Sermons on Joseph M Stowell:

Ark, Anger, And Acceptance

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 20, 2010

We who are successful want instant gratification, but must know that God’s timing may be different, and that it is important to do something that enables others to succeed. In prayer we learn that we are accepted and so our efforts have meaning.

Success brings with it its own set of problems. If you get used to being successful, you soon expect it, and then if it eludes you, that can be very hard to take. I know that I am speaking this morning to reasonably successful people, by and large. Most of you, when you face a challenge, are able ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:1-27

Denomination: Baptist

A Deadly Virus

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 3, 2010

Sin is not excused by good works, and unrepentant self-indulgence is destructive. Sexual integrity is not just a private matter; how we handle it will determine what happens with our church.

This has the potential for being the shortest sermon I’ve ever done. At first glance, it seems all I need to do with this text is to praise the church for doing so well, declare myself to be against sin, and wrap it up. The shortest sermon I’ve ever done, and maybe the shortest on record! Anybody ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:18-29

Denomination: Baptist

Every Barrier Down: Mary Magdalene

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 6, 2010

Commitment to the living Christ will let Him break down circumstantial, cultural, and spiritual barriers to our success. Illustrated with the story of Marian Anderson.

I think it was John Lennon, one of the Beatles, who once observed, "Life is what happens while you are making other plans." That really is the issue, isn't it? Getting a fix on our lives. Getting hold of life. Being able to make it go the way you want it to go. And the trouble is that life just ...read more

Scripture: John 20:1-18

Denomination: Baptist

All Ye Jigs And Juleps, Praise The Lord

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 3, 2010

The whole created order finds joy in the coming of Christ. It’s time we truly celebrated, either by doing something good for ourselves or by helping someone else.

The psalm which we just read together was paraphrased many years ago by Archbishop Cranmer as a great hymn of praise, used for generations in the Church of England. Its Latin name is "Benedicite omnia opera": "Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord". This hymn is a long recitation of many of ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 148:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

For Such A Time As This

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 27, 2009

Compassion must be owned personally, and we must know that we do have the resources to meet needs. However, it will be costly to do so.

If we suppose that the essence of being compassionate is simply to have mushy feelings about somebody, we are dead wrong. If for us the word "compassion" suggests nothing more than feelings of sympathy and maybe the willingness to dole out a few dollars of welfare, then we’ve missed it. We’ve not ...read more

Scripture: Esther 4:11-16

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

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

A Hiding Place With Noble Plans

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 20, 2009

We all need a place of quiet in which to hide and reflect; it will be the community of faith. Here we know one another as we really are, but love one another anyway. That is transformative.

Just a little less than a month ago, as many of you know, my wife’s father passed away very suddenly. Of course, we all hurried to get together, and then, as families do in times like that, we began to tell stories. We remembered how he used to say this or how he once did that. And one story we ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 32:1-8

Denomination: Baptist

Snapshots In An Autumn Album

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 15, 2009

Contrasting Koheleth and Paul in the later season of their lives: one blames the young, the other gathers them; one mourns broken things, the other invests in ideas; one is anxious, the other trusts God for every need.

This past weekend, as a part of our brief getaway, my wife and I spent two nights in an old farmhouse. The farmhouse dated from 1704 and was partly furnished with antiques. Now my wife loves antiques; I guess that’s why she puts up with me. So we took the tour of the house, especially the parlor ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

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

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

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

Dropped Cloths Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 23, 2008

The young man who lost his linen cloth and ran away naked may be a wealthy person, depending on status; or Lazarus, living in the past, or Mark, caught in immaturity. But He who dropped another linen cloth gives life.

Not too many years ago, Easter was the day on which everyone trotted out new clothes. It was on Easter that spring dresses sprung off the racks for young girls, and starched collars irritated the necks of young men. I don’t miss the starched collars, but I do rather miss the elaborate display of ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:51-52

Denomination: Baptist

Moles Or Souls? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 21, 2009

Some of us choose darkness, like moles burrowing into the ground. Our behavior becomes obsessively demonic, for which there are consequences. The Gospel calls us to be what God has made us to be, creatures living in the light, with passion.

Well, now, are you a mole or a soul? I want you to identify yourself, clearly and unequivocally, are you a mole or a soul? I suppose that does require a bit of explanation. A mole is a little creature that lives out its life underground, in the darkness, endlessly burrowing to and fro and making ...read more

Scripture: John 3:11-21

Denomination: Baptist

What Do You Say To A Hungry World?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 2, 2011

The clear demand of Jesus, seen against the spread of hunger in our time, is that we make lifestyle changes and that we understand that the Gospel calls for outward obedience as well as inner faith.

First Baptist Church, Gaithersburg, MD, March 9, 1980; with minor alterations at WHBC radio, June 28, 1981; Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, Oct. 10, 1982; First Baptist Church, Camp Springs, MD, March 11, 1984; Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, Oct. 13, 1985) If today is an ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:31-46

Denomination: Baptist