Pastor’s Blog
Dr. Richard Kremer
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What Makes a Family? (Acts 2: 1-13)
As most of you know, a couple of weekends each year I lay aside my pastoral duties to meet family and friends from around the country for a few days of camping and river rafting. Next weekend, will be the 89th time we have gathered. And though the cast of characters...
What Will God Do With People of Other Faiths? (Romans 11: 25-36)
Some years ago I ran across the amazing story of a young black South African minister who had been arrested by apartheid authorities on bogus charges. He was terribly tortured by his captors, enduring unspeakable horrors. Amidst his anguish this young man would...
The Nature of Christian Hope (Romans 8: 18-25)
I begin this sermon where I ended the last one, by reciting Paul’s spiritual calculus for developing spiritual maturity. He declared, “We rejoice in our suffering because we know that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character...
The Blessing of Dashed Dreams (Romans 5: 1-5)
The crowd began the countdown: “Ten – Nine –Eight – Seven – Six –“ The color commentator screamed over the roar -- “They’re gonna do it!” “Five - Four – Three –Two – One” – Al Michaels uttered the line of his journalistic life: “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”...
The Already and the Not Yet (Romans 5: 6-11)
If I say the phrase, “Make my day,” most of you would instantly know who originated the phrase. Indeed, in our age of media saturation, no small number of phrases from popular movies have leached their way into our common vernacular. Phrases like, “Play it again,...
Escaping Your Worst Self (Romans 7: 14-21)
Paul was one of the world’s first psychologists. Of all the Biblical figures, only Jeremiah comes close to Paul in probing deeply his own motives and behavior. But not even Jeremiah approaches the profundity of Paul’s insight into his own fragmented, conflicted...
“Lovers of the Cross Are Few” – Pastoral Charge to New Deacons ( Matthew 10: 38-39)
Thomas Hemerken, better known to the world as Thomas a’ Kempis, was born late in the 14th century. Born of poor parents, he entered the monastery in 1399 and worked there for the next seventy-two years. He was widely known as a preacher and spiritual advisor, but...
What Does It Mean To Be Human? (Romans 3: 21-26 )
The book of Romans is basically an exploration of two fundamental questions: what is the nature of God? and what is the nature of humanity? The passage before us is holy ground before which we should tremble, for the depth and breadth of Paul’s genius is here on...
A Leap in the Dark (John 11: 14-16)
The recent church camping and river trip impressed upon me the fact that I should not assume that you as a congregation have read books that I am sure you have read – or seen movies that I am sure that you have seen. Indeed, even though all of you should have read J....
Enlarging the Story of Your Life (Romans 1: 8-15)
Even those of you who are ignoramuses when it comes to American history have heard the name of the notorious Chicago mobster, Al Capone. But you may not have heard of his attorney, Easy Eddie, who was the skillful genius who helped Capone amass a financial empire,...