Rev. Timothy J. Ensworth
Signs and wonders (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Acts 9:36-41
May 12, 2019
Oh, my! That’s what I said to myself when I saw that this was the lectionary text for this Sunday. Oh, my!
Peter said, “Get up,” to the dead woman … and she did.
Oh, my! What are we going to do with this?… Continue reading ...
Community
1 Corinthians 12:7
May 20, 2018
When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there. … Continue reading ...
Creation (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Genesis 1:1 – 2:4
Revelation 21:1-5
April 22, 2018
It would have been easier to do nothing.
It would have been easier if God made nothing: no heavens, no earth, no universe, no us. If God made nothing, no thing, if there were no human beings, no human history, God would surely be spared so much anguish, so much heartbreak, so much bitter disappointment. … Continue reading ...
Terrified (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Mark 16:8
April 1, 2018
They went out and ran from the tomb, distressed and terrified. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
It would have been easier if they had found what they were looking for. It would have been easier if they had found the lifeless body of Jesus right where it had been laid just two days before.… Continue reading ...
got soul? (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 22:15-22
October 12, 2014
How is it with your soul?
Do you ever ask yourself that question? Do you give any thought, any attention to the condition of your soul, the health of your soul? Do you ever ask anybody else that question? Did you ask anybody this morning when you came into the church? … Continue reading ...
Feeling it (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 22:34-40
October 26, 2014
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Two weeks ago, we talked about loving God with all your mind, following the lead of the Presbyterians. We talked about the importance of using our minds, of thinking clearly, of doing Bible study: not just winging it, not just making it up as we go along, not just following our gut, not just doing what we’ve always done because we’ve always done it that way, but listening to God, paying attention to God’s word, becoming smart about our faith, becoming capable critics both of culture and of religion, becoming wise enough to discern between what is genuine and what is false, between what comes from God and what is just so much hogwash.… Continue reading ...
πληρωμα (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Ephesians 1:15-23
November 23, 2014
The church is Christ’s body,
το πληρωμα του τα παντα εν πασιν πληρουμενου.
The church is Christ’s body. Christ is our head; we are his body. God put all things — all things! — under Christ’s feet, and then gave him to the church. So Jesus Christ is present … in the church.… Continue reading ...
Love never gives up (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 9:32-38
February 12, 2017
Give up.
You’re tired. You deserve a break. Give up.
You’ve done all you could, more than your share. Give up.
The emotional cost is too high. It’s not worth it. Give up.
Some things can’t be fixed. Some people don’t want to be helped. … Continue reading ...
Peace is … healing (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 35:1-10
December 11, 2016
Dry, barren, infertile, exhausted. Sick, discouraged, broken, afraid. Sorrowing, grieving, empty, homeless. These are the wastelands — wastelands of the soul, wastelands of the body, wastelands of the earth.
We have all been in wastelands, some of us just to visit for just a short while, but some of us for long stretches of our lives, so long we thought we might never leave. … Continue reading ...