaps to the novel notion of a monotheistic God, but they exhibit a different way of expressing the relationship. As followers of Jesus, we look to the words of Paul who in Romans suggested “a more excellent way” – the way of love revealed in the teaching and the life of Jesus.

This Sunday we look at this Genesis text from 3000 years ago as a catalyst to live into our own faith in God’s promises – promises that we must believe, that we must live into, if we are to be authentic followers of Jesus the Christ.

Invite you friends. Stop by. Tune in. Let’s be the church navigating these new waters for and with Jesus.

In anticipation –

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Click here to view all Second Presbyterian Church videos. Find upcoming events and announcements here.

Sunday Bulletin - July 5

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

 “Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Jesus”

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - If you’re a visitor, online or in person, and would like more information please feel free to fill out a card or email Pastor Cress.

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and where you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here.

Watch Second Presbyterian videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.

The Pursuit of Happiness?

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

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SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, July 5, 2026

Dear Friends in Christ –

As I was growing up in Texas, I knew one thing- I wanted to be a cowboy. For me, of course, that meant riding a handsome horse, strumming three chord guitar tunes, and wearing boots with ‘dogger’ heels – not the work of herding and branding cattle.  

Roy Rogers and Gene Autry were the most popular singing cowboys, but it was the crooner, Bing Crosby who first recorded what came to be known as the Anthem of the West – "Home on the Range" (which was said to be President Franklin Roosevelt’s favorite song).

My favorite lyrics were, “Where never is heard a discouraging word and the sky is not cloudy all day.”

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? But even the mythic range the song speaks to is riven these days with conflict over water, grazing rights and market forces. Perhaps there is no place we are safe from discouraging words, so it’s all the more wonderful to find encouragement as we do at the end of our text this Sunday:   ‘...rejoice that your names are written in heaven!’ (Luke 10:20).

I know many folks are out of town or looking to enjoy the long weekend with no distractions (meaning real clothes and church), but don’t deny yourself the joy we know in gathering, singing, positioned for God’s grace. Invite whomever is left – we are all to be evangelists!

See you in worship!

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Click here to view all Second Presbyterian Church videos. Find upcoming events and announcements here.

Sunday Bulletin - June 28

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

 “Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Jesus”

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - If you’re a visitor, online or in person, and would like more information please feel free to fill out a card or email Pastor Cress.

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and where you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here.

Watch Second Presbyterian videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.

Forgiving – Forgiven – Forgiveness

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

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SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, June 28, 2026

Dear Friends in Christ –

This Sunday we look at forgiving. Or is it forgiveness? Or forgiven-ness? Perhaps one of the most difficult concepts that we as people of faith are called to deal with. We are supposed to forgive… and forgive… and forgive. But what if something has happened that is unforgivable. Is there such a thing for us?

There is so much to consider surrounding forgiving and forgiveness and forgiven-ness!

First of all community without forgiveness is impossible. As believers, we are called “to settle our disputes with each other” (2 Cor. 5:18). We need to consistently forgive others and receive forgiveness from others or we’ll “give up in despair" (2 Cor. 2:7).

Whenever we are hurt by someone, we have a choice: will we focus on retaliation or resolution? The Bible minces no words about settling the score: “Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always tries to be kind to each other – and everyone else” (I Thess. 5:15). But in God’s economy that isn’t enough. We have to press into the very heart of the matter – “forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

(Invite someone you need to forgive or from whom you need forgiveness!)
 
See you in worship!

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Click here to view all Second Presbyterian Church videos. Find upcoming events and announcements here.

Sunday Bulletin - June 21

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

 “Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Jesus”

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - If you’re a visitor, online or in person, and would like more information please feel free to fill out a card or email Pastor Cress.

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and where you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here.

Watch Second Presbyterian videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.

Supporting Each Other

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

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SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, June 21, 2026

Dear Friends in Christ –

This week we take seriously the requirement discussed last week that We Support Each Other! The way we communicate to and with each other – the words we use, and the way in which we convey them, must demonstrate to each other (and, therefore, will demonstrate to the world) our intention to support each other.   

As we seek the ways we can support one another, it might be helpful to remember that the word support literally means, “to lend strength to.” 

We find strength in places that are supportive, places where it’s safe to be ourselves.  

So – come to worship Jesus!

In great anticipation, 

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Click here to view all Second Presbyterian Church videos. Find upcoming events and announcements here.

Sunday Bulletin - June 14

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

 “Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Jesus”

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - If you’re a visitor, online or in person, and would like more information please feel free to fill out a card or email Pastor Cress.

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and where you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here.

Watch Second Presbyterian videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.

Accepting Each Other

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

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SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, June 14, 2026

Dear Friends in Christ –

A few years ago we invited Stan Ott, a church consultant, to join us for a weekend. One of the takeaways from that time was this: We must be the people of God before we attempt to do the work of the people of God.

One can stand at a distance and chuckle – of course! But I think many of us fall into a trap, a no win situation. We see what’s happening in the broader church where statistics don’t paint a positive picture. We are aware of the shifting loyalties, patterns of behavior, what appears to be waning commitment to the ‘church’ as we have known.

And while we don’t shield our eyes from what’s right before us, we need to - with eyes wide open - look deeper and beneath the surface. If we look with compassion at people’s lives today we see health issues, soccer weekends, family caregivers, multiple jobs. We see that lives are different and that yesterday’s norm is not today’s.

Dear friends, we have an opportunity to be a part of and live into Jesus’ new creation. We will spend the coming Sundays exploring what it means to be the people of God. We will accept each other, build each other up, come to know what it means to forgive, and allow ourselves to be forgiven with humility modeled by our Christ.

What is in the way of your marriage, your friends, your work, your aspirations? By becoming the people of God we will be set free to partner in God’s work which is our destiny (and our joy!). 

In great anticipation –

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Click here to view all Second Presbyterian Church videos. Find upcoming events and announcements here.

Sunday Bulletin - June 7

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

 “Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Jesus”

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - If you’re a visitor, online or in person, and would like more information please feel free to fill out a card or email Pastor Cress.

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and where you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here.

Watch Second Presbyterian videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.

I Desire Mercy

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

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SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, June 7, 2026

Dear Friends in Christ –

Cleo La Rue was my professor of homiletics at seminary. He was the first Black tenured professor in the department. He was from south Texas, played stride piano and was unflinching in his criticism and lavish in his praise – in other words – perfect.

He writes in his commentary on this section of Matthew, “Jesus typically calls busy folks. He was not known for recruiting lollygaggers.” In these short verses we have:

• a vocational-180 – detested tax collector to disciple,

• a restoration – an ‘unclean woman’ restored to wholeness,

• a resurrection – a dead child brought back to life. 

What do these episodes tell us about Jesus? Various people shown mercy  - all sick or perceived as sinful, healed by Jesus, restored to new possibilities for living in wholeness and purpose.

We are in ‘ordinary time’ – a long stretch to engage the life and work of our Lord that starts this Sunday at the table – our Lord’s.

Here's your chance for perfect attendance post Memorial Day!

In anticipation –

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Click here to view all Second Presbyterian Church videos. Find upcoming events and announcements here.

Sunday Bulletin - May 31

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

 “Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Jesus”

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - If you’re a visitor, online or in person, and would like more information please feel free to fill out a card or email Pastor Cress.

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and where you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here.

Watch Second Presbyterian videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.

Above, Beneath, Within

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

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SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, May 31, 2026

Dear Friends in Christ –

This is the only day of the year that calls us to ponder a teaching of the church rather than a teaching of Jesus. Although this mystery of God revealed in three ways is the core belief of Christianity, we struggle to explain it. Monotheistic Christians do back flips explaining why such a belief in the triune God doesn't make them polytheists!

Well, Sunday we won’t be exegeting doctrine. We’ll be savoring the multifaceted nature of our God - creative, redemptive and sustaining - all of which we will need to employ if we are to be the radical, loving, transforming agents our God is calling us to be.

• We’ll celebrate graduations and student accomplishments.

• We’ll ordain and install the new officers called by God and elected by you.

• It’s Gospel Sunday – we welcome Grace Ramsey back!

The beginning of summer – its cool in God’s house! Invite someone you love. Take a moment to position yourself for grace!

In anticipation –

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Click here to view all Second Presbyterian Church videos. Find upcoming events and announcements here.

Pentecost Sunday Bulletin - May 24

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

 “Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Jesus”

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - If you’re a visitor, online or in person, and would like more information please feel free to fill out a card or email Pastor Cress.

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and where you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here.

Watch Second Presbyterian videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.