6 Easter A—5/17/20 Acts 17:22-31; 1 Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21 Pr. Scott Kramer Recently, I’ve been wondering how our current pandemic stacks up against pandemics of the past. Doing a bit of digging, I found that from the time our Christian scriptures were written until now there have been at least twenty major pandemics around the globe. Measured by the number of people who have died, it turns out that COVID-19 to-date ranks #15 on this list of twenty. What caught my attention more … [Read more...]
Natural Trust
Holy Trinity—5/27/18 Romans 8:12-17; John 3:5-17 Pr. Scott Kramer Every morning one of the first things I do is open the front door and pick up the Seattle Times that’s been delivered. (We’re old-fashioned that way!) When I scan the paper I don’t need to tell you that what experience is a lot of bad news. It’s not all bad news, but there’s enough each day that over time it can have the effect of wearing down a person’s trust of other people. My wife and I have been enjoying a TV series called … [Read more...]
Friends
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...]
Love or Fear
13 Pentecost A—9/3/17 Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 26:1-8; Romans 12:19-21; Matthew 16:21-28 Pr. Scott Kramer In the September issue of National Geographic magazine is a short interview with Vivek Murthy, former Surgeon General of the United States. This month’s issue is dedicated to the “Science of Addiction” and Murthy was asked what it means to be healthy, and he speaks specifically about emotional health: I am deeply concerned about the level of stress that our country is experiencing…I have long … [Read more...]
Asleep In The Boat
17 Pentecost C—9/11/16 Job 28:20-27; Psalm 29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; Luke 8:22-25 Pr. Scott Kramer When many people my generation and younger hear the term “U2 incident” we might imagine some disturbance at a rock concert by the Irish band of the same name. Some of you, though, are old enough to know that the original “U2 incident” involved an American spy plane that was shot down in 1960 over Soviet airspace. The 2015 movie Bridge of Spies is based on this event. Some time before the … [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...]