Sermons on Joseph Cook:

Hot Heads, Cold Hearts

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 6, 2008

Anger drains us when it is either displaced or misplaced. But when we learn to replace it with a relationship to Christ, it becomes energizing.

One day when Margaret and I were college students, she said, “I think you ought to know that the deacons are going to ask for our pastor’s resignation.” We were members of the same church and had shared in appreciation for the thoughtful, exciting sermons our pastor brought us week by week. But ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

What Do I Still Lack? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 8, 2008

The young man raising this question with Jesus lacked historical memory, lacked self-awareness, and lacked a vision for one compelling pursuit. For Maundy Thursday

I: Remember The third of our ultimate questions sounds almost like a throwaway. Like a sarcastic castoff. “What do I still lack?” The young man had already asked the most sweeping question possible, “What good deed must I do to have eternal life?” As you may remember if you were here two ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:16-22

Denomination: Baptist

Absence Of Pain Or Pain Of Absence? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 9, 2008

We either want to disengage from conflict situations and save ourselves the pain, or we have to absorb the guilt of being absent and causing others pain. Trust an abundant God, who is able to take our pain and express abundant love.

We serve a God of abundance and not a God of scarcity. Ours is not a dilettante deity with nothing in His hands. Ours is the God who possesses the cattle on a thousand hills, who flung the stars into space, and who has made all things – all things. All things are made by Him and all things are ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Who Can Be Saved? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 11, 2008

Salvation seems elusive, whether it means personal peace, reconciliation, or productive life. Good Friday we see what God will do about that frustration.

I Everyone gets frustrated. In ways small or great, we feel the frustration of not being able to do what we want to do, not being able have what we want to have, not being able to achieve as we would want to achieve. Young people, by nature, dream great dreams. If you give them half a chance, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:16-26

Denomination: Baptist

A New Dimension Of Obedience

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 12, 2008

Dated 1985. Jesus saw that we live in a complicated age and are therefore called to love God with our minds as well as heart and soul and strength. Consider serious Biblical and theological study.

In order for you to understand fully what I am about to say, you would need to know my wife, and moreover, you would need to visit our backyard and find out that my wife is a wild flower nut. Now you will be very careful to get exactly what I said. I did not say, exactly, that my wife has lost her ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

A World-Class Child For A World Of Children

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 15, 2008

Story sermon: a child watches her father being taken away charged with being disorderly, feels guilty, but does not understand why all the others in her family "receive him not."

No Scripture is more loved and more often quoted than the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verses 16 and 17. If you want to put: the good news in miniature, there it is. One sentence encompassing the heart of the good news. So as we cane to the Advent season, during which we shall remember the Lord’s ...read more

Scripture: John 1:10-13

Denomination: Baptist

Payday Someday

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 15, 2008

Dated 1988. Being paid not only means money, it also means self-worth. So when they complained to Malachi that evil people got rewarded, he pointed out that being God’s possession was reward enough, and that God’s justice would ultimately be done.

My seminary classmates and I were approaching graduation, and went through a little process requested by the alumni office of the seminary. They asked us to fill out a form that would help them place us in churches or other ministry positions, now that we were finishing our training. And one of the ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Let's Turn The World Over To Mothers

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 15, 2008

Dated 1988. Part dialogue, part conversation, between the preacher and his wife. Pain is caused by absenting ourselves from those against whom we have a grievance. Mothers understand compassion and challenge the rest of us to reconcile.

It is very appropriate that Margaret join me in bringing the message today… appropriate not only because she is a mother, but also because today’s message was inspired by both of our mothers … both hers and mine. Several years ago my mother was sitting in her living room reading the newspaper with ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 14:1-24

Denomination: Baptist

Leaky Disciples

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 17, 2008

Dated 1988; post-revival message. We do not retain the Spirit after a period of excitement because we have not counted the cost, we are victims of low self-esteem, or we are not our own persons.

Nothing is more annoying than to be trying to transport some liquid in a leaky vessel. You think you’ve got whatever it is all secure and ready for use, and then all of a sudden you find out it has leaked and drained allover the place ... and nothing is more disturbing and frustrating. When I ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:57-62

Denomination: Baptist

Heart Bypass (1996)

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 15, 2009

If we do not understand what God does for us every day, then we will not receive what He wants to do when we really need Him. Sometimes He must withdraw from us because our abundance blinds us. (Communion message)

If we do not understand what God does, every day, then we will not receive what He wants to do when we really need Him. If with both minds and hearts we do not grasp that it is God who provides for us, day after day, even when we don’t think we need Him, then our minds will be closed and our ...read more

Scripture: Mark 6:45-52

Denomination: Baptist

The Great Dismal Swamp And The Evereadies

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 15, 2009

Just as comic strip characters were saved from the Great Dismal Swamp because their Eveready batteries summoned the Fleet, so also if we will use the resources we have, we can save others from this world because the risen Christ is our resource.

The travel brochures say practically nothing about it, and yet it is one of the largest features on the landscape of two’ adjacent states. Two incorporated cities encompass include a great deal of it, but very few people live there. It’s mostly hundreds of square miles of nothing. The official ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 49:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

Knit Quilt

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 16, 2009

Jonathan and David demonstrate how people are joined to one another: acknowledging a Father, receiving validation, empowering one another, working together for life.

There is a group in our church which is planning a quilt. This quilt is to depict the history of our church, with each square representing a decade in the church’s life. The finished product will be put on display so that everyone can get a picture of our history. Now this is not the first time ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

What More Can You Ask?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 19, 2009

What keeps us from fulfilling Jesus’ "So send I you" mandate? Lack of information? There is the Bible. Motivation? Forgiveness is critical for all. No personal experience with Christ? Now is the time for a fresh encounter. Montgomery Hills Baptist

Some of us live in a state of perpetual unreadiness. No matter what happens, we think we are not ready. Notice how I put that. We THINK we are not ready. We may have plenty of stuff in our old kit bags. We may have assembled all that we need to accomplish whatever we are about to do, but the ...read more

Scripture: John 20:19-31

Denomination: Baptist

Hands

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 21, 2009

To a church which has prided itself on its accumulated resources, but which now faces austerity, God says that if we do not fear but trust Him, we are enough to get Him the victory.

Hands. You have two hands. A right hand and a left hand, two hands. They are the most versatile parts of the human body, the places where our creativity is expressed, the instruments through which we register emotions, the tools we use to earn our daily bread. Hands. What a wonderful gift are our ...read more

Scripture: Judges 7:1-22

Denomination: Baptist

He Had To Rise

Contributed by Joseph Stapleton on Apr 21, 2009

Easter is a time of HOPE in a world sadly lacking

He HAD To Rise! (All my sermons use illustrations from sermon central.com and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted) (We showed a video from the “Passion of Christ” entitled “Beautiful Savior” just before I preached.) “Jesus your nailed scarred hands are beautiful, and your nailed scarred ...read more

Scripture: John 1:9

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ