Sermons on Joseph Cook:

Pharaoh's Daughter: Enduring Rejection For The Sake Of God's Call Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 25, 2009

The princess of Egypt knew that God’s law superseded the state’s law; and chose to act for compassion and justice.

As I began this series of three messages on the theme, Designing Women, last week, I said that we were going to be looking for qualities of leadership out of the stories of those women mentioned in the roll call of faith known as the 11th chapter of Hebrews. You’ll remember that I pointed out ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 1:15-20

Denomination: Baptist

Creating A Loving Community For The New Millennium

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 27, 2010

Thinking about what the church must be in the future raises four questions: who are we, who gets in, who leads, and where are we going?

First Baptist Church (New Hampshire Ave), Washington, DC May 31, 1998 Can you believe that it won't be long until we cross over into the third millennium, a full two thousand years after the birth of Christ? Can you believe that we are still here to see it? Why, it seems like it was only ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Available For Life-Shaping

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 27, 2010

We can become what God wants us to become if we downplay disappointment, pick perceptive people, consider consequences, and accept affirmation. Revised from a 2003 message.

Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, June 5, 2005 It is said that the Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo could sense that in a rough block of marble there was an angel struggling to get out. He said that his job was to free that angel. Isn’t that remarkable?! To know ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Peace: Ready, Set, Go

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 27, 2010

Peace comes hard for some at Christmas. We must be open to what God wants to give, we must get down to what God wants us to be doing, and we must find meaning in our ordinary pursuits.

National Baptist Memorial Church, Washington, DC, Dec. 19, 2004 These are stressful days. There is too much going on. Too much work, too much to think about, too many demands. Stressful. We’d really like some peace, wouldn’t we? Just a moment or two of quiet – ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Real With God

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 27, 2010

Authenticity before God begins with self-examination, proceeds to self-disclosure, and involves trusted advisors.

National Baptist Memorial Church, Washington, DC March 13, 2005 The issue is not an academic discussion as to whether there is a God. Relatively few doubt or debate that. The issue is not whether God is real, but whether we know how to get real with God. Let me play out a little scene with ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:32-42

Denomination: Baptist

A Partnership Of Parental Prayer

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 27, 2010

Family healing starts when we name the problems honestly. Things may get worse before they get better. but ultimately Christ will heal when we pray even in fractured faith.

Clifton Park Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, June 18, 2006 When there is a problem to be solved, we will do everything to solve it except the thing that works best. Have you noticed that? When something needs to be fixed, we will try all sorts of complicated approaches. But the simplest and ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:14-29

Denomination: Baptist

The Changing Church And The Changeless Christ

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 29, 2010

We are in transitional times; we will be helped through transition if we remember who got us here and why, but if we also remain wary of popular bandwagons. The ultimate measure is whether we have been faithful to Christ's call.

Gethsemane Baptist Church, Washington, DC, Nov. 24, 1996 Some folks are allergic to change. They want everything to be just as it always was. They get used to things and they want everything to stay put. Some folks just won’t deal with change. A few weeks ago the electricity went out at ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 13:7-16

Denomination: Baptist

A Fresh Start

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 30, 2010

Fresh starts as persons or churches do not come just out of guilt, nor out of blame, but out of a radical rebirth

Bethesda First Baptist Church, Bethesda, MD, Sept. 5, 2004 Everybody needs, from time to time, a fresh start. No matter who you are, no matter where you have been, no matter what you have done, sometimes you just need a fresh start. Trying to fix things the way they are doesn’t work; there ...read more

Scripture: John 3:1-16

Denomination: Baptist

Kingdom Kindness

Contributed by Joseph Stapleton on Nov 30, 2010

Kindness is one thing lacking in the American church today, this sermon looks atsix characteristics of Kindness and teaches us how to be a kinder more compassionate people.

KINGDOM KINDNESS All my sermons use illustrations found at www.sermoncentral.com and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted. “A little lame boy was once hurrying to catch a train. In the press of the crowd he experienced real difficulty in manipulating his crutches, especially as he ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:12-17

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Available For Life-Shaping

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 30, 2010

To be available for what God wants to do in us we must downplay disappointments, pick perceptive people, consider the consequences, and accept affirmation. Revision of an earlier message

Montgomery Hills Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD June 25, 2006 It is said that the sculptor Michelangelo could sense that in a rough block of marble there was an angel struggling to get out. He said that his job was to free that angel. Isn’t that remarkable?! To know that in a rough ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Available For Liberation

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 30, 2010

Revised for use in a very small church looking for a new direction: Moses became an effective liberator by asking three questions: "Who am I?" "Who are You?" and "What if?"

Broadview Baptist Church, Chesapeake, MD Sept. 3, 2006 Church is not just for you and me who are members of the church. Church is for others. Church is for the world out there. Freedom is not just for you and me who have accepted Christ. Freedom is for others. The free gift of salvation is ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Available For Impossible Dreams Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 30, 2010

We become available to God when we fully worship and trust Him, when we go out of our comfort zones; there are many possibilities open to us in our church and community.

Montgomery Hills Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD July 9, 2006 If what you expect to receive and what someone wants to give you are not the same thing, you are doomed to disappointment. If you want a particular thing, but the person you are dealing with is determined that you shall have ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

Standing On The Rubbishes

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 30, 2010

Revised from an earlier message for a small church trying to affirm a new direction: Focus on what you have accomplished, know the heart of Christ for His church, confirm loving relationships.

Bethesda First Baptist Church, Bethesda, MD October 3, 2004 Some things end, but are not completed. Other things are completed, but do not end. There is a world of difference between the two. Some things end, but are not completed. Some things stop, unfinished. All these recent accidents ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

In Touch With Earth

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 1, 2010

Revision of earlier message. God calls us to remember that we are both physical and spiritual, and are therefore to be stewards of the earth as well as spiritually sound. The Table reminds of both our physical and spiritual sides and responsibilities.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, October 6, 1985, World Communion Sunday No matter how sophisticated we may become, something in us reaches out for the soil, reaches out for our roots and stirs within us to claim a simpler, more basic way of life. I would just about bet that most of us ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31

Denomination: Baptist

Will Anything Really Change?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 2, 2010

Revised from an earlier message for a church making a major turn in direction and leadership. Change is hard for us, for some of us fear change, some of us do not think change is real. But God is able and willing to complete what He begins among us.

Bethesda First Baptist Church, Bethesda, MD, September 19, 2004 Will anything really change? I mean, really?! So often change is only apparent, and not real. So often we tinker with things, but we do not really change them. We lack the will to change things, really. We lack the imagination ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:1-21

Denomination: Baptist