Rev. Timothy J. Ensworth
When the curse is a blessing (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Mark 13:1-8
November 15, 2015
Sometimes life is sweet …
When your puppy jumps up on the bed and licks you in the face.
When your two-and-a-half year old granddaughter FaceTimes you.
In the midst of the silence, the holy silence, when nothing needs to be said, because in that moment, nothing needs to be said.… Continue reading ...
Look (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Revelation 1:4-8
November 22, 2015
Look! What do you see?
You see a choir loft, filled with choir members, and over their heads the gleaming pipes of our pipe organ and you see tables covered with soft black cushions for our bells and bell players, emblems of the importance of music to us, to our ears and to our hearts.… Continue reading ...
He is coming (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Jeremiah 33:14-16
November 29, 2015
Once upon a time …
That’s how all the good stories begin! Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived …
… a dragon, a big bad wolf, a jealous queen, a wicked step-mother,
… a pale-skinned princess, a boy made of wood, a homely duckling, a girl with a red cape,
… a woodsman with a axe, a puppeteer, a jester playing a flute, an old man spinning straw, a fairy godmother with a wand, a half-dozen or so dwarves with pickaxes and shovels,
… and you! … Continue reading ...
The path of peace (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Malachi 2:17 – 3:5
December 6, 2015
Where is the God who is supposed to be just?
This week, we are asking that question again …
… because twenty-month-old Savannah Adams, the precious daughter her parents had tried for for years, will have to grow up without her Dad.… Continue reading ...
The Lord will take delight in you (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Zephaniah 3:14-20
December 13, 2015
You can’t see his face. Oh, yes, you can see his face, the face he presents to you, and it is a pleasant enough face: smooth skin and kind eyes and a ready smile. He smiles whenever he sees you and asks how you are doing and keeps his focus on you as you answer.… Continue reading ...
Deep peace (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Micah 5:2-5
December 20, 2015
Deep peace of the running wave to you,
deep peace of the flowing air to you,
deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
deep peace of the shining stars to you,
deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.
Deep peace. Have you known it? … 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 ...
Fire and water (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 43:1-7
January 10, 2016
Do not be afraid. I am with you. You are mine.
Maybe you’re afraid of the unknown.
Maybe you’re afraid of the future because it is unknown. Because you don’t know what will happen to you or to those you love. Because you can’t foresee or forestall any of the calamities that might overtake you. … Continue reading ...
Depression and the paradox (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 62:1-5
January 17, 2016
What do Soren Kierkegaard, Princess Diana, Abraham Lincoln, and Angelina Jolie have in common? They have all suffered from depression. As have Elijah the prophet and David the king and the author of the psalm you just heard. As have I.
So if you have suffered from depression, if you are depressed, you are in good company. … 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 ...