Sermons on Joseph In Prison:

Pointing To The Light Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 11, 2009

John the Baptist knew who he was not and who he was, and accepted his task of pointing to Christ. Our mistakes are imagining that we are more than we are, or that we are less than we are. The real task is: just point to the light.

My son and his wife live in a five-level townhouse in Reston, Virginia. You enter into a kind of combination corridor and stairwell at the second level. Typically I turn right when I arrive and go into the kitchen area. But when I leave that level to go to another one, I walk out of that kitchen ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-28

Denomination: Baptist

A Mother's A Mother All Of Her Life

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 13, 2009

Preached in 1989. The Holy Spirit, like mothers, is stubborn. He will accomplish what He sets out to do, as mothers do not abandon their children; so we must not give up on each other but must become motherlike.

There’s just something about mothers -- they are without a doubt the stubbornest people on God’s green earth. Mothers are stubborn, mothers stick with it, mothers stay with something until the cows come home. Mothers are persistent, mothers are consistent ... I think I said it best at the ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:6-11

Denomination: Baptist

When Curiosity Isn't Enough

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 13, 2009

It is not enough to be curious about Christ, keeping your distance or living in the world unequipped. If you are merely curious, come closer and you will grow and mature.

We have a new puppy at our house. She’s about 11 weeks old. And is she ever curious! She is curious about everything. There is nothing that escapes her attention, and nothing that does not interest her. She has to sniff at the house plants; she pulls at the towels; she tugs at the bedspread ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:43-52

Denomination: Baptist

Looking Good: Just One More Thing

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 14, 2009

Dinosaurs look good in the museum, but their bones are really disconnected, are not together, and are dry as dust. The church must learn to connect, to unite, and to be exciting, as God wills.

Dinosaurs fascinate me. Those ancient beasts which once upon a time roamed this planet, foraging for food and terrorizing smaller creatures. You’ve seen them on the late movies, enormous reptiles, roaring and raring up on their hind legs, grabbing the pretty girl between those giant jaws and ...read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

When God Wrestles With Family Tensions

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 16, 2009

We use avoidance, anger, anxiety, and aloneness to manage family tensions. We even use self-centered prayer. But when we let God wrestle with us, we are changed and we accept vulnerability in family life.

The most critical issue in family life is not anger or argument. It is avoidance. What plagues most families is not that they are embroiled in fighting or torn by argument. What destroys families is that people drift apart from one another; they avoid one another. You see, if you fight with ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

If It's Light, Let It Lead Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 18, 2009

MLK Sunday: to work in the darkness, we need light, lots of it, but it may show us things we don’t want to know. The Bible is light for life; the church makes us see its truth in ways that claim us; and Christ leads us to a healthy integrity

If you are going to work in the darkness you need light. There is only so much you can do by feeling your way. You need light and lots of it. Last Wednesday night as my wife and I left Montgomery Hills Church, I noticed some poor soul in the driveway of the house next door. He had the hood of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:22-23

Denomination: Baptist

The Price Of A Kiss

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 19, 2009

Black History Month: There is a price to pay for friendliness: Christlike behavior even when others disappoint us, commitment to the development of others.

The passage I am about to read is the very ending of the Second Corinthian letter. It includes a verse which has a warm place in my memory because it was the favorite verse of lots and lots of male seminarians back in the 60’ s when I was in school. You see, in the 60’s there were not very many ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 13:5-13

Denomination: Baptist

The Price Of A Secure Peace

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 20, 2009

Peace is secured if a nation will repent, think realistically, and work to produce righteousness. The support of Christian missions is a step for peace.

In a few days the leaders of two great nations will sit down for a summit conference, designed to promote the cause of peace. One of those nations is passing through unprecedented trials. A year ago who would have predicted that the Soviet Union would look shaky and might even break apart? Six ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 8:4-13

Denomination: Baptist

Marked Men

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 22, 2009

Cain’s problem is ours: we are fearful and anxious if someone else seems to be getting ahead of us, and our anxiety is the root of our violence. But in God’s curse there is a mercy and a clue for brotherliness.

For today’s message we are going back to the earliest moments in human history to look at one of the most basic issues in human life. We are looking at the way we feel about differences, and what we do about that feeling. The Book of Genesis, in its opening stories, teaches us about what it means ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 4:1-15

Denomination: Baptist

One Dark Blot

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 24, 2009

Many of us are given to obsessive behavior. Healing comes when we name it for what it is and accept a healthy substitute. A relationship with Christ will erase destructive obsessive behavior.

Success in life is about one-half drive and one-half perspective. To get anywhere, to accomplish anything, you have to mix both drive and perspective. You have to blend both drive and push, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the ability to back off and look at your drivenness. Most of the ...read more

Scripture: John 4:1-30

Denomination: Baptist

What Then Will We Have?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 24, 2008

Gaining authentic riches means embracing the way of life over the way of death. The way of life means constant companionship and reconciled relationships, all in the risen Christ.

They promised me an income of up to ten thousand dollars a week. It would come in the easiest of ways; all I would have to do would be to sit at home and wait for it to pour in. They said the money would mount up effortlessly. Up to ten thousand dollars a week, made by promoting certain ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:16-30

Denomination: Baptist

What Good Deed Must I Do? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 30, 2008

The rich young ruler’s question was off-base. It assumes that we can do one overriding deed to win God over; it is possessive; and it is self-centered.

I am not very good at giving gifts. I just have a hard time, when Christmas and birthdays and anniversaries roll around, a hard time giving the right gifts. It’s not that the folks I want to give to are picky or unworthy; it’s just that I can’t seem to figure out what they want and get it. For ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:13-16

Denomination: Baptist

Together In Disappointment, Together In Hope Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 2, 2008

Church life is full of disappointments, but it can be equally full of hope and fulfillment. The key is to stay together and see what God will do. God is a God of abundance and not of scarcity.

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

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

Denomination: Baptist

How To Lie With Statistics

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 5, 2008

For the Festival of Christ the King; We rely on false comparisons or we use half-truths to justify ourselves. Far better to find justification in committing ourselves to what God is about in the world.

There are lies, and then there are lies. Little lies and big lies. Deceptions of all kinds. Some say it was Mark Twain, others British Prime Minister Disraeli, but someone remarked that there are three kinds of lies: plain lies, flat-out lies, and statistics. Plain lies, flat-out lies, and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:9-14

Denomination: Baptist

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