Sermons on Josephs Brothers:

The Perfect Diamond Of Romans 8:28 Series

Contributed by James Jackson on Aug 29, 2022

Jewelers grade a diamond based on six "C's." In this sermon, we will look at the six C's of Romans 8:28

[I am grateful to the teaching of Skip Heitzig at Calvary Church Albuquerque. His sermon, "The Steady Hand of a Caring God" provides the outline and structure of this sermon.] I promise I didn’t plan this. We’ve been in Romans for over eight months now, taking it almost verse by verse. ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:28-30

Denomination: Baptist

Finishing Touches

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 9, 2001

Funeral message for Mrs. Betty Parker, a member of our church who had known for some time that she would die, and who had carefully thought through her relationships, her responsibilities, and her faith.

FINISHING TOUCHES (Philippians 1:3-11) I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. Some tasks are never finished. No matter how much effort you put in, they are never finished. There is always more that could be ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:3-11

Denomination: Baptist

Jesus Is No Turkey

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 26, 2000

For Christ the King Sunday: This message contrasts the one-time celebrations to which we "invite" the turkey to the full-time, all-seasons lordship of Jesus.

After Thanksgiving dinner, the men in the house retired to the family room to share in that most sacred of spiritual rituals – we worshipped at the shrine of the great god football. And it was not long before someone scored a touchdown and went into a liturgical dance in the end zone: high fives, ...read more

Scripture: John 19:10-22

Denomination: Baptist

Listening For Freedom Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 6, 2003

We fear freedom for reasons both internal and external -- "broken spirit and cruel slavery". Choose to be a liberator for someone else and you can break that slavery.

We are made to be free; in fact, we need freedom. Every person needs freedom. That’s obvious. That’s what God has made us for. The Scripture says, “For freedom Christ has set us free.” We say we want to be free. We want to be free. But therein lies a problem. The problem is that that’s not ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 6:1-13

Denomination: Baptist

Our Sufficiency In Christ (Part 3) Series

Contributed by Joseph Rodgers on Jun 14, 2004

The 9th message of 13 in an expository series on the book of Colossians.

The Sufficiency of Christ – Part 3 Colossians 2:16-23 16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 2:16-23

Denomination: Baptist

Definitely

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 13, 2004

Funeral sermon for Michael Ellis, avid golfer and new believer. God has done definite things in Michael’s life, has provided a definite plan of salvation, and has given the definite gift of eternal life.

I know almost nothing about the game of golf. I do know that Michael Ellis was an avid golfer. Even there in the hospice it seemed to comfort him to watch golf on television. I’m not sure he appreciated it when I compared looking TV golf to watching the grass grow. He laughed, but I’m not sure ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:22-24

Denomination: Baptist

Fully Known

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 18, 2009

Healthy self-knowledge means that in Christ we know enough to be functional, and indeed our ignorance is the vehicle through which God conveys wisdom, for in Him we are fully known.

Charley Brown says to Lucy, still dispensing sage wisdom for the pre-inflationary price of five cents, "Nobody likes me, Lucy. Everybody hates my guts. Do you see that plane up there, Lucy? It’s a plane full of people going somewhere else. That’s what I’d like to do. I’d like to go somewhere else, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:4-31

Denomination: Baptist

A Mother's Loan

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 4, 2011

Hannah shows us that women today can turn their insecurities and their relationships over to God and can find fulfillment.

(First Baptist Church, Gaithersburg, MD, May 11, 1980; Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, May 9, 1982; Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, May 12, 1985) One of God's great mercies is that He consistently takes our faltering insecurities and transforms them into something ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

One Breath, One Flesh

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 4, 2010

Pentecost 1986: We crave intimacy, and cannot live without it. It is not found in ceaseless work and striving, but in simply receiving grace.

The peculiar thing about our times is that while we seem to be so free and easy, so relaxed about what used to be thought of as intimate, yet at the same time we are hung up, truly hung up, about intimacy. I say the strange thing about us in this last half of the 20th century is that on the one ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 2:4-25

Denomination: Baptist

Storm, Sleep, And Sacrifice

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 4, 2010

New Year's Day 1989: Jonah, running from his responsibility, fell asleep. It might have been the sleep of a rationalized conscience; or depression. But a greater than Jonah is here, Christ, who can heal both conscience and soul.

It's not easy to stay out of the storms, no matter what escape you plan. It's just not easy to keep from getting rained on and buffeted around when the storm is coming, no matter what means you use to take shelter. This week, on the afternoon of the sudden squall, I had gone home to attend to my ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 1:1-17

Denomination: Baptist

What God Wants On Sunday Morning

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 16, 2010

We are incurably religious, thinking that if we use the right formulas, we will be acceptable to God. But God wants our personal involvement and our investment in understanding Him.

Our most persistent sin is that we are religious. Of all the sins that men and women commit, of all the wrongheaded directions we take, of all the wayward wanderings on which we go, none is more persistent than this: that we are religious. As someone has put it, we are incurably religious. ...read more

Scripture: John 4:19-26

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

Deposits In The Heart

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 24, 2010

Sin in the human heart is addictive and destructive. But Christ can create a new and life-giving deposit in the heart.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC October 19, 1986 Only this week they drove another nail in my coffin. Those tireless, relentless researchers who ferret out the causes of cancer and who puzzle out the hows and the whys of heart disease published findings designed to frighten ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Presumption

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 9, 2007

Religion does not create a relationship with God, nor does ritual. It is refinement born of repentance that shapes that relationship. Repent, relate, and receive.

“Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” Famous words supposedly spoken by journalist Henry Morton Stanley somewhere in Tanganyika at the end of his expedition to find the missing explorer. “I presume”. It means, “I think I know what I am doing. Would you please confirm it for me? You look like what I ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 3:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

What Happens Behind Closed Doors Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 21, 2009

In worship God provides a way for us to deal with the lingering dirt in our lives, and offers us a vision of life’s beauty and possibility.

How many househusbands do we have here? Are there any househusbands? Not housewives … we don’t even say that word in these politically correct times! You know what I mean … how many of us men will admit that we get into the housework routine? Come on, I know about some of you! You have a working ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:5-15

Denomination: Baptist