Sermons on Greg Smith:

Up A Tree And Out On A Limb

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 22, 2010

Dramatic monologue, as if Zacchaeus were telling his story. His life was "up a tree", in trouble. He went "out on a limb" to receive the welcome and the salvation offered by Jesus.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC October 30, 1988 Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree, the savior for to see.” Oh ... good morning, good morning. Almost didn't see you there. In fact, I've missed a lot of things, ...read more

Scripture: Luke 19:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

Despising The Lord's Table

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 24, 2010

The New Year brings with it a sense that here we are again, doing the same old things, even in worship. But the prophet warns us that weariness in worship comes from offering God less than our best.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC January 3, 1988 Prominent in Greek mythology there is the story of Sisyphus. Sisyphus, you may remember, was the poor lost soul who had been condemned to spend eternity heaving and shoving a huge rock up to the top of a hill, only to have it roll ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 1:6-14

Denomination: Baptist

Deposits In The Heart

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 24, 2010

Sin in the human heart is addictive and destructive. But Christ can create a new and life-giving deposit in the heart.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC October 19, 1986 Only this week they drove another nail in my coffin. Those tireless, relentless researchers who ferret out the causes of cancer and who puzzle out the hows and the whys of heart disease published findings designed to frighten ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Fear And Integrity

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 25, 2010

Done as three monologues: fear compromises integrity, and a compromised integrity breeds more fear.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC July 13, 1986 Human beings are creatures plagued with fears and insecurities. That we have clearly established, that we talked about in certain ways last week. Of course we are a great deal more than that too. We are vastly more than a bundle of ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 20:1-20

Denomination: Baptist

Fear, Death, Life

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 26, 2010

It may seem strange to embrace death. But John could do so as he learned of fellow believers being killed, because he had a vision of the risen Christ as lord of life and death and even as lord of all human history.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC July 27, 1986 The picture is indelibly etched on my memory, I'm sure because at the time the incident seemed so bizarre, so peculiar. The scene was an elementary school talent show; all of us had been groomed and polished and persuaded that we had ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 1:4-18

Denomination: Baptist

A Bookkeeping Nightmare

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 27, 2010

Forgiveness is an act of understanding how much God has forgiven us; of the heart, making a changed spirit possible; and of the will, opening up all that God wants to do in us.

First Baptist Church of Gaithersburg, MD, October 4, 1979; Cresthill Baptist Church, Bowie, MD, June 8, 1980; Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, May 16, 1982; Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC November 24, 1985 Back in my early teen years I was a Monopoly freak. Not an ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:23-35

Denomination: Baptist

Bone Weary

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 29, 2010

Like Jeremiah, we get bone weary when we feel abandoned, when we are living out of tune with the times, and when we suppress the desire to live in integrity. But In Christ we see one who experienced all this but lives to give us new life.

Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, January 31, 1982; Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC September 22, 1985 There was a time when I did not really know what it meant to be tired. I still cherish the image of myself as tireless, limitless in energy, able to leap tall buildings ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 20:7-13

Denomination: Baptist

The Joy Of Repetition! Series

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 2, 2010

..."In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himsel

Those who have visited Israel (and probably most of those who haven't) will have heard of the "Wailing Wall", which is part of the ancient city of Old Jerusalem, and located at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount. This section of wall is the only surviving remnant of the ancient Temple ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:2-5

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Jesus' Best Joke? Series

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 2, 2010

Luke chapter 18: "Jesus told them another joke", we are told, "and He told this one to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and looked down on others." Did you hear the one about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector who wandered into the

Now I know I’m being a little free with my translation here. I know most translations say that Jesus told them a 'parable' rather than a 'joke', but I'm not the first person to suggest that 'joke' is actually a very good translation. # Did you here the one about the frog and the scorpion who were ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Double Your Money

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 4, 2010

We think that we must protect what we have, and do not see those in need as brothers and sisters in disguise. But God puts back in our sacks more than enough when we walk on a mission of mercy and a journey of faith, caring for the hungry and needy.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, October 16, 1988 (World Hunger Sunday) Somehow, when our whole orientation is consuming and enjoying and entertaining ourselves, we pay no attention to anything beyond today. What we have today we use, and assume that tomorrow will take care of itself. ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

To Catch A Thief

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 6, 2010

God uses us, even in our desire to have and to take, to turn around and give life more abundantly to those who have been hurt, even by the church.

Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD August 26, 1984; First Baptist Church of Wheaton, MD, September 17, 1984; Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, October 14, 1984 The most delicious of all the thrillers, the most engrossing of all the movie mysteries, is the kind in ...read more

Scripture: John 10:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

Black And White Redeemed Together

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 7, 2010

For Black History Month: We will not be fully redeemed until both black and white understand the elements of self-hatred that are in us and see that we have a Redeemer who will remove those feelings.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC February 2, 1986 When you read the book of Job and read it carefully, when you really let it sink in to you what happened to this suffering man and what he had to say about it, you cannot help concluding that what is most frightening about Job is his ...read more

Scripture: Job 19:1-27

Denomination: Baptist

Body Language

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 7, 2010

Our actions speak clearly about who we are and what we need; we need to lie down in worship and study, we need to walk in the valley of human need, and we need to engage those who are different from us.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC October 18, 1992 I want you to look up here and then feed back to me what I am saying. I’m asking you to watch me and then tell me what I am saying to you. (Clumped shoulders): “I certainly am glad to be here.” What did I say? My ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

Prophet, Priest, And King: Accepting Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 9, 2010

We tie gift-giving to our own self-acceptance. Appropriate gifts to Christ announce that indeed we are acceptable to Him.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, December 24, 1987 (Christmas Eve) Out there right now, running around with a harried look, and practically waving fistfuls of dollars in their hands, there are those folks who for one reason or another have a hard time with gift giving. They have waited ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-11

Denomination: Baptist

Praying For The Right Things

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 10, 2010

We tend to pray in a panic, when we could have prayed in preparation. Our prayer must also be responsible, accepting our own measure of responsibility.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, September 21, 1986 One young friend of mine, taking the Scripture quite seriously and quite literally, where it says, "Ask anything in my name, and I will do it" – taking that verse to the nth degree, reports that he is still waiting for the Lord ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 3:3-14

Denomination: Baptist