Sermons on Joel Smith:

Letting The Pro Do It: Job's Friend God Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 17, 2009

We want to manage our own spiritual lives, but the truth is we do not understand,nor do we know enough. Trust God, who has vindicated our hope in Christ the sufferer now victorious.

There is a certain kind of person who seldom trusts anybody but himself to get things right. Some of us want to have our hands in every stewpot, we want to be up to our ears in every enterprise, we want to do it ourselves, or else we are afraid it won’t be done right. Do you remember that a few ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Walk The Walk, Sing The Song

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 17, 2009

To have singing joy in our hearts, we must be ready to serve when God’s time comes, to discern the will of God, and to avoid all escape mechanism.

I would wager that most of you can finish this sentence. You will have heard it a thousand times. Try it. "If you are going to talk the talk, then you have to what?" "Walk the walk". If you’re going to talk the talk, then you have to walk the walk. It means, of course, that what you profess ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-20

Denomination: Baptist

The Resolution We've Already Broken

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 18, 2009

We try to be perfect, in the "spotless" sense. But perfection means completion, and is tied to meeting others’ needs rather than achieving our goals. Jesus’ sacrifice was his "finished" accomplishment.

It happens every January. Just as sure as snow and the Super Bowl, with or without your favorite team, it always happens in January. Broken resolutions. Broken resolutions are the order of the day in the first month of the year. Those noble impulses we all have to do better and to be better – we ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-48

Denomination: Baptist

The Road To Wellville (Rated G) Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 19, 2009

Christ wants us to be healthy. The road to health begins with a desire to be healthy, a willingness to leave bad habits, and then a desire to share health insights with others.

What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! Shakespeare’s Hamlet: full of admiration for the human race. Taken by the beauty and grace of the human form; ...read more

Scripture: John 5:2-17

Denomination: Baptist

The River Euphrates: Foolish Fashions Shrink Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 20, 2009

A great people learn to balance foolish pride and destructive shame, and learn to be themselves rather than selecting the worst habits of the majority. Cling to what has supported the African-American for years.

Those who have planned our observance of Black History Month this year selected the theme, "New Currents, Ancient Rivers". Many of you will recognize that the words, "Ancient Rivers" are drawn from a well-known poem by Langston Hughes. The phrase "New Currents, Ancient Rivers" suggests to me that ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 13:1-11

Denomination: Baptist

Rising Or Rejecting? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 21, 2009

The man at the pool of Bethsaida had lost his will to achieve, and blamed others. Jesus, however, gave Him his self-worth as well as his health. Do not blame prejudice or racism for failure; turn to Jesus and be healed and motivated.

The day dawned like any other day ... a little chillier, maybe, than you might have expected this time of year. But still, about as gray and bleak and unpromising as any other day. After all, every day was about like every other day. What reason did he have to expect anything different? For 38 ...read more

Scripture: John 5:1-18

Denomination: Baptist

A Rebuke Turned Back Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 22, 2009

Jesus turns from silence about His achievements to open speaking about His death. He will not follow the ambition path, the pleasure path, or the easy spirituality path.

You can admire Jesus, you can think well of Jesus, you can even love Jesus. But you cannot domesticate Him, you cannot tame Him, you cannot make Him sweet and nice and pretty. He is who He is and He says what He says, and sometimes it’s hard to take. In my experience, just about everybody out ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:31-38

Denomination: Baptist

Live Until You Die, Die Until You Live

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 23, 2009

We admire those who pursue life goals as long as they can; but our calling is to die to self. It will mean a change of values and of attitudes, but it will give us true life.

I’m pretty sure that we can make a case for living until we die. It would not take a lot of effort to convince one another that we can approach life with gusto, squeezing every ounce of juice out. There’s a strong compulsion in us to extract all the value and the vitality we can get out from ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:1-11

Denomination: Baptist

Extending Love

Contributed by Tim Smith on Mar 24, 2009

Most people love only when it benefits them or meets their needs. Even though it is forbidden by God to hate another person, to nurse a grudge or to seek vengance, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” was the rule of the day, Jesus calls us to love

Extending Love John 13:34-35

 In our Scripture today, Jesus is sharing His last evening with His disciples before He is crucified. They’re together in the Upper Room and Jesus began the evening with washing the disciple’s feet, teaching them humility and servanthood. While they were ...read more

Scripture: John 13:34-35

Denomination: Methodist

Funeral Sermon

Contributed by Tim Smith on Mar 24, 2009

Life has stripes and blood and death. Each is a part of life. We know that but sometimes we turn the page too quickly, wanting only to think of the good things of life. In fact life would be so much easier if we could do just that. But it is in times like

Sam North Star Island is an island of the coast of New Hampshire, near Portsmouth. It is unique because half the island is in Maine and the other half is in New Hampshire. It is a place where New Englanders come to vacation, worship and sit in rockers on the front porch of the old Victorian Hotel. ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:38

Denomination: Methodist

Prepare For A Vision

Contributed by George Smith on Mar 26, 2009

(To CATCH A VISTION)

PREPARE FOR A VISION JOSHUA 14:7-13 Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. INTRO: To get ourselves prepare for a vision, to look ahead and to see what is out there for us, dare to step out on faith, dare to trust God. You just don’t ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 14:7-13

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Turn Around Or Turn Out Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 30, 2009

Dramatic monologue as if Paul were speaking: a farewell address, focused largely on Philippians, but drawing from much of the Pauline literature. A play on Paul’s name: Pray, Avoid, Understand, Love.

Paul, servant of the Gospel, to all the saints in Gaithersburg: grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:12-26

Denomination: Baptist

Opposition, Prayer, And Victory Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 30, 2009

Preached in 1989. Sometimes opposition is deeply destructive and isolating; the only answer is through prayer, for ultimately integrity is given by the risen Christ.

Opposition comes in all shapes and sizes. Opposition: feeling that somebody is out to stop you -- it takes many different forms. Sometimes it is just outright, straightforward, political campaigning. Sometimes folks choose up sides and define the issues and go after each other, and that‘s all ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Not Perfect, Just Forgiven

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 30, 2009

Jesus’ call for us to be perfect is complemented by the Lord’s Prayer’s petition for forgiveness. "Trespasses" and "debts" are different nuances, and both need to be forgiven.

He marched up to me, stopped me in my tracks, fixed my eyes with his eagle look. And then slowly he raised both arms and clapped both hands on my shoulders, cleared his throat slightly, and intoned, "I forgive you.” And then, as quickly as he had encountered me, he walked away. Just dropped his ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Having, Losing, Choosing

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 31, 2009

Whatever we think we possess can be lost. God gives it to us for only so long as we need it, but after that it becomes an idol. We must choose to give away time, talent, treasure for things that do last, and for life itself.

Almost nothing that you and I count on to be permanent really is permanent. Almost everything that we think will last forever, it turns out, can be destroyed. Anything we have we can also very easily lose. We live in a monumental city. Capitol Hill, the monuments, the Federal Triangle, the White ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:19

Denomination: Baptist