Sermons on Joseph Remembered:

Kingdom Kindness

Contributed by Joseph Stapleton on Nov 30, 2010

Kindness is one thing lacking in the American church today, this sermon looks atsix characteristics of Kindness and teaches us how to be a kinder more compassionate people.

KINGDOM KINDNESS All my sermons use illustrations found at www.sermoncentral.com and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted. “A little lame boy was once hurrying to catch a train. In the press of the crowd he experienced real difficulty in manipulating his crutches, especially as he ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:12-17

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Now That's Living!

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 17, 2001

Funeral service for Margaret Waddy, retired social worker and community ministry volunteer who, in dementia, became concerned about the depletion of her finances.

I don’t know anybody who has all they really want. Not really. Not everything. Oh, some of you will piously pretend to be satisfied, but, in my experience, all of us fantasize about having more. Occasionally I watch “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” and I will shout answers at a deaf TV screen, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:11-19

Denomination: Baptist

A Different Kind Of Hope

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 18, 2008

Funeral sermon for Andrea Pitts, who had instructed this preacher a few days before her death about the ways in which she felt hope.

The message this morning is not just about Andrea Pitts. It comes from Andrea Pitts. I bring no eulogy, but rather a report, a report that proclaims the truth of Christ in the midst of suffering from the very lips of a woman who embraced her death and lived her hope. The words today are not so ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:1-5

Denomination: Baptist

Honoring God's Name Series

Contributed by Joseph Rodgers on Oct 24, 2005

This is the introductory sermon in a series on the names of God.

Hello I Love Let Me Tell You My Name Psalm 145 Intro: Do you remember the struggle to name your children? Meg and I spent hours praying and considering the names we wanted for our children. We looked through name books, websites, and family trees. Did we want to use family names, Biblical ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 145:1-21

Denomination: Baptist

Six Miles Of Obedience

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 25, 2010

Funeral message for Eva Myers, whose distinctive discipline was six miles of walking daily ... a metaphor for walking with Christ.

"Whoever obeys [God’s] word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, ’I abide in him,’ ought to walk just as he walked." At first I didn’t believe it. Six miles a day?! How could anybody, especially one up in her years, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 26:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

What The Women Found At The Well

Contributed by Joseph Marshall on Mar 7, 2002

When this women left her house with her water pot, she never realized what would happen that day. If she could only find one thing to satisfy her and fill the empitness..........and then she meet Jesus.

Introduction: When this women left her house with her water pot, she never realized what would happen that day. She had lived her life with a longing to fill an empty void in her life. Throughout her life, she had tried to fill this void with many things. Every attempt was a failure because she ...read more

Scripture: John 4:1-42

Denomination: Baptist

Bridges Swamped, Swamps Bridged

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 10, 2003

In times like these the very things we have created to solve human problems are easily swamped; but God wants His people to flourish and will build bridges over the difficulties.

In June of 1972 I was standing in the middle of Colesville Road, not far from my home. I was standing safely in the middle of the road because no traffic was coming through. Why not? Hurricane Agnes had done. Remember Agnes? We’ve had a lot of storms around here, but not many that did as much ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Real With Your Self Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 9, 2003

Lenten series based on Mark 14 and Jesus’ encounters: Jesus was so comfortable with Himself that He could encounter threatening people without being threatened; could correct hostile people without being destructive; and could receive the heart of a tortu

We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes – This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties. Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:3-9

Denomination: Baptist

Jump-Starting Jabez

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 13, 2001

We have learned, thanks to Bruce Wilkinson’s writings, to treasure the prayer of Jabez; but what can we intuit that Jabez’ mother did for him: she honored his uniqueness, she owned her own pain and shared it with her son, and she move him toward faithful prayer.

You know how they say that behind every good man there is a good woman? Well, they used to say that. That is a pre-feminist proverb. Now they say that alongside every good man there is a good woman, like Newton’s Law, equal in force but opposite in direction! But I certainly find it true that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Denomination: Baptist

It Was A Setup Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 30, 2003

We set ourselves up for failure if we are afraid to risk using all we have been given, if we are shy about our average-ness, and especially if we are ashamed of our poverty. Sermon for Martin Luther King Sunday

On one of our trips to Louisville to see about my mother-in-law, we stayed at a motel right next to a Baptist church. It happened to be a church which had been started as a mission congregation by my home church back when I was a teenager. I told Margaret that I remembered that vacant lot between ...read more

Scripture: Luke 19:11-27

Denomination: Baptist

Heavenly Minded, Earthly Good Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 9, 2003

Introductory sermon to a series on the Purpose-Driven Life: the world says life’s purpose is having things or impressing people. But we are empowered when we use our lives for the purposes for which they are intended.

The choir began to sing, “This earth is not my home”, and I began to be uncomfortable. The more they chanted, the more I squirmed. “This earth is not my home, I am a stranger here, but I am bound for heaven, whence I shall never roam.” Well, yes and no. It is true that this earth is not our ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Fire Of Glory, Fire Of Drought

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 8, 2003

We have experienced the warm glow of God’s blessings, but the fire of judgment is also at hand, for worship becomes ritual, there is a critical spirit, and pessimism spreads. Diligence and integrity bring vitality in worship.

In all the annals of human history, there is one item which has held out more hope and yet offered more terror than any other. Wherever human beings gathered, in the infancy of our race, there this one item, this one element, both attracted them and repelled them; it drew them close and yet it ...read more

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 7:1-22

Denomination: Baptist

Safe At Home Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 18, 2004

Interactive message. What do we do about the family? Respect our children; parent with sacrificial love; and give children priority of emphasis in the church’s outreach.

There are times when all of us need to participate, times when no single person can speak all the truths or do all the work. There are times when a community of people must come together, think together, pray together, speak together. This is such a time. The state of family life in our nation is ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-4

Denomination: Baptist

Work To Eat Or Eat To Work?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 17, 2003

Why work? Work has meaning as a witness, as a way of focusing our efforts for the Kingdom. Look at the work of Christ, so that you do not lose motivation to work.

Is there anyone here today whose name is Rockefeller? No? Then maybe there is a member of the Kennedy family, other than Mrs. Currie – and I don’t think she is of the Hyannisport Kennedys? No one? Well, let me try someone else – the Sultan of Brunei, possibly the richest person in the world. ...read more

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Denomination: Baptist

Caged Courage Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 2, 2008

We can unleash our courage if we know who we are and what we are about, and if we have a proper perspective on our relationships.

Most of God’s creatures are in some sort of cage. Animals that appear to run wild are not all that free; they have migratory patterns and other restraints on where they can go. They are caged, even when that cage is not visible. And what that cage does to their courage! The birds of the air, ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:12-26

Denomination: Baptist