Rev. Timothy J. Ensworth
Loving God in a technology growing hectic lifestyle modern world (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
John 21:1-17
April 10, 2016
Loving God in a technology growing hectic lifestyle modern world
I will remind you that the sermon titles for the month of April were suggested by members of our current confirmation class. They submitted their lists anonymously, but I do know who wrote this one, one of our two confirmation mentors, Lauren Reisinger.… Continue reading ...
Beauty of the life we have/no matter what (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Psalm 23
April 17, 2016
What do you see when you see Charley Corson in a pout and pigtails?
What do you see when you watch Jack Conrad speak with such authority about the names and habits of various species of dinosaur?
What do you see when Laura Kaliban offers you the bread of life?… Continue reading ...
Eye for an eye (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
John 13:31-35, Exodus 21:12-27
April 24, 2016
Jesus said: “Now God’s glory is revealed.”
How? Where? What does it look like? You see it, don’t you? God’s glory is all around us. We just have to open our eyes. It is all around us, from the delicate lines and colors of a tiny woodland wildflower to the mind-boggling dimensions of a black hole in deep space, from the gentle plip plop of raindrops onto the surface of a lake on a windless day to the bone-jarring boom of an active thunderhead.… 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 ...
Listen to her! (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Proverbs 8
May 22, 2016
Lauren and Katherine, this is my advice to you on the occasion of your high school graduation. I will not say, “This is my parting advice to you,” because even though you will be going to far away Iowa City, we are not parting. … Continue reading ...
Bigger (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
1 Kings 8:22-43
May 29, 2016
(Combined service with Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church)
Bigger. God is bigger.
The men and women of this church — you, the men and women of Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, “the church of love, hope, and new beginnings” — you have gathered in Waterloo, Iowa, for twenty-five years, worshiping God, training up your children, proclaiming and doing the gospel, caring for each other, and reaching out into this community to help those who are lonely or hurting or broken or lost.… Continue reading ...
You are that man (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
2 Samuel 12:1-7
June 12, 2016
What makes you angry?
When you can’t get service on your cell phone? When Fareway is all out of your favorite brand of chips? When the San Jose Sharks and captain and hometown hero, Joe Pavelski, lose?
Do you get angry when you lose the vote? … Continue reading ...
Your heart’s desire (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
2 Kings 5:1-15
July 3, 2016
What is your heart’s desire?
To win the lottery? To move into a bigger and better house? To move to Maine? No, I don’t think so. You are not that shallow. The desires of your heart run deeper than that.
Is it your heart’s desire to finally get the recognition and respect that you deserve? … Continue reading ...
Amazed and astonished (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Jeremiah 2:4-13
August 28, 2016
I am amazed and astonished.
I am amazed by the vista from atop Blue Hill: islands and bays, dense forest and hills and mountains stretching to the horizon in every direction.
I am amazed by the rhythm of the tides in Penobscot Bay, the level of ocean changing by ten or eleven feet or more in the space of six hours.… Continue reading ...
Clay (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Jeremiah 18:1-11
September 4, 2016
Imagine a young woman there on the floor at the front of the church. She is sitting on a short stool behind a small table. On the table is set a broad wheel that she spins by means of a foot pedal. She places a mound of wet grey clay onto the middle of the wheel and she begins working the clay with her hands: stretching, shaping, smoothing, sculpting.… Continue reading ...