Sermons on Joseph Ondu:

Friend Of The Full Heart Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 23, 2009

Christmas is a time for full hearts: weary, guilty, anxious, sad -- past, present, and future. Mary felt the same things, but Christ comes to forgive our past, empower our present, and assure our future.

Christmas is an emotional time. All kinds of feelings are involved with the celebration of Christmas. If you don’t feel some tension, some excitement, or some pressure, something at this time of the year, you are either dead or you’ve been watching the Redskins, which is about the same thing. ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Denomination: Baptist

Fresh Encounter

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 24, 2009

All of us need to hear God’s love in a fresh way. Some say they do not want an encounter, but they do. Some do not expect anything new. Some are just past their first thrill of knowing Christ. Some have never exercised faith. Christ waits to receive

Just about everybody ought to get married, at least once. There’s nothing quite like it in all the world. Everybody ought to have the experience of learning the difference between fantasy and reality. That’s what happens when you get married. Everything up to marriage is fantasy. It’s romance, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:14-17

Denomination: Baptist

Frantic Work Or Focused Life

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 26, 2009

Wisdom lies in knowing when to be busy and when to be reflective. Both Martha and Mary wanted the affirmation of Jesus. But it always comes by grace alone.

Author Sam Keen, in his provocative little book called Apology for Wonder, tells us the lesson he learned as young boy swimming in the Indian River inlet on the Delaware coast. Keen says that swimming there was very tricky, because the outgoing waters from the bay met the incoming tides waves from ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:38-41

Denomination: Baptist

Sing With The Mind Also

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 26, 2009

Cantate Sunday, 1986: Music has power to involve every facet of our beings in worship, it helps build the body of Christ, and it can offer a credible witness to the world.

It was offertory time in the morning worship, and everyone had settled down quietly – settling down, I suspect, for a little nap to get themselves ready for the big nap they would take during the sermon! And, as was customary, the organist began the slow and solemn strains of an offertory: music to ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 14:6-15

Denomination: Baptist

Earning The Right To Be Heard

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 27, 2009

Jesus is God’s way of earning the right to be heard. He comes to where we live, and he experiences what we experience. He is therefore credible.

I invite you to eavesdrop with me this morning. Listen and we can overhear some conversations. Overheard in the grocery store aisle: a mother and a little girl, shopping dangerously close to the candies, the cookies and the other goodies. The little girl saying, "I want these and I want those and ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Churchill Or Church, Ill?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 29, 2009

As Winston Churchill rallied the British people, so Paul rallies Christians by urging us to review our motivations and to present something solid and not merely entertaining. Such a church will prevail and thrive.

On the fifth of June, 1940, not even a month after he became prime minister, Winston Churchill spoke to the British people to encourage them of their desperate situation. Bear in mind that in September of the previous year the Nazis had invaded Poland, with no effective resistance. Thereafter, ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:7-10

Denomination: Baptist

Earthen Vessel, Feet Of Clay

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 29, 2009

Ordination of Troy L. Dixon, Nov. 1989: We pursue the trappings of religion instead of what is truly value. As a common clay vessel, be wary of power games, know that your foundation can crumble, focus on the treasure of the Gospel.

Somehow in men’s minds the paraphernalia of religion get to be more important than the faith itself. It is one of the enduring problems of religious life, how it is that we get far more caught up and invested in the trappings of religion than in the faith itself. In your average church, you ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:5-18

Denomination: Baptist

Cisterns, Channels, And Stagnant Ponds

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 30, 2009

If we do not share our faith we will not truly learn it. If we take nothing in we will go dry. Truly refreshing spirituality involves both learning and sharing the truth.

A few weeks ago, as the hot weather season got into full swing, I remembered something I had not done to prepare for the season. Last summer we had bought a big plastic garbage container and had set it outside, next to the air conditioner compressor, and I had run the exhaust hose into it in order ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

The Elbow Test Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 31, 2009

We may test our spiritual maturity by assessing who Jesus is for us, whether we live with a sense of victory, and whose opinions matter to us.

During our stay in England, we visited my wife’s cousin and his wife, who have a nine-month-old baby son. One night they needed to go out for a while on an errand, so they asked us if we would take care of the baby for a couple of hours. Of course we were delighted with the chance to do so, since ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

The Road Work Is Finally Finished

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 1, 2009

Neither grief nor guilt are productive, take us anywhere. The Cross is God’s signpost that will put an end to our continuing struggles with both.

Just a few days ago we celebrated, if that’s the right word, the thirtieth anniversary of something we all love to hate. Imagine observing the anniversary of something that has cost us dearly in dollars and also in blood and tears. Something we cannot live without, but sometimes wonder if we can ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:1-11

Denomination: Baptist

A Child-Sized House

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 2, 2009

Let us commit to building a church building with room for personal response to Christ and not business as usual; with room for spontaneity and not control; with room for those who need healing and not for exploitation.

When our children were small, we often took them to the Smithsonian museums, to try and cram a little culture into heads usually preoccupied with cartoons or sports. The best place to go was the Museum of American History, because there were so many different kinds of exhibits and so many ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 21:12-17

Denomination: Baptist

Echoes That Will Not Die

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 3, 2009

In the song of the angels we hear echoes of our ancient problems -- meaning, sin, peace -- all of which are dealt with in the coming of Christ.

The drama of Christmas is focused on a starlit night at a manger, on a mother and a babe, on the small things of life. And yet it is also wide open to eternity, it is a window into past and present and future. The drama of Christmas seems to play on such ordinary things. Tax legislation; taxes, ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 14:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

That Old-Time Religion: Job's Friend Bildad Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 4, 2009

When we are in distress, we do not want doctrine. We want a fresh encounter with God, we want listening friends, and most of all, we want, and have, a Redeemer.

Years ago the church of which I was then a member had an evening ice-cream social and service out on the church grounds one summer Sunday. It was a gently warm night, and as the sun went down and a little chill crept into the air, as the stars began to come out and faces began to disappear into the ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

The Sun Do Move

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 5, 2009

Dramatic monologue as if Joshua were speaking: we are to be courageous, for God is with us when we do battle for Him. The ultimate victory will come because Joshua/Jesus has won it for us.

"We are soldiers, in the army; we are soldiers, in the army; and we have to fight; and we have to fight". We have indeed had to fight. We have fought long and hard. We have fought our way against scores of chieftains and their armies; we have fought our way against scorching heat, fearful hearts, ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 10:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

Since You're Going Anyway, Teach

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 6, 2009

Jesus’ call to us is to use the natural intersections of life to share what we know, to learn together with others, and to claim the victory of the Lord who will always be with us.

My wife and I made the rounds of the carpet stores one evening last week. She is a member of the church’s Building and Grounds Committee and has been given the assignment of refurbishing my office. It was an educational experience, but not a particularly entertaining one. At one carpet store we ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Denomination: Baptist