3 Pentecost C—6/5/16 1 Kings 17:17-24; Psalm 30; Galatians 1:11-24; Luke 7:11-17 Pr. Scott Kramer Over the past few weeks the church calendar has made a transition from the season of Easter to the season of Pentecost. We are now in the long season of green, in which God’s Word instructs us in the ways of spiritual growth and maturity. And yet, both our reading from 1 Kings and our reading from Luke are very similar resurrection stories. This sounds like Easter! What’s going on here? The first … [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...]
Higher and Lower
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...]
Perfect In Weakness
6 Pentecost B-7/5/15 Ezekiel 2:1-5; Psalm 123; 2 Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13 Pr. Scott Kramer “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Wow! Such a big family. If you’re in the habit of imagining the Christmas Eve version of Jesus’ family—Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus—this passage might come as a surprise. Jesus may have been the firstborn but according … [Read more...]
Right Under Our Noses
EasterB15—4/5/15 Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2,14-24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Mark 16:1-8 Pr. Scott Kramer And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Some wise guy once said that this verse is the Lutheran approach to evangelism! Let us pray… *** But seriously, what do you think? Silence and fear. The Easter story we just read has no empty tomb, no angels, and no happy ending. What kind of an Easter story is that? Welcome to Mark's gospel! These women at the tomb … [Read more...]