Rev. Timothy J. Ensworth
Shalom (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 2:2-5
June 24, 2018
Shalom aleichem.
Peace to you.
Shalom is a greeting. It’s a greeting you might offer as you open the door of your house to a friend — shalom — or a greeting you might offer with a nod of your head as you pass a stranger on the street — shalom. … 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 ...
A carol of peace (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 40:1-11
December 10, 2017
God is coming!
That’s the good news. These are the tidings of comfort and joy announced by the prophet Isaiah to people weary and beaten down and tired of suffering: God is coming. What is God coming to do? God is coming to rule and to rescue and to tend.… Continue reading ...
A carol of hope (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 64:1-12
December 3, 2017
(Choir sings: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, arr. Dan Forrest)
Did you like that song? Did it pump you up? What is it about that song that gets you excited, that lifts your spirits, that makes an emotional connection with you?
It’s the style of the music, isn’t it, bright and joyful and full of energy? … 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 ...
A dangerous God (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 9:1-4, Matthew 4:12-17
January 26, 2014
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
“Seven out of ten people live in countries where economic inequality has increased in the last thirty years.”
Does it matter?
In our own country, we like to talk about the current economic recovery, but ninety-five percent of the growth in wealth since the 2008 financial crisis has gone to the wealthiest one-percent of Americans, while, during that same period, the bottom ninety percent of the population has become poorer.… Continue reading ...
Your kingdom come (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 58:1-9
February 9, 2014
All too often we are simply not on the same page — us and God. You think?
But I am not now thinking primarily of “us” in the general sense, of humanity as a whole going its own merry way, in spite of God or even to spite God. … Continue reading ...
Remember and never forget! (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 61:10-62:3, Luke 2:22-32
December 28, 2014
Remember and never forget!
That was Jean Kimball’s admonition to us, or rather, the Bible’s admonition, of which Jean was always reminding us! Remember and never forget what?
That we are part of the story. That we are part of God’s story.… Continue reading ...
Long enough (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 40:1-2
January 11, 2015
A mentor once told me that it is a minister’s job to comfort those who are disturbed and to disturb those who are comfortable. So which are you? Comfortable or disturbed?
The people of Jerusalem were disturbed. They had been disturbed for a long time: disturbed and beaten down and hollowed out and sucked dry of hope and desire beyond anything we are capable of imagining. … Continue reading ...
Meanwhile (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 40:3-5
January 18, 2015
I pray … a lot.
I pray for my children and my grandchildren, for my mother and for Lynne’s mother, and for Lynne.
I pray for this church — for energy, for passion, for spirit, for the strong presence of God’s spirit in us and among us. … Continue reading ...