Sermons on Joseph Ondu:

The Stone, The Stink, And The Glory Of God

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 16, 2009

Remembrance Sunday, 1989: For us to see the glory of God in the face of death means that we have to move some obstacles and we have to live into the bitterness of what might have been; but then the great "Come Forth" can be heard.

At Easter it was not hard to think and to sing of the glory of God, was it? Not hard at all to imagine that God’s in His heaven, all’s right with the world. Triumphant music played, pronouncements came forth about victory and power and honor to our God. It was not hard at Easter to dwell on the ...read more

Scripture: John 11:1-44

Denomination: Baptist

Sarah: Defeating Your Own Purpose Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 17, 2009

You can defeat what you know you want and ought to do by using immoral means or by destroying relationships to do it. But Christ is able to give us a new spirit.

The membership of this church is almost two-thirds female. That would be reason enough for us to have a series of sermons on the lessons that women can teach us. But that is not the only reason I have planned a three-part series of messages around the theme, Designing Women. I have planned this ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Struggling When Others Disappoint Us Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 18, 2009

July 1989. When others disappoint us, it is often because they do not meet our expectations, and anger is natural. God feels that about us. But God allows us to reap the consequences of our sin in Christ’s cross takes into Himself that burden and transf

He was a fuzzy-faced young man with a twangy West Virginia accent and an angular chin as craggy as the hills from which he had come. You had to notice him, small though he was, because he carried a Bible as big as the side of a barn and painted in the same bright fiery color. It was obvious that he ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 11:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

Struggling To Work For Peace Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 19, 2009

August 1989, Day of Prayer for World Peace: Making peace in the world begins with making peace with God. It does not mean making peace WITH the world.

Just a few weeks ago they re-enacted, not very far from here, a small but crucial Civil War battle. The Battle of Fort Stevens did not get into a lot of the history books, but it was important in that it turned back the Confederate armies on the very edge of the capital city. Had the South taken ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 10:12-15

Denomination: Baptist

Struggling With The Pain Of Faithlessness Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 20, 2009

July 1989. Our sexual behavior matters to God, and He has expressed His will. When we go our own ways, it hurts Him as well as others and ourselves. He can and will redeem even from this most painful sin.

A number of years ago a friend of mine was teaching a group of children the Ten Commandments in Vacation Bible School. In order to teach the Ten Commandments, she says, she was given a set of pictures. Each of the pictures illustrated the bad behavior forbidden by the Commandment; each picture ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Struggling Even When The Good Times Roll Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 21, 2009

July 1989: When we are prospering, we are tempted into the idolatry of me-ism and self-congratulation. This is an opportunity to do more for others and for the Kingdom, for God is the source of our bounty.

About a year ago, toward the end of July, I placed one of these up here on the pulpit as the visible sermon for the day. Remember? Do you recall what we called that Sunday? Right: we called it "catch-up Sunday" …catch-up Sunday … and the idea was that if we were behind in our giving, if we as a ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 14:4-8

Denomination: Baptist

The Strength Of The Triangle

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 22, 2009

We like to think we can support our lives on love alone; but we first need hope, a healthy self-love; and fundamentally need faith, trusting in God’s empowering us.

With the summer coming on, we began to think about getting our deck ready for some serious use. It was built several years ago and needed a little repair work. Now I had been reading about some problems with deck construction. I had read of decks that had collapsed, and how the building ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Denomination: Baptist

Clean All Over Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 23, 2009

We are no good to anyone else unless first we have experienced cleansing. That rules out maternalistic protection or paternalistic inhibition. When we know we are cleansed, then we are useful to others.

I am beginning today a series of messages on the theme, "How He Helped Humanity." "How He Helped Humanity." The idea behind this is very simple, but it branches out in many different ways. The basic idea is that we are working toward becoming a helping church, a servant people. But we need ...read more

Scripture: John 13:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

Earth Yielding Increase

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 24, 2009

For Worldwide Communion Sunday: How can we, like the Psalmist, be optimistic in the face of international conflict, national dispute, racism, church tension, our personal conflicts? The Cross is God’s reaching out to heal.

It was an awesome ruin. A hulk of stone, a pile of rubble. Smoke stains clearly visible. Jagged edges its roofline. What once had been a magnificent building lay now exposed to the open air, useless, a scar on the horizon. What terrible thing had happened here to create this ugly defacing of the ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 67:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

Come: To A Harvested Self

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 5, 2009

Evil and good live side by side, so we need to accept our sinfulness in order to receive our salvation. God in Christ takes on Himself the penalty we should receive.

It would seem that the negative things in life grow of their own accord, but that the good things, positive things, take a lot of work. If you are at all a pessimist, you will agree that bad things, destructive things, just happen. Nobody has to make them happen. They happen on their own. But good ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30

Denomination: Baptist

Come: To A Choking World

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 6, 2009

What chokes the joy out of life? Too many cares that major on minors, and the relentless pursuit of material success. Jesus came to be authentically human among us.

Nearly every time I take an airplane trip, I get a happy surprise. When we take off and rise through the congestion of earth and the grim gray clouds of our immediate atmosphere, there comes that astonishing moment when the plane bursts through the cloud cover into bright sunlight. I am always ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:3-22

Denomination: Baptist

Can I Get A Lift?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 6, 2009

August 1989: If we want to be lifted up out of our unhappiness through worship, we must bring our whole selves to the worship experience and must pray passionately even our negative wishes.

I recently became aware that some folks shop for a church much as you would shop for a car or a home appliance. In talking with some people about joining our church, they said that they were shopping – that’s their word, not mine -- that they were shopping for a church by systematically attending ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 28:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

Candle And Cradle, Curse And Cross

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 6, 2009

Every positive experience has its negative side. Jesus’ coming was threatening to many, and His birth foreshadows a cross. The light of Christ, however, will never be put out.

Dr. Seuss knew that every Christmas has a Grinch. Every positive experience, it would seem, has a dark side, a negative side. Every Christmas has a Grinch to steal away its joy. Maybe you are one of those people, and there are quite a few of them, who just get tired of the whole murky business ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 1:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

Conquerors All

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 8, 2009

We are bored. Feelings shut down because we strive for security and for status, and even for spirituality, but nothing works. Only allegiance to the risen Christ provides fulfillment.

Of all the diseases of our time, the most serious one is boredom. Of all the sicknesses this flesh is heir to, the most fatal is boredom. Not AIDS, not homicide, not heart disease nor cancer, but boredom. Oh, I don’t suppose any mortuary ever tagged a cadaver’s toe with "boredom". I don’t suppose ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:15-22

Denomination: Baptist

Connected, Like It Or Not

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 9, 2009

Baptist Heritage Sunday: broad as we are, we can stay together if we live out our understanding of soul competence and if we focus on missions and evangelism.

I want to introduce you to the least exclusive club in the world. A club so open that anybody can get in, whether they qualify or not, although the club says it has high standards for membership. It is a club so broad in its social standings that it has included the lowest of the low and the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16

Denomination: Baptist