4 Advent C—12/20/15 Micah 5:2-5a; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-55 Pr. Scott Kramer Something earthshaking happened in Paris, France, recently. Do you remember? Did you notice? Maybe it’s the terrorist attacks a little over a month ago that come to mind, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Soon after that tragedy, from November 30th to December 12th, the nations of the world came together in Paris for the 2015 Climate Change Conference. By the end of the conference, each nation had agreed to … [Read more...]
Sermons Archive
At the Threshold
Third Sunday of Advent 12/13/15 By Melody Kroeger Last week while trimming the rose bushes, in between rain squalls, my thoughts wandered to Christmas. More to the point, I thought about why the time leading up to Christmas is difficult transition for so many people. (It is a tough time of year for me, too.) Christmas is a time of great anticipation and expectation but also of unfulfilled promises. It is, for many reasons, a season of contradictions. Working in the garden between rain drops … [Read more...]
Which Star?
2 Advent C—12/6/15 Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6 Pr. Scott Kramer (Star Wars theme music) A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John…son of … [Read more...]
Simple, Not Easy
Christ the King—11/22/15 Daniel 7:9-10,13-14; Psalm 93; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37 Pr. Scott Kramer I share with you this morning a quote: …Individuals, the different classes of society, the nations of the earth have not as yet found true peace... the old rivalries between nations have not ceased to exert their influence... the nations of today live in a state of armed peace which is scarcely better than war itself, a condition which tends to exhaust national finances, to waste the … [Read more...]
Making Peace
25th Sunday After Pentecost 11/15/15 By Melody Kroeger It was ninety-six years Wednesday since the end of the First World War, at 11 o’clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For ninety-six years, since 1919, people have stood silently – at that time, or on the nearest Sunday – to remember the dead of the War that was to end all wars, of the world war that followed it, and the wars that have followed those. We should not forget that the gospel of Mark is a war-time gospel, … [Read more...]
Go to Zarephath
24 Pentecost B—11/8/15 1 Kings 17:8-16; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44 Pr. Scott Kramer How many times in your life have you been fired from your job? Football coach Jim White had been fired three times. He'd burned his bridges. The only job he could get was in the small town of McFarland, at a public school for the children of Latino farm workers in California’s Central Valley. The year was 1987. McFarland’s football team was hopeless. But the new coach realized that … [Read more...]
WANTED: Dead or Alive!
All Saints Sunday—11/1/15 Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 24; Revelation 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44 Pr. Scott Kramer In the week before Halloween we’ve come to expect TV programs related to Halloween: stories about mummies, zombies, and ghosts. Some of these are not just entertainment but history: the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts, the Halloween Eve War of the Worlds radio program in 1938. One of these history programs this past week was Secrets of the Dead: Vampire Legend. Turns out that … [Read more...]
Eyes Wide Open
Mark 10: 46-52 by Melody Kroeger October 25, 2015 Now what do you imagine Bartimaeus did after his eyes were opened? Did he have a family – a father or mother whose faces he longed to see for the first time? Was he stunned by the beauty of clouds shifting softly against a clear blue sky? Perhaps his breath was caught up by the colorful chaos and hustling of the marketplace. Or, was Bartimaeus disappointed in what he saw – his rags, misery and filth? Once the sharp edges of … [Read more...]
Eye of the Needle
Mark 10:17-31 By Melody Kroeger October 11, 2015 It is, for all intents and purposes, a compelling image: the camel going through the eye of a needle. In my experience sitting in churches, both large and small, this verse from the Gospel of Mark always raises eyebrows. And, when it is proclaimed the text will almost invariably come with a generic defense of riches, to allow the financial comfortable to remain comfortable. This sort of defense usually takes one of several options. The … [Read more...]
Blessing of the Animals
Blessing of the Animals by Melody Kroeger October 4, 2015 At least 10 years ago, a friend of mine and fellow animal lover, sent me a series of photos that still makes me laugh. I’m betting some of you have seen it making the Internet and email rounds. Two churches in an unnamed town got to arguing. And it was a very public argument, played out on the large signs in front of their buildings—you know, the kind we have on our front lawn? The kind of sign with movable letters that can be … [Read more...]
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