Sermons on Joseph And Potiphar:

Getting Past Self-Indulgence

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 6, 2009

Self-indulgence does not mean denying yourself what you actually need, but meeting needs easily turns into obsession. The way out is service to others.

Whoever first baked Pecan Sandies should be made a saint. I love Pecan Sandies cookies! The taste of crunchy pecans, the texture of shortbread. I don’t care if you are from Georgia and pronounce it pee-kan, I’ll insist that Pecan or pee-kan Sandies are the finest cookie on the market. And so ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:13-15

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Over

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 7, 2009

God wants us to be more than minimal. Acknowledge that Christ is Lord, make sure our witness is clear, go beyond quick thrills, and be faithful, and your faith will sustain you over the long haul.

Too often, we choose "getting by", when we could choose "getting over". Too often, we try to skimp on life, hoping not to invest too deeply. That’s "getting by". But we could turn to a better answer. We could choose "getting over". "Getting by" and "getting over" are not the same thing. "Getting ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:12-17

Denomination: Baptist

Give Up Or Get Up?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 8, 2009

Never consider anyone hopeless. Pray intensely, watch out for the naysayers or for your own negativity, and then participate in the redemption Christ wants to bring.

He’s just hopeless! She is beyond redemption! I am never going to make it! They have no future whatsoever! They are hopeless! Are you ever tempted to speak like that? Do you ever feel that way about somebody, maybe even about yourself? Hopeless? Watch out. Because there is nothing more ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:40-56

Denomination: Baptist

Revived To Die?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 9, 2009

What must it have felt like to be revived, only to know that you will die again? It is true of a church that has undergone revival. Some will even try to kill the revival. Embrace it, unbind it.

We always welcome visitors in our church from wherever they may come. But I do wonder today if we have any visitors from the other side. The other side, you know. No, I don’t mean the Catholics. I mean the other other side. Do we have any visitors from beyond the grave? Thus begins the sermon ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Walls Come Tumblin' Down

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 14, 2009

We run into many walls we cannot seem to get past: estrangement, grief, illness. The way past those walls is described as Sabbath, symbol, silence, and shout.

When you are up against a wall, there will be more than one way to deal with it. There will be the conventional way. And there will be the creative way. When you are up against a wall, there will be a way to break it down that costs a whole lot less than the usual way. All of us remember Mark ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 6:1-21

Denomination: Baptist

Venus De Milo: Beautiful But Not Perfect

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 14, 2009

We are not perfect, nor are we beyond redemption. Wake up to correct the inadequacies; strengthen what is worth keeping; and remember the grace of God.

In the best of us there are deep flaws; but in the worst of us there is something worth redeeming. In the best of us there are deep, profound flaws. Every fine and saintly person I have known has been hard to get along with, had blinders on about some issue, or just hung on to some irritating ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

Ghostbusters

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 15, 2009

Panicked people do irrational things, like attempt to live in the past or to live out of bad religion. Panic can be dealt with only by trusting God and living in integrity. Luther’s Reformation is a prime illustration.

Children are not the only ones who are afraid of the dark. You do not have to be a child to be subject to irrational, unreasoning fears, fears that take you over and leave you breathless. Children may be afraid of dark rooms and of monsters under the bed, but the rest of us also panic. Don’t tell ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 28:3-18

Denomination: Baptist

God's Bountiful Buffet

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 16, 2009

Juy 31, 1988. When we don’t have enough, materially, it’s easy to be spiritual, and we respond with gratitude. When we have enough, materially, it’s still easy to be spiritual, and we respond with responsibility.

You may not know it, but we may be in the vicinity of a piece of history. We may be in the neighborhood that gave rise to a revolution in the restaurant business. I cannot really document this, but at least in my limited observation, it was right here in this neighborhood that one enterprising ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:1-18

Denomination: Baptist

Flirting With An Old Flame

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 17, 2009

Cowardice keeps us from a relationship with God. Rekindle God’s gifts: power to make a difference, love that stays by those in need, and self-discipline to choose a lifestyle of ministry. Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD

Are you that rare person who married your first love and you are still just as much in love today as you were at first sight? If you are such a creature, I salute you, but there are not many like you. When I attended Betty Noe’s funeral here not long ago, it was said that she was Hulon’s first ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

Having And Giving Authority

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 18, 2009

How do we decide whom to help and how, of all the needs presented? Jesus responded to the needs that presented themselves, He discerns what the real problems are, and He trusted others with authority.

The problem is never whether somebody needs help. The problem is always which somebody we can help. The issue is never whether there are any needs. There are always needs. In any given moment there are more needs than anyone person can possibly address. The issue is how to make the choice. Who ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Ishmael And Isaac: From Mistake To Mission

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 20, 2009

We live with dreams deferred, and act hastily, out of impatience. Either we then go into denial or we try to make do with a substitute. But Christ makes all dreams ever new.

The playwright Lorraine Hansberry asks it: "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up, like a raisin in the sun?" A dream deferred. A dream deferred is something you’ve put heart and soul into, for a long time, but it’s delayed. It hasn’t come. It’s incomplete. What happens to a dream ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

God And Hurting Persons

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 21, 2009

God has always expressed care for those who hurt; it’s nothing new. But Jesus extended that care to those not like His listeners, and His church is intended to reach the marginal.

This week, while the rest of you were surfing the Internet reading Ken Starr’s report, I was reading my favorite form of literature. I was reading "church bulletin bloopers." Church bulletin bloopers are those funny little errors that creep into church bulletins, maybe because the typist didn’t ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:14-30

Denomination: Baptist

Persistence In The Presence: How Women Pray

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 22, 2009

Women succeed in pray because they persist in trusting God, allow the whole self to pray, take God at His word, are not afraid of intensity, choose responsibility over religion, and keep their commitments.

If, as Thomas Edison tells us, genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration, then I suspect it is also true that prayer is one per cent insistence and ninety-nine per cent persistence. Prayer is one per cent insistence, to be sure; we do, in our prayers, tell God what ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 1:1-28

Denomination: Baptist

First Thank God Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 14, 2007

Initial sermon of interim pastorate. As Paul lived into relationship with God prior to theologizing, I thank God for the faithfulness in the congregation’s history; for mutual enrichment in its diversity; and for coming victory when no one need be ashame

God is not a problem to be solved. God is a mystery with whom we are to live. God is not an equation to be worked out in mathematical precision; God is personal, with whom we connect. God is a who, a where, and a when -- acting, living, and doing; and if God is sometimes a what and a why, an ...read more

Scripture: Romans 1:8-17

Denomination: Baptist

Getting On God's Agenda

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 16, 2007

God’s agenda is to give freedom to the oppressed, and He will not be stopped. But our disobedience can frustrate Him. The church needs to get on God’s agenda quickly.

A little book called “Kids’ Letters to Pastors” provides some fertile ground this morning for us to begin thinking about getting on God’s agenda. You see, you and I know the words we are supposed to say, whether we mean them or not. But kids say what they think, without editing. And so I suspect ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 6:1-13

Denomination: Baptist