Rev. Timothy J. Ensworth
Humility (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Job 42:1-6
April 15, 2018
When I look at the sky which you have made,
the moon and stars that you set in place:
Where do human beings fit in the picture?
What are we?
What are we?
Are we evolution’s crowning achievement? Are we the unquestioned masters of this planet, beings of unmatched power and ambition, eager to fulfill our self-proclaimed destiny to become masters of the universe? … Continue reading ...
My own dear son (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 3:13-17
January 12, 2014
This is my own dear son …
God loved the world so much that he gave …
that he gave the world his own dear son.
This is my own dear son …
That’s what we remember, that’s what we proclaim, during these seasons of Christmas and now Epiphany, that God gave to us his own dear son. … Continue reading ...
Hypocrites (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 23:13-28
March 16, 2014
Like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside, but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. On the outside, appearing good, but inside, full of hypocrisy and sins.
Is that us?
In January 2008, LifeWay Research, based in Nashville, published the results of a survey of 1,402 unchurched Americans, “adults who had not attended a religious service at a church, synagogue, or mosque in the previous six months.” … Continue reading ...
Finding your own way (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 23:1-12
November 2, 2014
Tuesday is election day. Did you know that? How did you know? You haven’t received any flyers in the mail or seen any political ads on TV, have you?
$60,000,000 has been spent on a single race in Iowa, the contest between Bruce Braley and Joni Ernst for the senate seat vacated by Tom Harkin. … Continue reading ...
The marks of a great nation (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Jeremiah 31:7-14
January 4, 2015
Sing with joy for Israel, the greatest of the nations …
Do you have a problem with that? Do you have a problem with calling Israel the greatest of the nations? Does it seem to you … presumptuous? Chauvinistic? Prideful? Does this claim by a Hebrew prophet about his own nation make you uncomfortable?… Continue reading ...
Again … joy (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 53:10-12
April 5, 2015
How does it all begin?
With a dance …
Out of nothing, out of an empty, shapeless, lifeless void, God sets the universe dancing. Atoms of hydrogen and helium excite and collide and combust, dancing into flame, dancing into light, swirling, congealing, taking shape as stars, dancing stars!… Continue reading ...
In common (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Proverbs 22:2
September 6, 2015
It doesn’t take many words to make a telling point. How about ten?
Come down off the cross,
we can use the wood.
Did you hear John sing those words? One of my favorite musicians, Sarah Jarosz, recorded this song, and from the first time I heard it, I have been struck by these two lines:
Come down off the cross,
we can use the wood.… 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 ...
One (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Luke 15:1-10
September 11, 2016
(Play video: images from September 11-12, 2001, set to Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings; link = https://sermons.believersjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/adagio.mp4)
That brings back a host of feelings, doesn’t it?
Fifteen years ago today, our world changed. Fifteen years ago today, we changed. For the better? Did we change for the better? … Continue reading ...
Despicable me (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Luke 18:9-14
October 23, 2016
This painting was done by Domenico Ghirlandaio in the late fifteenth century. It is one of three paintings I have used in confirmation classes as visual aids for a discussion about the meaning of Jesus’ incarnation. The other two are shown below:
These are three very different paintings, all of which I like, for different reasons. … Continue reading ...