6 Easter B—5/6/18 Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17 Pr. Scott Kramer Some of you knew Jim Fenner, who was a member of this congregation for decades. Jim died earlier this year. Two weeks ago some of us attended a gathering of friends and family just up the hill at the Skyway VFW Hall to remember Jim’s life. Who knew that one week later, last Sunday, a gunfight would break out in that same VFW parking lot? Two men died and several others were injured. This is just … [Read more...]
Cast All Your Anxiety On Him
7 Easter A—5/28/17 Acts 1:6-14; Psalm 68:1-10,32-35; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11 Pr. Scott Kramer It’s already been over six months since the election but in some parts of the country you might think we are still in campaign season! Driving through rural Washington recently I’ve seen huge signs still in place on barns and fences: “Make America Great Again.” We live in anxious times, and once anxiety takes hold of human hearts it’s not easy to let go! As those campaign signs and … [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...]
Whatever You Want…
21 Pentecost B—10/18/15 Isaiah 53:4-12; Psalm 91:9-16; Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 10:35-45 Pr. Scott Kramer Imagine being a teacher in a classroom, when two of the students stand up and say, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. What were James and John thinking!? On the other hand, maybe they knew Jesus better than we do! In John’s gospel, chapter 14, for example, Jesus says: I will do whatever you ask in my name... If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do … [Read more...]
Bread for the Journey
August 9 Homily by Melody Kroeger John 6:35, 41-51 (A sermon delivered in both English and Spanish at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Seattle) Sometimes the biblical texts selected for a particular Sunday seem to be chosen randomly. The Hebrew scripture and the Gospel readings don’t seem to belong to one another, to inform or support one another. But today, it would be difficult to miss the rich theology in the Hebrew and Christian texts. A veces los textos bíblicos seleccionados para … [Read more...]
We Belong to God
Easter 7B—5/17/15 Acts 1:15-17,21-26; Psalm 1; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19 By Melody Kroeger A Pew Research poll on religion, released last week, found that the number of people identifying themselves as “Christians” has fallen significantly, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing. Facebook will begin publishing news content directly from nine news media organizations. Why? Because media consultants found that 57% of consumers will … [Read more...]