Sermons on Joe Smith:

The Amazing Race Series

Contributed by Tim Smith on Oct 19, 2009

Paul calls us to intense training. The challenge which lies before us is nothing short of reaching the world for Christ and building God’s kingdom here on earth with a multi ethnic church. It is far beyond our current ability and it will not happen overni

The Amazing Race Hebrews 12:1-3 Have any of you ever watched the Amazing Race? It’s a reality game show in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. Contestants strive to arrive first at the end of each leg of the race to win prizes and to avoid coming in ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-3

Denomination: Methodist

From Furnished Rooms To Fragrant Gardens

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 19, 2009

Now that this church has rebuilt its basic structure, it is time to go on and make it all work. To do so, go back to rediscover God’s intention for humanity and understand that the church is to restore the "garden."

One spiritual principle shows up over and over again in the Scriptures. One theme is repeated endlessly: and that is that the way to go forward is to go back. The way to move ahead with your life is to go back, to go back to its roots, go back to its foundations, where you discover what is valuable ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 14:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

Friend Of The Shut Out Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 20, 2009

We are not shut out: Jesus includes us by giving us knowledge, by giving us a place in His mission, and by paying the price to see that we are included in the Kingdom.

A number of years ago I saw a very provocative poster. It was a depiction of the doors of Washington. Nothing more than a series of doors, arranged in rows on the poster, probably twenty or twenty-five, all photographs of various doors in this city. Some of them were beautifully simple doorways ...read more

Scripture: John 15:12-17

Denomination: Baptist

Friend Of The Misunderstood Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 21, 2009

Misunderstand is accidentally or deliberate. Jesus dealt with the accidental by bringing witnesses, going to the root of the issue, and affirming the questioner; with the deliberate by refusing to make others happy, being true to Himself, letting actions

It’s easy to be misunderstood. Misunderstanding happens all the time. It is very, very easy to be misunderstood. One way to be misunderstood is to be vague and hazy. Just mumble under your breath and utter ambiguities, and I guarantee that you will be misunderstood. Some of you are devotees of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:2-19

Denomination: Baptist

Friend Of The Full Heart Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 23, 2009

Christmas is a time for full hearts: weary, guilty, anxious, sad -- past, present, and future. Mary felt the same things, but Christ comes to forgive our past, empower our present, and assure our future.

Christmas is an emotional time. All kinds of feelings are involved with the celebration of Christmas. If you don’t feel some tension, some excitement, or some pressure, something at this time of the year, you are either dead or you’ve been watching the Redskins, which is about the same thing. ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Denomination: Baptist

Fresh Encounter

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 24, 2009

All of us need to hear God’s love in a fresh way. Some say they do not want an encounter, but they do. Some do not expect anything new. Some are just past their first thrill of knowing Christ. Some have never exercised faith. Christ waits to receive

Just about everybody ought to get married, at least once. There’s nothing quite like it in all the world. Everybody ought to have the experience of learning the difference between fantasy and reality. That’s what happens when you get married. Everything up to marriage is fantasy. It’s romance, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:14-17

Denomination: Baptist

Frantic Work Or Focused Life

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 26, 2009

Wisdom lies in knowing when to be busy and when to be reflective. Both Martha and Mary wanted the affirmation of Jesus. But it always comes by grace alone.

Author Sam Keen, in his provocative little book called Apology for Wonder, tells us the lesson he learned as young boy swimming in the Indian River inlet on the Delaware coast. Keen says that swimming there was very tricky, because the outgoing waters from the bay met the incoming tides waves from ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:38-41

Denomination: Baptist

Sing With The Mind Also

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 26, 2009

Cantate Sunday, 1986: Music has power to involve every facet of our beings in worship, it helps build the body of Christ, and it can offer a credible witness to the world.

It was offertory time in the morning worship, and everyone had settled down quietly – settling down, I suspect, for a little nap to get themselves ready for the big nap they would take during the sermon! And, as was customary, the organist began the slow and solemn strains of an offertory: music to ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 14:6-15

Denomination: Baptist

Remarriage Is Adultery Series

Contributed by David Smith on Oct 27, 2009

Jesus said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

Every now and then you find yourself tacking a Bible passage that just doesn’t lend itself to starting your sermon with a joke. Today’s Gospel reading is one such passage. For divorce is no laughing matter, and of course I know that first-hand. Indeed, not only did I experience the divorce of my ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:2-16

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

No Rich People In Heaven Series

Contributed by David Smith on Oct 27, 2009

"Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom

In any journey, such as a trek through the bush, there are exciting parts, such as when we start out (perhaps) and when we near your destination, there are relatively boring parts, and there are patches that are just hard work. In our journey through the Gospel of Mark we seem to have reached an ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:23-25

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Life Is A Box Of Chocolates ... Not! Series

Contributed by David Smith on Oct 29, 2009

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2) Yes, I’m quoting God from the book of Job, chapter 38, second verse - a book that I’ve finally decided, reluctantly, needs to be looked at.

I say reluctantly because it’s a depressing book, and depressing not only because it deals with the series of depressing events that befall the story’s main character, but depressing too because the man’s search for an answer to his problems never gets a result that I find satisfying. I’m assuming ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Churchill Or Church, Ill?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 29, 2009

As Winston Churchill rallied the British people, so Paul rallies Christians by urging us to review our motivations and to present something solid and not merely entertaining. Such a church will prevail and thrive.

On the fifth of June, 1940, not even a month after he became prime minister, Winston Churchill spoke to the British people to encourage them of their desperate situation. Bear in mind that in September of the previous year the Nazis had invaded Poland, with no effective resistance. Thereafter, ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:7-10

Denomination: Baptist

Earthen Vessel, Feet Of Clay

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 29, 2009

Ordination of Troy L. Dixon, Nov. 1989: We pursue the trappings of religion instead of what is truly value. As a common clay vessel, be wary of power games, know that your foundation can crumble, focus on the treasure of the Gospel.

Somehow in men’s minds the paraphernalia of religion get to be more important than the faith itself. It is one of the enduring problems of religious life, how it is that we get far more caught up and invested in the trappings of religion than in the faith itself. In your average church, you ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:5-18

Denomination: Baptist

Cisterns, Channels, And Stagnant Ponds

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 30, 2009

If we do not share our faith we will not truly learn it. If we take nothing in we will go dry. Truly refreshing spirituality involves both learning and sharing the truth.

A few weeks ago, as the hot weather season got into full swing, I remembered something I had not done to prepare for the season. Last summer we had bought a big plastic garbage container and had set it outside, next to the air conditioner compressor, and I had run the exhaust hose into it in order ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

The Elbow Test Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 31, 2009

We may test our spiritual maturity by assessing who Jesus is for us, whether we live with a sense of victory, and whose opinions matter to us.

During our stay in England, we visited my wife’s cousin and his wife, who have a nine-month-old baby son. One night they needed to go out for a while on an errand, so they asked us if we would take care of the baby for a couple of hours. Of course we were delighted with the chance to do so, since ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:1-6

Denomination: Baptist