Sermons on Joseph Phillips:

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

Two Peoples, One Nation

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 25, 2009

Blacks and whites must develop together and learn from one another; we will also be judged together. Together we must work on issues of justice and righteousness.

The world is full of divisions. Every sort of difference and distinction you can imagine has been magnified. Who of us knew anything a few years ago about six or more different ethnic groups in Yugoslavia!? About all I knew about Yugoslavia was that they made a little car called a Yugo, which ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

To The Out Of Control: Son Of God Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 26, 2009

Christmas Eve 1989: The strong Son of God is what we need when we are out of control in terms of life direction, life circumstances, or sin.

May God help you if you are going shopping this afternoon! And may God forgive you if you woke up this morning and said, "I guess it’s about time I thought of something for her. “ The trouble is, most of us mere males are reduced to jelly by the trauma of shopping. In the first place, we don’t ...read more

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

Spies Who Stayed To Serve

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 28, 2009

For deacon ordination: deacons are like spies, of whom the world is suspicious; but we win their confidence by serving them.

Agent Double-Oh-Seven has it all. Movie buffs know that when you hear him intone his introduction, "Bond, James Bond", you are in for another adventure, during which this intrepid spy will single-handedly defeat the enemy, win the affections of three or four women, line his pockets with money, and ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

The Song Of A Free Spirit

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 29, 2009

Singing is a matter of skill and practice, but it is only when your spirit is freed that you have a convincing song to sing, only when your life is changed that you have something to share.

What makes it possible for voices like these to sing music like that? Where do they get whatever it takes to sing with such grace and power and beauty? Of course they have been blessed with a good deal of natural skill. Of course these singers are talented, and there’s no substitute for that. And ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 51:1-17

Denomination: Baptist

Something No Thief Can Steal

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 30, 2009

Contrast the thieves on the crosses; from Jesus they had, or could have had, salvation, assurance, companionship, things which no thief can steal.

The scene was one of striking and even bitter contrast. While three men were being hauled off to their deaths, one of them was far different from the other two. Two of these hapless three were thieves, and as thieves they had lived by the law of the thief: namely, easy come, easy go. If you take ...read more

Scripture: Luke 23:32-43

Denomination: Baptist

So Much I Can Taste It

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 31, 2009

We the church have not been paying attention to what God wants passionately for His people: that they be fed, that they be healthy, that they have salvation.

She strode feverishly across the room, brandishing two sheets of paper, one in each hand. She was smiling and yet agitated, excited and yet anxious. "I want this job so much I can taste it." In one hand was a job listing that read as if her very name were on it. Her degree, her major, her ...read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 34:1-31

Denomination: Baptist

When Bad Things Happen To Good People

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 3, 2009

Rewritten for Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD: When terrible things happen, pray honestly, in complaint; remember what God has done in the past; and know that He may be forcing us to see how much we need Him.

There is very little justice in the world. Many people feel that they are not being treated fairly. Just about all of us think we deserve a better deal than we are getting. We think that there is very little justice in the world. But that’s old news. We already know that. So what do you do ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 22:1-31

Denomination: Baptist

Flesh And Spirit: Love And Patience Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 3, 2009

Patience reaches four layers: relational, emotional, sexual, and spiritual. At each level to be impatient is to fail to trust God to be God.

I know you’ve heard this old line, but I just can’t resist repeating it. It concerns the fellow who had realized that he was impetuous, compulsive, and impatient. And so he decided to ask the Lord to help him settle his personality problem. "Lord," he prayed. “Lord, give me the gift of patience and ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:16-25

Denomination: Baptist

The Sacrifice Of Silence: How Men Pray

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 4, 2009

Men can pray in their own way by doing what they know is right to do, by listening to the Lord as well as speaking, and by holding others and God Himself accountable to keep promises.

The young Australian pastor had just received his first assignment. It was to a remote sheep-ranching settlement deep in the Australian outback. He had arrived during a period of prolonged drought, and was making pastoral calls to his far-flung flock of ranchers, who were trying to keep their ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 1:1-28

Denomination: Baptist

Dead Prophets Society

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 4, 2009

For Transfiguration Sunday: we, like the disciples, have not imagined Christ as who He is, we as who we can become, or the cost of glory ... losing our lives to save them.

Every one who teaches knows what a mighty struggle it is to teach anybody anything and make it stick. Students come to school drowsy and distracted. Some are there because they have to be; some because Daddy’s money put them there; and some just because they cannot think of anything else to do. ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:23-26

Denomination: Baptist

Dazzling Mountain, Dying Mountain

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 5, 2009

For Transfiguration Sunday. God gives us defining, dazzling moments, perhaps only a few; but they empower us for the self-giving times and never need to be renewed.

For many people, life peaks early, and then they seem to run downhill all the way thereafter. There are many people who do well early in life -- they have a happy childhood, they do well in school, they launch their careers, all in their early years. But then something goes wrong. Something goes a ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:2-12

Denomination: Baptist