Sermons on Joseph Remembered:

Titanic Thankfulness

Contributed by Joseph Stapleton on Nov 8, 2011

This Thanksgiving we need to see that God has given us provision, protection and power and be thankful in Titanic proportion.

(All my sermons use illustrations found at www.sermoncentral.com and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted.) TITANIC THANKFULNESS Thanksgiving is a day set aside each year for us to give thanks, of course most of us know that scripture tells us we should be thankful always and at all times. ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:19-20

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

In And For The World

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 15, 2011

God calls us to follow the example He set in loving the world, not simply reproaching it; and it loving it with self-giving and the intent to redeem.

Initially preached at Central Baptist Church, Lexington, KY, June 9, 1968; subsequently, with minor variations, at Capton Baptist Church, Campton, KY, August 18, 1968; Reid Village Baptist Church, Mt. Sterling, KY, March 1, 1970; Campbellsville BSU Retreat, Sept. 1970; Berea BSU Missions Banquet, ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16-21

Denomination: Baptist

Living The Gospel: Black And White

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 21, 2010

We are prone to reduce tensions by choosing not to live in diversity. But the Gospel calls us to embrace diversity and yet to recognize that all sin, all are worthy, all need the Gospel. Our issue is our own insecurity, which Christ’s death can address.

Takoma Park Baptist Church February 21, 1988 All of us, it seems, have a tendency to choose comfort. All of us appear to prefer to choose a way to live that involves as little tension, as little discomfort as possible. I am not talking just about luxuries and material things; I ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 3:21-28

Denomination: Baptist

We The People: Rediscovering Sabbath

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 3, 2010

Fall 1987: Sabbath is about far more than doing whatever you feel like doing. It is a chance to be authentic, in relationship with God, and it is meant to be a delight and not a burden.

Be honest now. This morning when the alarm rang or when your wife nudged you in the ribs; when your mom screamed something about being late -- what was your reaction? What did you feel about getting up and going to church? I asked you to be honest – but not necessarily out loud! Now thus ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 58:13-14

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

Built Up, Bound Up, Lifted Up

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 16, 2010

We are so into upward mobility; but God's version is different. It involves building us up so that the powerless have power; binding up the wounded so that they can understand brokenness; and lifting us up so that we can use our power for others.

I can remember when the word "furlough" was a happy word. It was a happy word because it meant that somebody in your family was coming home from military duty for a while. "Furlough" for me brings up a memory of standing, as a small boy, in Union Station in Louisville, waiting for the train to ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 147:1-20

Denomination: Baptist

Making Peace When There Is No Peace

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 7, 2009

We would like to contribute to world peace, but how? Confront others with their wrongness; but before that, understand your own heart; and before that, be reconciled to God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." Well, who wouldn’t like to be that?! Who wouldn’t want to be a peacemaker and be rewarded by God and by a grateful world? "Blessed are the peacemakers." The trouble is, it’s not that easy. You and I may fantasize ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:9

Denomination: Baptist

Rahab: Marked By Scarlet Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 29, 2009

God is ready to forgive all sinners and use them for His purposes; and God’s people must receive them, no matter the nature of their sin, for all have sinner and are forgiven. (Spools of scarlet thread were distributed for people to unroll and hold).

Soon through your hands will be passing a scarlet thread, a scarlet cord. I do not say a red cord, but a scarlet cord. Scarlet, you see, is a special kind of red color. The art books tell us that scarlet is a bright red with just a tinge of orange in it. And scarlet has some special ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 2:1-24

Denomination: Baptist

Men And Their Macho Machines

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 4, 2009

Men have sadly learned to use machines as status symbols and instruments of power, but that only leads to destruction. Learn from Him whose ride was a lowly beast and whose symbol is a cross.

I had been away from home for about three months, working in Akron, Ohio, as an engineering student. The three months were over, and it was time to go back home. I went back the way college students traveled in 1957 … not in a plane, not in a car of my own, not with my father coming to transport ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 9:14-28

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

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

Three Score And Ten

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 12, 2009

For 1989, 70th anniversary of the church. Three Scriptures with the number "70" in them ... life includes pain and conflict; but we are to forgive without reservation; God knows the plans He has for the next 70 years of this church.

We’ve reached a milestone, a real milestone. Seventy years old. That’s a good long while. That is, in fact, a lifetime, according to one of the Scriptures I’m going to read, the typical, average lifetime of a human being. And it’s not too bad for an institution like a church. We’ve been here, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 90:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 17, 2009

We damage ourselves as well as the others when we write off whole peoples through racism. When we see them as persons, with human faces, we discover that to write them off is to damage ourselves. Fellowship in Christ leads us to value difference.

A widow, shortly after her husband’s death, was going through his papers. She found a couple of old certificates, yellowed with age and crumbling into dust. They had been made out to her husband more than fifty years ago, and seemed to be some kind of promissory notes. Some sort of company had ...read more

Scripture: Esther 7:1-4

Denomination: Baptist

Walls Come Tumblin' Down

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 14, 2009

We run into many walls we cannot seem to get past: estrangement, grief, illness. The way past those walls is described as Sabbath, symbol, silence, and shout.

When you are up against a wall, there will be more than one way to deal with it. There will be the conventional way. And there will be the creative way. When you are up against a wall, there will be a way to break it down that costs a whole lot less than the usual way. All of us remember Mark ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 6:1-21

Denomination: Baptist

The World Turned Upside Down Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 5, 2009

An adaptation of the Seder service: Jesus turns upside down all our common values: sorrow for slavery becomes sorrow for sin; common issues become community; and wandering becomes salvation, all through the Cross.

When great crowds gather in city streets, it is either for a celebration or for a revolution. Throngs do not come together without a purpose; they come together either to celebrate a great occasion or to agitate for what they want. They come to see evidence of a world turned upside down. In ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:1-15

Denomination: Baptist