Sermons on Joseph Cook:

Sophomore Or Saint? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 10, 2008

We tend to use our limited knowledge to bludgeon others who do not know what we know or whose behavior does not match our standards; but we are called to be in Christ first and to love them, letting behavior flow from the relationship.

There is an old, corny story – and please don’t stop me if you have heard this one – a story about the young man who was the first in his family to go to college. In fact, he was the first in his small town to go to college. And so when he came home after his freshman year, he was the apple of ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 2:1-23

Denomination: Baptist

Hidden Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 17, 2008

God always reveals Himself in personal ways. Three times "hidden" appears in Colossians: to show that there is meaning in our suffering, to demonstrate that transformation can come, to call us to personal commitment, all at the right times.

Every child loves to play “Hide and Seek”. And every grandparent loves to play with them. But the lesson I learned is that playing “Hide and Seek” is a delicate operation. It is a test of grandpa’s interpersonal skills. “Hide and Seek” is about more than using your powers of observation to find ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Remember My Chains Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 24, 2008

Like some of Paul’s companions in prison, we may be held back by tasks too small, by shame, or even by our own prejudices. But once we accept our limitations as part of God’s will, they become ways to help others and fulfill our life callings.

If you suffer severe limitations, what do you wish for? What is your prayer, if you are bound by something that keeps you from doing what you really want to do? Do you wish you could be free from it? Likely you do. Do you even pray that you might have that limitation removed? I expect that I ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 4:2-18

Denomination: Baptist

The Price Of Peace

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 6, 2008

Conflict is fundamentally spiritual, not just interpersonal, founded in insecurity and elusive. But persistence in prayer will ultimately provide peace.

When Jesus spoke of those who cry, “Peace, peace” when there is no peace, He must have foreseen the pain of the present time. Never before in human history, I would suspect, have more people felt less peace than now. Everywhere you turn there is the evidence of a generation which is deeply ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

The Time Came

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 9, 2008

When God comes, it seems inconvenient to us, but it is the right time. And when we cannot get Him to arrive when we want Him, that simply is not the right time.

While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. The time came? Whose time? What kind of timing is this? A child deserves to be born in the surroundings of home, not in some strange place scores of miles away. A young woman wants to give birth to her child with her own ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7

Denomination: Baptist

Nights Of Miracles

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 10, 2008

A Communion meditation that compares and contrasts the night of the Lord’s birth with the night of His betrayal and the night on which He shall return. Designed to be spoken in sections during the Communion service.

A night of miracles?! Yes, it was. A night of miracles, more than one. A miracle that the child of promise should finally be born, a miracle that a virgin should conceive and bear a son and we would call His name Immanuel, a miracle that from lowly shepherds to lofty wise men to angelic choirs ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Denomination: Baptist

Hands Touching Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 14, 2008

Ordination sermon for new deacons. God’s gifts are not found in timidity, but in the power to encourage, the touch of love, and the skill of self-discipline, all symbolized in the laying on of hands.

Of all the ways we can use our hands, none is more authentically human than touching. Touching, not grasping, for some of the apes can do that too. Touching, not hitting, for that is a perversion of our humanity. Touching, not taking, for that is part of our fallen nature. We are most human ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

The Wounded Healer

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 24, 2011

Jesus, going to the Cross, understands our aloneness and isolation, and heals it by identifying with it.

Calverton Baptist Church, April 4, 1982; Howard University Chapel, April 9, 1982; Takoma Park Baptist Church, March 31, 1985 Recently a Methodist pastor in South Carolina created something of a stir in his church, and all of it quite innocently. He asked a member of the congregation who was known ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 11:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

Mourning The End Of Summer

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 26, 2011

We find that we have dallied or been irresponsible, and the things we said we want to accomplish are impossible at this late date. But God is capable of redeeming even that element of irresponsibility if we renew our commitment to Him.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, August 28, 1988 Here we are at the end of summer, or nearly so. It's the end of August, which is at least psychologically the end of summer. It's the end of the summer feeling, for now it's back to reality, now it’s back to business and a ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 8:18-22

Denomination: Baptist

The Word Made Flesh: A New Beginning

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 28, 2011

We cannot repair our mistakes alone, because we keep on starting at old premises. What we need, and receive in the Incarnation, is a new beginning, modeled and taught.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, Nov. 30, 1986, Advent I One comic strip character aspires to be a writer. His crowning ambition is to write the definitive novel, the bestseller to end all best sellers. And so time and again he sits down at his typewriter, poises his paws (must be ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

Safe At Home

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 1, 2011

Interactive sermon, asking what more we can be for our children: mutual submission means respect; parenting means sacrificial love; the church has a responsibility to provide safety.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, August 31, 1997: audience response involved There are times when all of us need to participate, times when no single person can speak all the truths or do all the work. There are times when a community of people must come together, and think together, pray together, ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-4

Denomination: Baptist

No Deposit, No Return

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 2, 2011

To fail to do what is right is not only sin, but is unproductive. What of our knowledge resources and our financial resources? Are they making a difference? If not, no gain.

Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, August 15, 1982; Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, Sept. 30, 1984) Preachers find sermons in all sorts of strange places, and I found this one in a bottle! Now you can just stop thinking what you are thinking and listen to what I mean! ...read more

Scripture: James 4:17

Denomination: Baptist

A Mother's Loan

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 4, 2011

Hannah shows us that women today can turn their insecurities and their relationships over to God and can find fulfillment.

(First Baptist Church, Gaithersburg, MD, May 11, 1980; Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, May 9, 1982; Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, May 12, 1985) One of God's great mercies is that He consistently takes our faltering insecurities and transforms them into something ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

All Your Anxieties?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 5, 2011

God is able to deal with all of our anxieties, not just a portion. He can relieve us of our fears for those things which will not really happen; for our concern for daily survival; and most of all, for our fear of death.

(Originally preached at Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, Jan. 30, 1983; thereafter, with slight variations, at Clinton Baptist Church, Clinton, MD, July 29, 1984; Cresthill Baptist Church, Bowie, MD, Aug. 5, 1984; Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, Aug. 12, 1984; First Baptist ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:7

Denomination: Baptist

Are You Generous?

Contributed by Robert Joseph on May 10, 2014

This is a small group topic about being generous and looks at some of the reasons people aren't generous.

ICE BREAKER Question: What kind of tip do you usually leave when you eat at a restaurant? KEY VERSE: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” [2 Corinthians 9:6 NIV ] LESSON: In Matthew 10:8, Jesus said, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:6

Denomination: Pentecostal