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...]
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...]
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...]
Love and Justice
15 Pentecost B—9/6/15 Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2:1-17; Mark 7:24-37 Genesis 1:1-25; Romans :18-23; John 1:1-14 Pr. Scott Kramer Over the past couple of Sundays we have heard Jesus teach that religion, tradition, and ritual are “worthless”…unless they lead us to a deeper understanding of God’s love and a deeper practice of God’s love for all people! Today we begin the Season of Creation, which congregations of many denominations around the world observe this year—and every … [Read more...]
Who We Remember
13 Pentecost B—8/23/15 Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18; Psalm 34:15-22; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-59 Pr. Scott Kramer A few years ago my wife and I returned to visit her family in China. This particular visit coincided with the Chinese holiday known as Ching Ming Jie (“Pure Brightness Festival”). In English it’s called the “Grave-sweeping Festival.” This is the traditional festival that honors Chinese ancestors. Families return to the family grave, tidy it up and often have a picnic right … [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...]
Choose Love
5 Pentecost B—5/3/15 Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 22:25-31; 1 John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8 Pr. Scott Kramer Some of us are old enough to remember when Bruce Jenner won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1976 Olympics. Almost forty years later he’s back in the news again, making headlines for a very different reason: Bruce Jenner is transitioning to a woman. Meanwhile, in our nation’s capital the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments for and against the constitutionality of gay marriage. In … [Read more...]
REACH Meeting
Renton Ecumenical Association of CHurches monthly meeting ( www.reachrenton.org ). Special Focus: Communities in Schools of Renton. … [Read more...]
Final Exam
Christ the King A14—11/23/14 Ezekiel 34:11–16, 20–24; Psalm 95:1-7a; Eph. 1:15-23; Matt. 25:31-46 “God loves you…no matter what.” At the baptismal font, week after week, in the presence of children, we hear these words. “God loves you…no matter what.” Children seem to accept this assurance with little problem. We adults, however, are waiting for the other shoe to drop, right? Unconditional love—truly unconditional love—is so rare in the world and so rare in our experience … [Read more...]