Stickin' With It

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, February 11, 2024

Gore Vidal was a prolific American novelist, essayist and provocateur who identified at the beginning of this century a ‘condition’ he articulated as “today’s passion for the immediate and the casual.” One could say that this passion for instantaneous information, access or gratification in a culture that is saturated with hits and bits of contact makes for relationships with each other and with our God a “hit and run” affair that is incapable of depth and richness.

What a state! It’s so much easier for me to observe this in others and in the world around me than to see it in the mirror. I don’t have the time to… what?! You fill in the blank. Care for and love my family? Read scripture? Pray? Or do I? Our time allotted is the same – it’s how we choose to use it that differs.

Eugene Peterson addressed this issue over 25 years ago: “There are some things that don’t change. God doesn’t change: God seeks and saves. And our response as God is revealed in Jesus doesn’t change: we listen and we follow… or we don’t.” Peterson insists that to follow Jesus, to be agents of God’s justice and love, requires what used to be known as apprenticeship. It is by this apprenticeship that we come to know Jesus and that is where faith begins. 

Come this Sunday as we welcome new members Catrina and Adam Murphy, baptize Thomas Noel Mellen, and imagine what it is to be apprenticed to the bearer of the greatest power of the cosmos – the love of Jesus. 

 

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

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - February 4

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.

Communion Sunday

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, February 4, 2024

Dear Friends in Jesus –

I often speak of the narrative sweep of the Bible as God’s love song to God’s people. And so this Sunday I’ll reference the 40th chapter of Isaiah known as the beginning of Consolation. A fresh voice speaks of comfort, of promise, of restoration by the cosmic God who is “everlasting, the creator of the ends of the earth."

We focus on Mark, continuing in the first chapter, as Jesus has returned from the desert, taught in the synagogue, and exorcised a demon. He leaves the synagogue. He and his disciples stop by Simon and Andrew’s house. Simon (soon to be renamed as Peter) discovers his mother-in-law feverish and in bed. Jesus restores her.

 “He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. […]
                                           
"That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons… And the whole city was gathered around the door. […]
                                                 
“In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.”

The cosmic God, the comforting God, the flesh and blood Incarnate God in need of renewal and refreshment are all one.

From across the centuries, we are given hope, inspiration and evidence of the one who creates, who does not abandon, who meets us at our point of need and lifts us up.

Aren’t we in need of a little lift? Come worship our never-failing God of the ages.

In anticipation –

 

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

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - January 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.

Kindergarten Sunday

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, January 28, 2024

Dear Friends in Jesus –

Where were you in 1988? Just born? Not yet? Grad school? Med school? Junior high? Were you raising kids? Or raising Cain?

I had just produced an Off-Broadway play in New York that was well reviewed… but the economy had just gone south. And someone gives me this book – All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.  The tagline reads, “uncommon thoughts on common things.” The author, Robert Fulghum, writes that wisdom is not to be found at the top of the dean’s list working for your MBA, but rather in the sand pile at Sunday School (or SPK:).

This special Second Presbyterian Kindergarten Sunday we’ll revisit Fulghum’s observation in light of our scripture(s) for the day. We’ll experience what we strive for every time we gather in Jesus' name: Gospel-centered. Challenging. Engaging. Invitational. Inspirational – Joyous worship!

Come to worship. I’ll reference times past and point to that which is to come prescribed and promised by Jesus. We’ll hear and celebrate the children. Grace Ramsey will sing the Gospel and Victor McKelvey will accompany.

We’ll share some time together afterwards –

What we get to do!

 

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

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - January 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.

Curtain Up

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, January 21, 2024

Dear Friends in Jesus –

Our scripture from the Gospel of Mark is perfect for this time/for these times. Jesus emerges battle tested from the wilderness and proclaims, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” Mark 1:14-15 NRSV.

And with that stirring line, the ministry of the incarnate God is begun! Curtain up!

Note he immediately recruits help. The tone is set. He summons ordinary folk pursuing ordinary tasks to accomplish his extraordinary, sacred mission.

This Sunday as we navigate this season of epiphany – of light, the invitation is this: Join us for/to worship. Experience the joy – and warmth! – of community and partnership in establishing the realm of God.

In anticipation,

 

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

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - January 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.

MLK Sunday: Not Done

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, January 14, 2024

Dear Friends in Jesus –

In many churches across our nation this Sunday is known as Beloved Community Sunday. We will lean into this dream first articulated in the early days of the 20th century, but given a deeper meaning through the work of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.

The recent squealings of the darkness on the airwaves in our communities are no match for the gospel love of Jesus. Come proclaim and be witness to the transforming power of our God.

In great anticipation –

 

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

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - January 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.

Epiphany Sunday

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, January 7, 2024

Dear Friends in Jesus –

I share with you a poem by Gian Carlo Menotti. It comes near the end of an anthology, Watch for the Light. It speaks to all of us who seek and seek to follow the incarnate God.

Love Alone – Gian Carlo Menotti
The Child we seek
doesn’t need our gold.
On love, on love alone
he will build his kingdom.
His piercéd hand will hold no scepter,
his haloed head will wear no crown;
his might will not be built
on your toil.
Swifter than lightning
he will soon walk among us.
He will bring us new life
and receive our death,
and the keys to his city
belong to the poor.

Let us look to this year in anticipation and hope because Jesus God pitched his tent next to ours.  

With great joy in being your pastor –

 

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

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - December 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.

If You Don’t Ask...

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, December 31, 2023

Dear Friends in Christ –

Why do we pray? What is its purpose? When did it start?

This Sunday we’ll take a look at why Jesus taught his disciples how to pray and what was going on before that… believe it or not, it ties into this time of year very well.

– Ken

 

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

Source: sermons