Rev. Timothy J. Ensworth
This is the king (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Luke 23:33-43
November 20, 2016
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
What did he want? He wanted to be remembered. He didn’t want to be forgotten. He had made a mess of his life and he knew it, but he didn’t want to be forgotten, disappear from this earth as if he never existed, remembered by nobody, mattering to nobody.… Continue reading ...
Peace is … believing (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 7:10-16
December 18, 2016
This is what disturbs me …
We talk about peace. We sing about peace. We pray for peace. We tell the stories of the birth of the Prince of Peace, and we repeat the promise sung by the angels to herald his birth: “Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth.”… 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 ...
Peace is … defending (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 11:1-10
December 4, 2016
What does peace on earth look like?
Wolves and sheep will live together in peace,
and leopards will lie down with young goats.
Calves and lion cubs will feed together,
and little children will take care of them.
That is peace! But where, on earth, can you find a scene like this one?… Continue reading ...
Peace is … walking (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 2:1-5
November 27, 2016
What does peace on earth look like?
I can conjure a scene … (And I’ll bet you can, too!) I am sitting on a huge block of granite jumbled among other huge blocks of granite, looking out over waters stretching as far as I can see. … Continue reading ...
Love does not keep a record of wrongs (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 5:43-48
January 29, 2017
When Jesus saw the people, he went up the hill and sat down. They gathered around him there and he spoke to them.
Love your enemies and hate your friends. That’s what you have been told. But I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who make your life miserable. … Continue reading ...
Does anybody really know what time it is?
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
January 1, 2017
Does anybody really know what time it is?
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
Bring back any memories? The recording comes from a live performance by Chicago in Tanglewood in July 1970. I had just finished my junior year in high school. Sometime along about then, a friend played a Chicago song for me.… 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 ...
Love is not proud (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 5:1-10
January 15, 2017
The older I get, the less I know. Or maybe a better way of saying it is that the older I get, the more I realize I don’t know and the less sure I am about what I do know. But that’s not the whole story either, because there are things I am absolutely sure of.… Continue reading ...
Love is not irritable (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 5:21-24
January 22, 2017
I am irritated.
I am irritated by reckless drivers and TV commercials and Pittsburgh Steeler fans.
I am irritated by people full of themselves, by people who like to hear themselves talk.
I am irritated by bullies, by people who belittle and intimidate other people, who make people feel bad and don’t care.… Continue reading ...