Sermons on Joseph Ondu:

We Have, They Need: Formula For Life Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 28, 2002

First of a series based on the Johannine letters: our response to overwhelming need is first of all a discovery of who we are; then a commitment to maximum effort; and finally a discovery of where our passion lies. This will energize us.

I invite you today on an imaginary trip. Let’s walk through just one day in a needy world. Just imagine a few hours in a world that asks us for more than we can possibly give: You are awakened early by the phone’s insistent ringing; you hear the voice of a member of your family. He ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:11-18, 1 John 3:18-24

Denomination: Baptist

Babel And Bubbles, Babies And Beginnings

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 6, 2002

God gives confusion when we act out of pride; but He wants in His church to reconcile all of us to one another, and does so through the model of the Christ of the cross.

I am becoming an expert in baby talk. Thanks to two young granddaughters, I am learning all over again the special language of infants. What their tiny mouths utter is not nonsense. They have their own language. Just because I have become accustomed to the language of the adult world – ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 11:1-9, Acts 2:1-4

Denomination: Baptist

Revived In God's Love: Revisioning

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 20, 2002

Post-revival sermon, calling us to see in our midst the possibilities of the new Jerusalem -- a church/community built on the basis of the old one, where all persons of all backgrounds are invited by our people and where those with challenges are given he

My mother had the habit of walking with her eyes fixed on the ground. Wherever we would go, my father and my brother and I would be looking all around, enjoying what there was to see, but mother would be plodding along behind us, looking at the ground. We used to tell her, “You’re missing ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 21:9-27

Denomination: Baptist

Windswept

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 3, 2005

America is a land swept by the winds of change. Are they destructive? Yes, if we invest in religion without integrity and if we accept leaders committed to materialism. But refreshing winds are possible as we the church are in touch with the Spirit.

In the hills of eastern Kentucky, not far from where we once lived, there is a hidden-away estate called Windswept. If you crawl up the winding grade of US 421 to the wide place in the road called Morrill, off to your left there is a driveway that leads to a lovely stone house. Windswept was ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 8:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

From Goodness To Going

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 11, 2005

Preached at the National Baptist Memorial Church -- a congregation facing selecting a pastor, dealing with an aging building, and in decline. The issue is whether we will stop depending on just being "good" and will live out of grace to bear our witness

I heard not long ago about a very special automobile. It was built in the 1920’s by the Italian firm Bugatti, and it was designed for the outrageously wealthy. This car had 450 horses under the hood, it was 22 feet long and weighed 6000 pounds. It was hand-crafted of the finest materials, it ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:1-19

Denomination: Baptist

Who's Your Daddy?

Contributed by Joseph Comage on Jul 20, 2005

James and John we know, but who’s their Daddy? Is he important or is he significant in any way?

Who’s Your Daddy? Mark 1: 16 - 20 16And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 17Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18They immediately left their nets and followed ...read more

Scripture: Mark 1:16-20

Denomination: Independent/Bible

With A Child's Heart

Contributed by Joseph Comage on Aug 4, 2005

The church is responsible to train and feed the New Born Christian in the ways of the Lord

With a Childs Heart Proverbs 22:6 6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. When we speak of a child, it can mean different things. ľ There is the child that is an infant. ľ There is the child of God. ľ There is a New Born Christian Child. Every ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 22:6

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Can God Trust You?

Contributed by Joseph Comage on Nov 8, 2002

Can God trust you when you are under attack and all hell is breaking loose?

CAN GOD TRUST YOU 2 Corinthians 1:8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren of our trouble which came to us in Asia; that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even life. CAN GOD TRUST YOU? To be able to trust the ones we love is important to almost all ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:8

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Jesus Chilling Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 10, 2002

Jesus understood when, how, and why to "chill": when His emotional energies had been drained; how to back off the need to be needed; and for the purpose of providing a still point of healing for others.

If there is any one thing that distinguishes my generation and later generations, like the Gen-xers, it is that we have totally different attitudes about work and play. We are light years apart about what we expect from work or what we want from play. People born before and during the ...read more

Scripture: Mark 6:45-56

Denomination: Baptist

Jesus In Love Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 18, 2002

Jesus, in dealing with sexual sin, did NOT make an object out of the woman involved, nor did He feel it necessary to do anything but give her space to work out her own spiritual issues. He DID determine that His aim was redemption, not shame, and He love

All these years of preaching and teaching, and no one has ever asked me why Jesus didn’t have a wife or a girl friend. No one has even so much as wondered out loud whether Jesus the man felt what most men feel. Are you afraid of that question? Or do you just suppose that, after all, ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Jesus Partying Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 24, 2002

We have taken our cues about how to have fun from the wrong places. When Jesus parties, he includes rather than excludes the misfits; he goes not to participate nor to criticize, but to listen and redeem; and when you party with Jesus, you have joy and z

Suppose you gave a party and Jesus showed up! What would that do to your party? He wasn’t on the invitation list, He didn’t RSVP, but here He comes, making a beeline straight at you, with arms outstretched in greeting, and about twelve of his best buds looking eagerly at the buffet table. ...read more

Scripture: Luke 5:27-38

Denomination: Baptist

Strange Land, Foreign Land, Promised Land Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 1, 2002

A poetic, impressionistic rendering of Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, presented by two readers in dialogue

Every day is unique, every time is new. Never before have these same things happened, never again will this moment come. But the one who made this day, the one who is ever new, knows this moment. And knew that moment in which all things would be fulfilled. Each day is a gift. And each ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:1-17

Denomination: Baptist

Two Ways To Reclaim The Season Series

Contributed by Joseph Hughes on Dec 7, 2002

Jesus’ words in Mark 13 sound strange this time of year, but they remind us that the season is about the redemption of the world not the resurrection of the "bottom line."

First Sunday in Advent -December 1, 2002 The Holy Gospel - Mark 13:24-37 13:24 "But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 13:25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 13:26 Then they ...read more

Scripture: Mark 13:24-37

Denomination: Lutheran

Thy Kingdom Come: Still Blind And Mute Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 10, 2001

Praying for the Kingdom to come is an awesome responsibility, for some of us remain blind and mute despite Jesus’ healing, criticizing those who are different and causing divisions.

Our backyard is heavily populated. It is home to birds and bugs, to snails and occasional snakes, and most of all, our backyard is populated with moles. The turf is home to those burrowing creatures, moles. I have the twisted ankle to prove it, thanks to sinking in one of the burrows. Our ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 12:22-32

Denomination: Baptist

Thy Will Be Done: By Any Means Necessary? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 16, 2001

To pray for the will of God to be done in the aftermath of the terror of Sept. 11 is to see that the will of God and the ways of God must always be joined; to avoid sinking to the level of the terrorists; and to repent of little faith and recommmit to the

A number of years ago, a poet penned poignant words as he saw the beginning of the end for the greatest nation of his day. He saw that the far-flung influence his country had thrown over much of the world could no longer be held. The people who had felt pressed by it were demanding their own ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 17:14-21

Denomination: Baptist