Second Presbyterian Church + Portsmouth, OH 

Since our organ was feeling under the weather, we worshiped in the chapel. And I must have been a little preoccupied because I forgot to turn off the recording, so this podcast includes most of the service, including the lovely acoustic piano service music provided by Dr. Stan Workman during the offering. Enjoy! 

Included in this podcast: 

Prayer for Illumination 

The Epistle reading  2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:5 

The Psalter  Psalm 121 

The Gospel reading  Luke 18:1-8 

The Anthem  "Come Thou Fount" (Craig Courtney) 

The Old Testament reading  Genesis 32:22-31  

The Sermon "The Sun Always Rises" 

Sermon excerpt: 

Being a follower of Jesus Christ does not protect us from dark nights of the soul. Our faith in God does not protect us from having loved ones die suddenly or marriages ending badly or keep terrible accidents from happening. We will be tested, and we will struggle to meet the challenge of that test.

In fact, those who open their hearts to Jesus also open their hearts to the world and will inevitably have those hearts broken again and again. One of my favorite authors writes, “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.”

Being a follower of Jesus Christ does not protect us from the terrible things that will happen … but our belief in the faithfulness of God even in the darkest times gives us one more reason to keep going, to keep believing, to keep fighting.