Rev. Timothy J. Ensworth
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 ...
A carol of love (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 60:1-3, 19-20
December 17, 2017
Next Sunday evening, Christmas Eve, at about 11:57 pm, I will be standing in the front of the sanctuary holding a lighted candle and many of you will be sitting there in the pews holding lighted candles and we will be singing together “silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright.” … Continue reading ...
Open the doors! (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 49:1-6, John 1:29-42
January 19, 2014
Here we are. It’s a Sunday morning and we’re in church. I have chosen to come here this morning and you have chosen to come here this morning.
Do you come here because you want to feel safe? Because you want to come to a place where you can be yourself without fear of being judged or laughed at or belittled? … Continue reading ...
Fear not! (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
John 12:12-15
November 30, 2014
Last Monday evening, St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCullough announced the decision of the grand jury: Officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted in the shooting death of Michael Brown. And then, on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, all hell broke loose.
Now the story is about broken windows and burned-out buildings and National Guard troops. … Continue reading ...
Seeing is believing (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
John 1:1-18
January 3, 2016
Seeing is believing. But what if you can’t see?
Doubt, fear, depression, despair, anger, boredom overshadow our spirits. We are in the dark and we can’t see. And because we can’t see, we do not believe, and because we do not believe, we are not saved. … Continue reading ...
Nothing (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Nehemiah 8:1-12
January 24, 2016
“The Moon And The Yew Tree” by Sylvia Plath.
This is the light of the mind, cold and planetary
The trees of the mind are black. The light is blue.
The grasses unload their griefs on my feet as if I were God
Prickling my ankles and murmuring of their humility
Fumy, spiritous mists inhabit this place. … Continue reading ...
Are you bored? (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Luke 9:28-36
February 7, 2016
Are you bored?
That’s my sermon. The photograph was taken Wednesday morning in the front yard of our house in Cedar Falls and that is my sermon. But since I should probably earn my keep, I will elaborate.
Are you bored? Do you find your life tiresome, dull, routine? … Continue reading ...
He comes (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Luke 13:31-35
February 21, 2016
sermons.believersjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/darsane(1).mov
What do you think? What do you think of a Jesus with long flowing black hair? What do you think of a Jesus with long slender fingers and smooth ochre skin? What do you think of a Jesus with ankle bracelets and arm bracelets and a golden necklace? … Continue reading ...
Love is happy with the truth (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 7:13-14
February 5, 2017
So, what is it that is on everybody’s mind today? I’ll give you a hint. It’s not a football game.
I am used to over-the-top Super Bowl hype, all Super Bowl, all the time, news coverage of every little detail. What is Tom Brady eating for breakfast on the big day?… Continue reading ...
love is patient (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 4:12-17
January 8, 2017
Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light …
Epiphany is the season of light, the season of illumination, the season when the light of the Son of God allows us to see things as they are, to see things as they really are.… Continue reading ...