Sermons on Joe Smith:

Life Without Rules

Contributed by David Smith on Aug 14, 2010

Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-ab

I’m struggling with Colossians this week - not with the ancient people of Colossae of course but with St Paul’s letter to the Colossians, and not with the whole letter either but with one word in one verse that really has me bamboozled: Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Heart Transplant

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 21, 2010

God works in our lives much as a surgeon does in our bodies: cleansing thoroughly of old idolatries, assisting us in the transition, and then giving us a new indwelling presence, that of Christ.

I remember the corny old song that says, "They've gone just about as fur as they can go." And it seemed just about right, too, at one time. They've gone just about as fur as they can go, when airplanes were invented and we could soar as on eagle's wings. They've gone just about as fur as they can ...read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 36:22-27

Denomination: Baptist

Prayer And The Chronically Unhappy

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 21, 2010

For Reformation Sunday, October 1987: Job in the Old Testament and Luther in the Reformation Era were chronically unhappy people, but used that as a form of spiritual energy to drive them toward creative achievement and an honest personal faith.

It looks as though some people are just born to be unhappy. There are some people who are going to approach nearly everything with a complaint or a gripe, who are going to make a personal issue out of everything. Nothing is quite good enough, nothing quite satisfies. There are folks whose ...read more

Scripture: Job 6:8-13

Denomination: Baptist

From Faith To Power

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 23, 2010

After Christmas, 1985. We alone of creation know that we could be and should be more than we now are. In Christ and in his vulnerability we are empowered to change.

"To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God." Power to become … If you ask what it is to be human, if you want to know what separates us as human beings from all other forms of life, one way you could answer the question would be to say that ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

Hard To Be Humble

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 24, 2010

Independence Day 1988: Arrogance breeds blindness to our own sin, numbness to the needs of others, and a denial of relationships. The Father's Table is about mercy and grace for all.

You have heard him a thousand times in the TV commercial, warbling away in that gravelly voice with an accent I hear only when I go back to Kentucky. He is singing in the shower and flaunting his huge schnozz at the camera. "0 Lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way". ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Denomination: Baptist

Two Thousand Years Of Patience

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 25, 2010

Lent, 1987: We are impatient for God to do something, but do not notice that already He is bringing aspects of the Kingdom, slowly but surely. Have faith and wait to see what He is certain to do.

When I was a boy of about eight or ten years old, I undertook a brief experiment in gardening. I was told that a particular piece of ground in our back yard was mine to use, and I was given some packages of seeds and a few instructions and set to work. Well, that morning I cleared that plot of ...read more

Scripture: James 5:7-11

Denomination: Baptist

A Burden For A Nation Series

Contributed by Duane Smith on Apr 26, 2010

This message seeks to draw the attention of the church for the need of revival and the need to live by faith

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON? A SERIES FROM HABAKKUK A BURDEN FOR A NATION Habakkuk 1:1 INTRODUCTION: A. How long, LORD, must I call for help and You do not listen, or cry out to You about violence and You do not save? Why do You force me to look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? ...read more

Scripture: Habakkuk 1:1

Denomination: Baptist

I Don't Understand Series

Contributed by Duane Smith on Apr 26, 2010

This message deals with the Sovereignty of God and the place of faith in living for Him when things don't seem to be going the way we feel they should.

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON? A SERIES FROM HABAKKUK God, I Don’t Understand Habakkuk 1:2-11 INTRODUCTION: A. Have you watched the news lately? It would seem that things are in terrible shape. 1. Our society is in terrible shape a. Greedy mortgage companies have put our economy ...read more

Scripture: Habakkuk 1:2-11

Denomination: Baptist

To Know, To Obey, To Live

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 26, 2010

July 1988: God's way of life is not burdensome or negative or arbitrary. To know God's way and to do it is to have abundant life.

There is an old saying to the effect that what you don't know won't hurt you. I beg to differ. If it is true that what you don't know won't hurt you, then why don't we just let babies pop anything and everything into their mouths, just as they want to do? Obviously we know that some things will ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 4:1-8

Denomination: Baptist

One Bread, One Body, Many Idols

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 27, 2010

Independence Sunday 1987: We are called to be a distinctive people within American culture, not to follow popular self-centered idolatries.

The trouble with going to Ridgecrest conference center for a week is that you tend to forget how diverse a nation we are. If you were to spend too long at a place like Ridgecrest, you would get to thinking that everybody was Baptist, and Baptist of the southern variety, that everybody gobbled ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:14-31

Denomination: Baptist

Promise, Shame, And Fulfillment

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 28, 2010

Advent 1986: Everyone goes through a dynamic of promise, leading to shame, then leading to fulfillment, if we understand fulfillment as the presence of God.

I like the little quip about the fellow who offered His prayer with all sincerity and with tremendous urgency. “Lord," he said, "Lord, give me the gift of patience, and give it to me right now!” Well, at least he knew his need even if he did not exactly demonstrate an understanding of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25

Denomination: Baptist

Prince Of Peace: The Wounded Spirit Whole

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 29, 2010

Advent 1987: Many of us live with deep disappointments, profoundly wounded spirits. Whole nations so live, thanks to the scourge of war. Christ, the Word Made Flesh, does more than tell us to "get over it." He stands beside us, with us.

Jim, as I will call him, was a successful pastor, acclaimed for his preaching skill, sought out for his wisdom, almost worshipped by the flocks of young adults who came to the church he served. It seemed he could do no wrong and that he had it all together, from here on out. Nothing, it seemed, ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7

Denomination: Baptist

A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 2, 2010

Martin Luther King Birthday 1989: Solomon began with promise, but lost his identity and squandered his gifts. African-Americans and the church must recommit to solid teaching, to evangelizing, and to fighting the scourge of drugs, lest we waste a whole

There is a kind of presumptuousness involved when a white preacher stands to offer any words on this the anniversary of the birthday of Martin Luther King. It is audacious indeed, as Janice Williams pointed out when she was teaching our foreign mission study on South Africa about a month ago, for ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

We The People: Rediscovering Sabbath

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 3, 2010

Fall 1987: Sabbath is about far more than doing whatever you feel like doing. It is a chance to be authentic, in relationship with God, and it is meant to be a delight and not a burden.

Be honest now. This morning when the alarm rang or when your wife nudged you in the ribs; when your mom screamed something about being late -- what was your reaction? What did you feel about getting up and going to church? I asked you to be honest – but not necessarily out loud! Now thus ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 58:13-14

Denomination: Baptist

One Breath, One Flesh

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 4, 2010

Pentecost 1986: We crave intimacy, and cannot live without it. It is not found in ceaseless work and striving, but in simply receiving grace.

The peculiar thing about our times is that while we seem to be so free and easy, so relaxed about what used to be thought of as intimate, yet at the same time we are hung up, truly hung up, about intimacy. I say the strange thing about us in this last half of the 20th century is that on the one ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 2:4-25

Denomination: Baptist