Easter Sunday Festival Service Online
Stripped of traditions and rituals, this Easter service may remind us that the promise at the heart of the gospel is that God is both with us and for us at all times and through all conditions. In sorrow or joy triumph of tragedy, in gain our loss, in peace or fear, in scarcity or plenty, in sickness or in health. God is present. And because of Christ’s love, all harsh realities of this life do not have the last word. God’s light is more powerful than darkness. God’s love is stronger than hate. God prevails over all things- even death. So this day, even this day, we may rejoice because Christ is risen!
He is risen!
He is risen indeed!
The sermon and children’s sermon videos are posted below.
Pastor Cress Darwin delivers a message for Easter Sunday 2020.
Stay home, stay healthy and let’s flatten the curve! Sermon videos will be posted online for 10:30 a.m. on Sundays as we worship together from home.
Sarah Craven delivers a children’s message for Easter Sunday 2020.
SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, April 12, 2020
Dr. Bill Brown of Columbia Seminary sent a lovely commentary on these times – “The Life-giving Emptiness of Easter.” The truth is that the narrative we celebrate today, and on which we hang our very lives, “began with an ‘empty tomb’ and three fearful women – a tomb emptied of death.”
Brown reminds us that we’ve shuttered our sacred spaces “not in despair, but in testimony that lives are being saved in doing so.”
We are not abandoning the gospel, but bearing witness to the fact that Christ is not constricted nor contained within the walls, but lives in the hearts of believers. And Christ calls us to join him in meeting folks where they are.
In Christ -
For over 70 years, One Great Hour of Sharing has provided Presbyterians a way to share God’s love with our neighbors in need around the world. The three programs supported by One Great Hour of Sharing - Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and Self-Development of People - all work in different ways to serve individuals and communities in need. From initial disaster response to ongoing community development, their work fits together to provide people with safety, sustenance, and hope.
Our session has approved the time for our congregation's giving to this offering to be during Holy Week. You can mail to the church a check marked 'OGHS' or you can go online and click on 'Give' and choose "One Great Hour".
Source: sermons
Virtual Good Friday Service
Good Friday Service of Tenebrae
Tenebrae (Latin for "darkness") is an ancient Christian tradition that takes place in the days leading up to Easter. This somber Good Friday service is characterized by gradually diminishing light to symbolize the darkness of Jesus' death and the hopelessness in a world without God. In years past, the service has concluded in darkness and worshipers then leave in silence to ponder the impact of Christ's death and await the coming resurrection and the festival service of Easter morning.
This year we gather in the shadows, as it were, surrounded by the darkness of COVID-19. Despite this virus' impact on our lives, our families and our communities, we are children, not of darkness, but of the light. There is a light that saves us and we can come together in spirit to ponder the impacts of a world gone dark knowing that the light will return- that Sunday's coming!
If you'd like, you can recreate aspects of a Tenebrae service at home by arranging 7 candles to be extinguished one at a time as the service progresses. If you don't have candles, you can begin with all the lights on so that the room is as bright as possible and you can dim the lights after each prayer so that you are left to end the service in darkness.
The video will be posted here Friday, April 10th at 7:00 p.m.
A Good Friday message from Pastor Cress Darwin. Special thanks to Dr. Julia Harlow, Lee Lingle, Clarissa Rider and Joel Dettweiler for contributing haunting choral music (at safe social distance).
“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." - Luke 23:24
PRAYER
Dear Lord, though we would that you have forgiven us, this truth needs to penetrate our hearts in new ways. Help us to know with fresh conviction that we are fully and finally forgiven, not because of anything we have done, but because of what you have done for us. May we live today as forgiven people, opening our hearts to you, choosing not to sin because the power of sin has been broken. Amen.
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” - Luke 23:43
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, how we wonder at your grace and mercy! When we cry out to you, you hear us. When we ask you to remember us when you come into your kingdom, you offer the promise of paradise. Your mercy exceeds anything we might imagine. It embraces us, encourages us, it heals us. O Lord, though our situation differs from the criminal who cried out to you, we are so like him – in need of mercy. Today we live, trusting you and you alone. Our lives, now and in the world to come, are in your hands. And so we pray: Jesus, remember us when you come into your kingdom! Jesus, remember us today as we seek to live within your kingdom! Amen.
“Woman, here is your son.” - Mark 19:26
PRAYER
Lord, the presence of your mother at the cross breaks our hearts. You are dying for the love of your created, yet you are also fully human -- a son with a mother. Thank you for loving us to your death. Because you have given us all that you are, we give you our praise, our love, our hearts . . . all that we are. All praise be to you, dear Jesus, fully God and fully human, Savior of the world. Amen.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” - Mark 15:34
PRAYER
Lord Jesus God, though we can never fully grasp the horror of your isolation, every time we read this phrase we are overtaken with gratitude. We thank you for how you loved us. What can we do but to offer ourselves to you in praise and in gratitude? Thank you for loving us so.
“I am thirsty.” John 19:28
PRAYER
Lord God, we acknowledge the searing thirst you endured as you assumed our humanity that you might take away our sin. Sweet Jesus, we, too, are thirsty for the new wine of your kingdom to flood our souls that we might be refreshed by your living water. We yearn for your Spirit to fill us once again. Amen.
“It is finished.” - John 19:30
PRAYER
Jesus, God - You did it. You finished that for which you had been sent, faithful in life, faithful in death. You accomplished that which no one else could, you bore the sin of the world upon your sinless shoulders. All praise be to you, gracious Lord. All praise be to you, dear Jesus, for redeeming us! Alleluia! Amen.
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Luke 23:46
PRAYER
Gracious Lord, even as you once entrusted your Spirit into the hands of the Father, so we give our lives to you. We trust you and you alone. We submit to your sovereignty and will live for your glory. Because of your love we no longer despair. In your strength and compassion we live in hope. Amen.
Stay home, stay healthy and let’s flatten the curve! Services will be posted at the time we would usually gather so that we can come together in spirit as much as possible.
Source: sermons
Palm Sunday: Sustenance for these pandemic days
This is Communion Sunday, please prepare bread or crackers and juice or wine so that you are ready to take part in communion.
SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, April 5, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ –
Well, for this Sunday, the lectionary offers two texts: the account of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem fulfilling the scriptures or the narrative of his passion. The dilemma is this: shall I emphasize the seeming joy and celebration with which the crowds welcome Jesus into Jerusalem? Or dangle a shoe about to drop in the days as Jesus is betrayed, arrested, (deserted by his closest) to be tried, beaten and crucified?
Palm Sunday celebration? Or Holy week Passion?
The biblical witness of these events of 2000 years ago speak in tandem. And the living word as it was lived then instructs us for the living of today.
Join us Sunday online at 10:30 a.m. We’ll engage the texts again in light of these days and I guarantee we’ll discover the courage, the resolve, the humility of the one we proclaim as Savior.
This Sunday we celebrate communion. Have before you elements that are handy – juice, wine, fresh bread, or crackers. We’ll share them together and they will become the body broken and the blood shed in the mystery of the words spoken by our Christ.
Sustenance for these pandemic days.
Stay home, keep distance, trust God – and wash your hands:)
Stay home, stay healthy and let’s flatten the curve! Sermon videos will be posted online for 10:30 a.m. on Sundays as we worship together from home.
Source: sermons
Redeem the time
Find FAITH5 family discipleship resources to do at home here
SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, March 29, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ –
Here we are at Week 2 of our mandate to keep safe distance, Week 1 of Spring, and Week 5 of Lent. Of what? Oh, Lent – that mandated time to reflect on those things within each of us that block our best service to the realm of God. Those things that hold us back from our inheritance as Jesus’ own. It seems so distant, but there are still so many other issues too, like food, jobs, illnesses unrelated to COVID19, and the viability of small businesses.
In the Sermon Series on "One Anothering”, we looked at the rightness of embracing the reality of life, the "is"-ness of life, the necessity to build up each other and God’s church. Last week we went off the path and looked at the fact that each day is under God’s purview – the festival and the funeral.
This Sunday we’ll engage the Lectionary narrative – the raising of Lazarus. And we‘ll heed Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians in the 5th chapter – "Redeem the time …”. Make the most of this time, even in the time of COVID19.
Invite a friend, someone across the country whom you haven’t seen, it seems, forever. Engage God’s word and savor God’s favor even in these times –
Stay home, stay healthy and let’s flatten the curve! Sermon videos will be posted online for 10:30 a.m. on Sundays as we worship together from home.
Source: sermons
This Day
Find FAITH5 family discipleship resources to do at home here
Support Walk for Water
SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, March 22, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ –
There was a wedding last week. I got to welcome everyone - guests, wedding party, mom and dad and bride and groom by saying, “God is love and those who abide in love abide in God and God abides in them. This is the day the Lord has made -- Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”
It’s easy when This day that the Lord has made is a wedding day, or a holiday, or Easter Sunday, or super-sale Saturday, vacation days or the first day of Spring Break, but what about the other days? You see, This is the day includes all the days – divorce days, final exam days, surgery days and tax days – quarantine, social distancing, uncertain, coronavirus days. We have some days a-comin’.
This is the moment we lean into scripture, into each other and the arms of our God who promises to redeem even us!
Join me this Sunday at worship time, 10:30 a.m. online at www.2ndpc.org for a chat– a few words of encouragement and hope as we face these times together in a new format. We’ll continue to find ways to be church in this time of trial.
In sober anticipation –
Stay home, stay healthy and let’s flatten the curve! Sermon videos will be posted online for 10:30 a.m. on Sundays as we worship together from home.
Source: sermons
Let's worship together- even while we're apart
Dear Friends in Christ:
The Session met Tuesday evening. After considering the latest information regarding the COVID-19 virus, it was decided to suspend Sunday worship until such time it is safe for us and those we love to gather again. This decision, made from love, not fear, is a statement of our care for each other and our community.
It was also decided that we not attempt to replicate the Sanctuary worship experience, but a more intimate time of welcome, prayer and proclamation. So rather than preaching to an empty hall, I’ll reflect on God’s word for us from my study. This will be available on the homepage at www.2ndpc.org beginning 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. Let’s determine to be of one body at that time!
All other meetings and Bible studies held at the church are suspended with the prayer that we utilize different platforms to communicate and care for each other – email, text, Skype, FaceTime calls, written cards and notes, but most of all prayer. This is our chance to be the people of God for each other and the world. The need far exceeds our capacity, but not that of the one whom we serve.
And don’t neglect to support your church through online giving. Our work depends on our generous obedience.
“Let not your hearts be troubled – neither let them be afraid.”
In the hymn written for our 200th anniversary celebration, "Wragg Square", Mary Edna Fraser and Julia Harlow wrote, “Through earthquake, fire and hurricane, enduring wages of war, through many hardships which the Church sustained, our peace and hope we secure.” Through this hardship we shall be sustained in solidarity with each other and by our God!
Hallelujah! (Wash your hands:)
In Christ,
Stay connected
Second Presbyterian is a church community where you will be known and nurtured. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here.
And get connected! While we may be practicing social distancing these days, there are still ways to be involved! Please reach out to our Director of Communication and Community Development Jordyn Pritchard, to get connected with a small group if you’re not already part of one.
In a statement, US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams called on healthy Americans to donate blood as we face shortages. This call came with the reminder that "social distancing does not have to mean social disengagement."
We are called to solidarity, not disengagement. Showing up right now might mean staying home, but this is our chance to be the people of God for each other and for the world. The need far exceeds our capacity, but not that of the one whom we serve.
If you need a resource to help support and encourage you through this time of at-home discipleship check out FAITH5. This is a wonderful program to help keep Christ in the center of your family or group.
Text, call, pray, wash your hands, and if you're healthy practice social distancing and go out and give blood. Find ways to show up for one another and the world even from a distance.
How can we be there for you?
We believe that we were created to live in friendship with one another, suffering and celebrating together. It's in these honest, loving relationships that God transforms us and the truth of Christ’s promises becomes a reality.
Please let us know if there are specific ways we can be in prayer for or of service to you and your loved ones.
PRAYER REQUEST
One Anothering in a World Gone Mad
SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, March 15, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ –
We are looking at a world that seems to be in need of adjustment. We looked together at some of the issues, some of the toxins that may sap our spirits, and corrode our capacity for joy, thereby robbing us of our inheritance as children of God.
In Lent we’re taking the opportunity, the sanctioned opportunity to focus on ourselves, not to the point of self absorption, but so that we may identify those things which block us from the transforming love of God.
Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Folks, Jesus is calling us to use this these times to follow him into the desert, into the thin places and to listen deeply for what he has to say to me and to you. To be willing to engage those wild beasts – fear, dread, stress, anxiety – and know that in God’s care nothing will be destroyed that is worth keeping.
“Let not your hearts be troubled.” But wash your hands!
Source: sermons
a time for solidarity
Be sent and care for your neighbors, this week especially. Maybe you can save an at-risk neighbor a trip to the grocery store or call those who might be lonely in this time of social distancing. Find ways to care for hourly wage workers or to provide childcare for single parents, especially if schools are cancelled. Check in with each other! Consider monetary donations to organizations caring for those most vulnerable (like SIHAF and 180Place). Find ways to show grace as events and programs are cancelled. Consider the broader implications behind cancelled soccer tournaments, ballet performances, and concerts and find ways to support your local rec center, small businesses, and venues so that support staff don’t end up losing their paychecks or hourly wages because of these cancelled programs. Is it possible to forgo the claim to a refund and view it as a donation or request that the funds be directed to staff? May we resist fighting for oneself and instead practice solidarity.
As Christians, let’s find ways to shoulder the impact, maybe even share the loss together to lessen the impact of struggle. It’s impossible to estimate the full impact of this pandemic and the needs that will arise, but for now we can step out in faith and do what we can to “flatten the curve” through grace and sacrifice. As Christians, we must encourage each other to recognize the sacrifices we might be called to make. Let’s do what we can to protect the most vulnerable among us.
Response to COVID-19
Dear Friends in Christ:
I write to assure you that we are monitoring the coronavirus very carefully and our response, as a place where people gather for solace, learning, and community. We are coordinating closely with other churches, the Kindergarten, the city, and the agencies that are charged with public health in our state.
These things are clear. The threat is real and growing, but there are practical things we can do for safety of ourselves, those whom we love, and those who will visit this church seeking comfort in these uncertain times.
I know by now you have heard all of this many, many times, but it continues to be the sanest advice in a sea of misinformation:
Wash your hands often and thoroughly
Try to avoid touching your face
Keep your distance from anyone who may be coughing and in general, practice “social distancing,” including close contact and shaking hands
If you’re feverish or aching, call your doctor (do not go to the emergency room unless that is your only means of care) and care for yourself
Stay in your home if your immune or respiratory system is compromised
At this time, we are planning to hold worship this Sunday. There will be sanitizer at the entrance to the church and there will be soap and fresh paper towels in the washrooms. The surfaces in the education building are wiped regularly and the Sanctuary is cleaned thoroughly, but special measures will be made to make sure that the Sanctuary is as clean as possible for Sunday.
We must be vigilant but continue to lead our lives. I know that we also, as a community, will find solace in being together and praying for those affected by the coronavirus. While we are known to be a loving, friendly congregation, we will avoid contact during the “greeting” of those around us at the beginning of the service and Nicole, as our greeter supreme, will be refraining from her loving gift of welcoming hugs. As your Second Family, we will work together to make sure that those for whom venturing outside of their homes is limited, are checked upon regularly, visited if desired, and offered assistance with their shopping and errands.
While we wish that our entire congregation could be with us this Sunday, we realize that there are some who will choose not to be in a public space. We also realize that members may only place their pledge or offering in the plate when they are in church. We would ask that you keep Second Presbyterian in your prayers as well and consider keeping current with your pledge or make a special gift to ensure that the church is able to maintain operations during this unsettling time. You may always mail in a check to the office or make a gift online.
In short, we do not know what the coming days will bring to our community and to the world, but we will continue to pray for each other and the world. If we are forced to suspend worship in the Sanctuary in the coming weeks, I plan to preach on a regular basis and pray for your safety and well-being. We will continue to post the sermons online and will be exploring the possibility of live streaming. I will also continue to be in touch with you as this situation evolves and pray that it will be short-lived.
At times like this, I realize it is difficult to comprehend why we are in the midst of a pandemic. As I often remind you, we have a God who would not love us less for anything we have done, but who by God’s very nature, could not love us more! Jesus said, “Peace I leave you, my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
Good words for eternity – and for now. Peace be with you.
In Christ,
Supporting One Another
SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, March 8, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ –
Brad Gustafson is a pal from Princeton. He grew up in rural Nebraska in a tight knit religious Swedish community. He and I encountered each other as we, both, answered the call to ordained ministry having been fortified and shaped by lifetimes in preparation.
Brad, I’ve found out, married a Charleston woman who, as many, has found her way home.
So after pastoring two congregations Brad and Sally are lowcountry denizens – ready for what’s next.
Brad has written an articulate, winsome book of remembrance. It’s called The Gift of Belonging. It chronicles his boyhood. It’s a timely book for us as we seek to be the people of God.
There are 52 vignettes. The lead line for one is “Truth be told, all of humanity is connected by the wound of being human.”
It’s in our connectedness we find strength and joy and purpose. Through our wounds we share each other’s pain and distress. Through our common calling we find our purpose. This week we ‘build it up!’
Logan Brown is baptized. Second Sunday lunch previews St Patrick’s Day (without the green beer).
We continue our quest to be the people of God.
See you in worship!
Source: sermons
Accepting Each Other
SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, March 1, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ –
One of the big takeaways from this past weekend many of us spent with Dr. Stan Ott 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 it.
And while we don’t shield our eyes from what’s right before us, we need to- with eyes wide open, with “people eyes,” as Stan described them- look deeper and beyond 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 Sundays in this Lent exploring what it means to be the people of God. We will accept each other, build each other up, be open to discipline and disciplining, come to know what it means to forgive and allow ourselves to be forgiven with humility modeled by our Christ.
Lent is a time to be used, to accept the chance to ponder… you!
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 God’s work which is our destiny (and our joy!).
Source: sermons
This year's Lenten Sermon Series
“One Anothering”
Lenten Sermon Series
Coming together for the well-being of the beloved to find the capacity to lose ourselves in service to each other. Exploring: accepting each other, supporting one another, discipling, forgiving, and humility.
Join us Sundays at 10:30!