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 ...
From the depths (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Mark 7:31-27; 8:11-13
March 4, 2018
Sigh …
What is a sigh? It is a letting go, a release of air, a release of built up pressure. It might be a release of the pressure of built up anxiety, a sigh of relief: “Whew.” Or it might be a release of the pressure of disappointed expectations, a sigh of resignation: “Oh, well.” … Continue reading ...
How does Jesus help families facing problems with addiction? (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Mark 2:1-12
January 14, 2018
How does Jesus help families facing problems with addiction? That was the question posed by one of you as a suggestion for an Epiphany season sermon: How does Jesus help families facing problems with addiction?
It’s a hypothetical question, right? … Continue reading ...
Do not let evil defeat you (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Romans 12:9-21, Jeremiah 15:15-21
September 3, 2017
Do not let evil defeat you.
Do you believe in a personal devil? I don’t know. I don’t know if I do or not, but I most definitely do not believe in anything like the caricatured devil of fable and popular culture, you know, some kind of hideous, sneering, leering red demon with horns and a trident.… Continue reading ...
Making disciples (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 28:16-20
June 11, 2017
What do you know about Moldova?
(To play the video, go to link: https://sermons.believersjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/MoldovaSunday.mp4)
Now what do you know about Moldova?
Moldova is a little over half the size of Iowa, with about the same number of people. It’s capital Chişinau is the size of Des Moines. … Continue reading ...
It’s not fair (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 53:6
March 22, 2015
Life isn’t fair.
The University of Northern Iowa Panther men’s basketball team had a better won/loss record than Iowa State, a higher national ranking, and fared equally well against two common opponents, and yet the NCAA selection committee awarded Iowa State a “No. 3” seed and UNI a “No.… Continue reading ...
Your faith has made you well (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Mark 10:46-52
October 25, 2015
Bartimaeus was loud. I am quiet.
Bartimaeus was aggressive. I am restrained.
Bartimaeus was demanding. I am acquiescent.
Bartimaeus was impudent. I am polite.
Bartimaeus was blind. I can see.
Bartimaeus had faith. And I …… Maybe I am the one who cannot see.… 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 ...