7 Pentecost C—7/3/16 Isaiah 66:10-14; Psalm 66:1-9; Galatians 6:1-16; Luke 10:1-11,16-20 Pr. Scott Kramer This weekend we observe the birth of our nation, but what I notice in one of today’s readings is a hint at the birth of our congregation! As many of you know, 2016 marks Lakeridge Lutheran’s 70th anniversary. In our scriptures the number 70 is significant. At the very beginning of today’s gospel reading, for example, Luke writes that in addition to his twelve core disciples he … [Read more...]
Border Crossings
5 Pentecost C—6/19/16 Isaiah 65:1-9; Psalm 22:19-28; Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39 Pr. Scott Kramer On this Father’s Day, I’d like to share with you a story about one father in particular, shared with me by a pastor friend of mine. Over the past year, and again with the Orlando shooting last week, there have been threats against Muslims, even by Christians, so one Muslim father’s daughter was afraid. Last Sunday this father did an amazing thing: he brought her to my friend’s church because … [Read more...]
Perfect Community
Holy Trinity C—5/22/16 Proverbs 8:1-4,22-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15 Pr. Scott Kramer Close your eyes for a few seconds. Take a couple of deep breaths. Imagine that you’re walking up to a closed door. As you approach, the door opens and there…is God. What do you see? You can open your eyes now. When the door opened, what did you see? When some folks think of God they see an older man with long white hair and beard, sitting on a big throne in the clouds—the one who shows up … [Read more...]
Gospel Hospitality
6 Easter C—5/1/16 Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10,22-22:5; John 14:23-29 Pr. Scott Kramer Each year our bishop invites the rostered leaders of our synod to spend two days on retreat. This year’s event took place earlier this past week. At the end of each retreat day, the bishop invites us to what he calls a “hospitality room,” a place of conversation where there is beer, wine, sodas, snacks and other refreshments. What do you think of when you think of hospitality? Maybe something … [Read more...]
Pete, and Repeat!
5 Easter C—4/2416 Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35 Pr. Scott Kramer “How many times do I have to tell you…!?” What child has not heard that question? “How many times do I have to tell you…to take out the trash…to not hit your sister…to do your homework…to turn down the music?" If you were a model child, maybe you didn’t experience this. The rest of us did! “How many times do I have to tell you? Parents ask the question out of exasperation. No doubt our heavenly … [Read more...]
Fail…safe
3 Easter C—4/10/16 Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19 Pr. Scott Kramer This past Thursday Elon Musk announced that after only one week over 325,000 pre-orders had been made for the much-anticipated Model 3. Elon Musk is CEO of American electric carmaker Tesla Motors, and the Model 3 is the company’s first vehicle priced under $40,000. Elon Musk was co-founder of Paypal and SolarCity and is currently CEO of SpaceX, the company that a couple of days ago successfully landed a … [Read more...]
Room for You
Easter C16 Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26; Luke 24:1-12 Pr. Scott Kramer Years ago on a trip to Israel my wife and I planned to visit some of the places that were important parts of Jesus’ life. One of these was the traditional place of his birth in Bethlehem. It’s a small, cramped space, with room for only a few people, beneath the floor of a church that was built above it. The traditional place of Jesus’ birth is not a shelter for animals, such as we find in the Bible. It’s … [Read more...]
The Father’s Love
4 Lent C—3/6/16 Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:1-3,11b-32 Pr. Scott Kramer Our bank statement came in the mail a few days ago. This month, just like every other month, we need to check to see if the bank’s figures and our checkbook figures agree. You do this, too. We call it reconciling the checkbook. The word “reconcile” shows up in some form no fewer than five times in today’s short reading from 2 Corinthians. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: … [Read more...]
Saved to Save
3 Lent C—2/28/16 Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9 Pr. Scott Kramer Three weeks ago yesterday, on February 6th, at 4:00 in the morning, my wife and I were awakened by windows rattling and the building shaking. I looked at her and she said, “Earthquake”, and…we both fell back asleep! Maybe not the safest response to an earthquake (!) but the next morning we heard news that she was right. It was an earthquake—the same one you read about in the news--on the … [Read more...]
Everyday Salvation
During the forty days of Lent we ponder in a more intentional way our stories of salvation. "Being saved," we remember, is not merely some religious or other-worldly drama. Following Jesus means celebrating God's power where it shows up unexpectedly in the ordinary and everyday. Here's a sweet story of salvation from today's paper. … [Read more...]
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