"Choose Me" -God

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, February 12, 2023

Dear Friends in Christ –

How many of you were picked first when teams were chosen? I recall jumping up behind the taller kids, running around the bigger kids so I’d be seen. I was smart, I was agile, and I was fast, but my hand to eye coordination was suspect and my growth was yet to spurt!

In our text this Sunday from Deuteronomy, it seems that the creator God was needing Moses to make a case that Yahweh was the best choice. God was directing Moses to make it clear that the people of Israel had a simple decision to make – choose obedience that leads to life, or choose death. Yahweh implores, “Choose me!” 

That may be hard to imagine, the creator of all that has been created jockeying for favor, but experience shows how often we choose something or someone else. This Sunday we look to both testaments for a word to carry us through.

BTW, it’s supposed to rain (of course). Brave the rain! We’ll celebrate our good fortune and pray for those who have escaped the rubble in Turkey and Syria only to find themselves in the cold and snow.

Bring a dessert for Second Sunday Lunch after church and invite someone you know, someone you like or don’t, who believes or you don’t know. Be a herald for the realm!

In gratitude and anticipation –

 


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

Source: sermons

Esau Jenkins

Black History Month

Esau Jenkins was born in 1910 on Johns Island and left school in the fourth grade to work the fields with his family. But he would go on to ensure the children and adults on the island always had a way to get an education. In 1945, after furthering his schooling through night classes and correspondence courses, Jenkins purchased a bus in order to bring children from John's Island into the city’s public schools. He later offered rides to adults to their jobs, but it wasn’t just transportation. On the rides, Jenkins taught the adults to recite passages from the state constitution, a requirement to vote at the time.

Among his many civil rights efforts over the decades, Jenkins created the Progressive Club, which raised money to open a grocery store and gas station on the island. He helped to found a Citizenship School that taught people to read so that they could pass voting tests and he encouraged the City of Charleston to hire their first Black bus drivers. In the 1960s, he extended his efforts to the Hispanic migrant labor force that came to the area. Jenkins died in 1972 and was inducted in the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame in 2003.

Throughout February, we’re highlighting Black members of the Lowcountry community, discussing the lives they led, the work they did and the impact they made.

Sunday Bulletin - Feb. 5

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

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


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.

Ontology

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, February 5, 2023

Dear Friends in Christ –

Last week we spoke of blessedness and what identified them as fortunate, privileged, lucky. The Greek word for it is markarios.

In reality, it wasn’t what identified them, but who. Jesus gave an extensive and surprising list of folks, most of whom one wouldn’t have made the list of the lucky. But the thread common to each was a natural citizenship in the realm of God that had come in Christ – those who mourn and are meek, those who are poor in spirit and merciful, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

This week Jesus continues to tell us who we are – not what we must do, or who we should be, but who we are in actuality. In service to and created for realm work, we are salt and light. We preserve and we give flavor, we illuminate and lead the way powered by the Spirit and engineered to run on God (as C.S. Lewis would say).

See you Sunday –

 


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

Source: sermons

Denmark Vesey

Black History Month

Throughout this month, we’re highlighting Black members of the Lowcountry community – the lives they led, the work they did, and the impact they made. Some of the people in our posts are connected to the story of Second Presbyterian Church, others are leaders or activists who shaped movements of their time.

Denmark Vesey was probably born in St. Thomas and brought as an enslaved person to Bermuda and then Charleston. He was able to purchase his freedom when he was 32 years old and worked as a carpenter. He was an active member of Second Presbyterian Church, where he became a communicant in April of 1817 – a member entitled to take communion, which was a big commitment at the time. He may have eventually helped found the church that became Emanuel AME. But in 1822, Vesey was accused of leading a plot to liberate enslaved people and rise up against their enslavers. Before the alleged plot could be executed, Vesey was arrested in June and he was hanged in July, along with 35 other men who were accused of being involved. In the aftermath, enslavers took many more precautions, and the Negro Seaman Act was passed, requiring Black sailors on ships docked in Charleston to be imprisoned while the ships were in port. The act was ruled unconstitutional, and this became one of the states’ rights issues that ultimately led to the Civil War.

Sunday Bulletin - Jan. 29

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

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


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.

#Blessed

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, January 29, 2023

Dear Friends in Christ –

We’re engaging the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel until the beginning of Lent. In our text for this Sunday, Jesus goes up the mountain. He gathers the disciples and the first thing he teaches them is how to recognize blessedness. Not how to become blessed, or even to bless each other, but rather to recognize who is already blessed by God. And guess what - it’s not who we think.

Jesus begins this teaching, not with promises of wealth, comfort or prestige, but with promises of blessedness even, and perhaps most often, in the hard human experiences of mourning, meekness, peacemaking, persecution, and poverty of spirit.

But here’s the key: Jesus’ form of blessedness only makes sense in light of the kingdom of God. This space fashioned by God’s grace to be different from the world around us. It is to be a place of forgiveness, mercy, grace, and goodness – worth getting up for and inviting someone to come along!

Let’s come together and receive the message that Jesus conveyed first and foremost to his chosen, trusted few – that fortunate, favored, happy, privileged, and blessed are we even now who seek, serve and surrender to the living, loving God.

 


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

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - Jan. 22

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

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


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.

Second Presbyterian is a church community where you will be known and nurtured. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here. Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member 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.

A Tactical Start

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, January 22, 2023

Dear Friends in Christ –

Our text from Matthew is perfect for these times. Jesus emerges from the forge of the wilderness and proclaims, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!" (Matt 4:17 CEB). And with that stirring line, the ministry of the incarnate God is begun!

Now, he immediately recruits help. He summons ordinary folk pursuing ordinary tasks to accomplish his extraordinary, sacred mission.

Join us this Sunday as we navigate this season of epiphany, of light. Discover the joy of community and partnership in establishing the realm of God.

In anticipation,

 


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

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - Jan. 15

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

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


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.

Second Presbyterian is a church community where you will be known and nurtured. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here. Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member 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.

What Are You Looking For?

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, January 15, 2023

Dear Friends in Christ –

In the middle of the last century, forces converged to enable a Kairos moment – a critical juncture, a divine appointment in time - an intervention for right and human dignity accomplished through non-violence.  

Martin Luther King, Jr. would be 94 years old had he lived. Monday is the day set aside by the nation to honor his legacy and to summon us back to the ongoing work of living out the scripture mandate to love all people.

Let’s set aside culture wars and the stench of partisan rancor. The darkness squeals when God’s people come together in Holy Boldness.

See you in worship –

 


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

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - Jan. 8

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

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


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.

Second Presbyterian is a church community where you will be known and nurtured. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here. Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member 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.

Wise Guys

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, January 8, 2023

Dear Friends in Christ –

Happy New Year! 

We begin the year with competing narratives. There are two major events, motions, observances this first week into the new year -- the epiphany and the baptism of Jesus. The biblical narrative of these themes is rich: 1) Royalty from the orient have sojourned to visit the newborn king. Cosmic light has led them to the divine light; 2) The promised child has grown in stature and in favor and is now stepping into his vocation attentive to the prophets.

The passage from the prophet Isaiah chosen for Sunday shows God speaking into the pain of an exiled and vanquished people. God will send a servant who will bring justice, and not to Israel only but to all nations. Dramatic and powerful! We have seen that God calls prophets when the nights are long and the air is sour. Yet again and again we see and experience God’s redemption and God’s love.  

This Sunday we will look to the God of our salvation. We will frame Jesus’ care in light of these times. We will recognize the hope that is born in chaos and realized in the power of love.  

Join us in worship at 10:30. We’ll install Chris Olson as Elder and ordain/install Judy Olson as Deacon. Carols will be sung and God’s story told. Invite a friend – or someone whom you have a hard time loving!

Best love in Christ –

 


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

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - Jan. 1

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

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


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.

Second Presbyterian is a church community where you will be known and nurtured. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here. Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member 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.