Sermons on Josephs Coffin:

Channeling Anger Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 14, 2003

Dramatic monologue: Jonah analyzes the sources of his anger, but prays that God will use all of his misdirected energy for Kingdom purposes.

Hmmph! Blah! Of all the fool things! Repent and be saved! Who would have thought it? Why in the world? I am angry. Yes, I don’t dispute it. I am angry. And why wouldn’t I be, after all I have gone through? I am angry. And with good reason. I went through hell and back, and with what ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Consequences Or Freedom Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 15, 2003

Jesus gave Barabbas the chance not just for a shortened sentence, but for a rebuilt life. When we break the law, we will face consequences; but our experiences can become the basis for redemption from what has happened to us.

Let’s play Jeopardy this morning. I’ll be Alex, you can be the contestants. The category is institutions. The answer is: The following people all spent time in this kind of institution: the prophet Jeremiah; Al Capone; the apostle Paul; Marion Barry; Bugsy Siegel; Nelson Mandela; John Dillinger; ...read more

Scripture: John 18:38-40

Denomination: Baptist

Consider The Source Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 16, 2003

Job, struggling to find his source of meaning, is frustrated with Bildad, who finds meaning in the past; and with his own feelings, looking for meaning in the present. Look to Christ, who provides meaning from the future.

Sooner or later, we all come to a point where we wake up and ask ourselves what life means. This life we are living: does it matter? All this energy we are putting in on studying or working or church or family or whatever: is it really necessary? I submit to you that most of us at one time or ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Cutting Through The Legalese Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 17, 2003

We look for loopholes in what God has called us to do, but the Bible calls us to a proactive lifestyle, it makes us face who we really are, and it calls us to accountability.

Some of us love to take the simple and make it complex. Some of us thrive on taking perfectly obvious matters and making them as obscure as possible. My neighbor’s car has on it a bumper sticker that says, “Eschew obfuscation”. After about a half-hour with the dictionary, I found out that means, ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 4:12-13

Denomination: Baptist

Carry Me Back To Old

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 18, 2003

Nostalgia is a fatal disease, because the burdens of the past are idolatrous and wearisome, and will bring us down with them. But remember who God is and what His purpose is.

This past February I received a diagnosis, and, I’m sorry to say, it’s serious. I have a disease, commonly fatal. If it is not treated, it will destroy me, and I will gradually lose my abilities. I’m telling you about it, because, if we do not take some protective efforts, it will become ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 46:1-4, Isaiah 46:9-10

Denomination: Baptist

More Than Hatch, Match, And Dispatch Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 20, 2003

People expect only the ceremonial from the church. But God wants to give us a rich, varied, and outward-reaching life.

Last week you seemed to get a big charge out of my little story about going to a wedding rehearsal and wasting time waiting for a key person to arrive. When I said that I didn’t know what we’d do on Sunday afternoon if he didn’t show up, you let out a belly laugh. You assumed I was talking about ...read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

It Is Finished!

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 20, 2003

For Labor Day Sunday: God is not finished with His work on us until we finish our work for Him. An experiential service.

The car in front of mine was carrying a puzzling bumper sticker. In large, readable print, it said, [hold up sign] “PBPWMGIFWMY”. Whatever could that mean? And what language was that? Polish, maybe? Swahili? Hindi? Serbo-Croatian? I inched a little closer, because there was something ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:58

Denomination: Baptist

Time Out, Time In Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 24, 2003

After vacation -- time out -- it would be ridiculous if there were no "time in", engagement. God calls us to full engagement with Himself, which in turn calls us to live in newness and not in old habits. There is no time for anything that is not a serio

There are certain intense situations in which the best answer, maybe the only answer, is to take a “time out”. Time out, to get perspective; time out, to get emotions under control; time out to back off and take a better look. There are certain serious situations in which your instincts tell you ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

Pain At The Threshold Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 24, 2003

Interactive sermon on the anxieties involved in sharing our faith and on the power of being prepared, both intellectually and emotionally.

Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Closed doors intimidate me. If your door is closed, I want to leave it alone. I don’t like to knock and ask for admission. I want somebody to ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:13-17

Denomination: Baptist

But Nails Hurt! Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 24, 2003

Nails were distributed to the congregation, so that they could test: if you wish to endure, you have to endure some pounding. Holes may be punched in you, too. But if you persist, ultimately you will be built up.

If you really want to grow, it’s going to cost you. If you truly expect to be built up, there will be some pain involved. No growth ever takes place without pain. That’s a law of life. That’s not negotiable. No pain, no gain. No hurt, no growth. No rough edges, no building up. If you truly ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

Road Maps For A Far Country

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 24, 2003

For Father’s Day: Fathers who say "yes" to everything provide a road map to disaster; who keep their children at arm’s length point to alienation; but who may also go home themselves to lead their children home. (Maps were displayed)

I have always liked maps. Any kind of map fascinates me. You can learn so much from a map. If it is a road map, you can find out how to get from here to there and back again. When I was in elementary school and the classroom got boring, like most kids, I would doodle. But while some kids ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32, Galatians 4:6-11

Denomination: Baptist

Goliath: He's Back!

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 24, 2003

A first person monologue, done as King David, who wishes he could feel the rush of victory when he first slew Goliath; but he has learned that evil recurs, does not recognize God, is related to power. He needs a greater than David to come and deal with i

Ah, if only I could go back to those wonderful days! If only I could be a young man again and feel the rush of victory! But I cannot. I am old and tired, and I feel defeated. I have lost so much. My body is weary and my soul is drained. If only I could go back and feel victory ...read more

Scripture: 1 Chronicles 20:1-8, Psalm 51:2-12

Denomination: Baptist

Dead Man Walking

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 26, 2003

There is a kind of death in family life today. Jesus offers unconditional compassion, used His authority to give life, and gives us as gifts to one another.

One sweltering afternoon, on the dirty streets of a dangerous section of New Orleans, a man approached a woman with some papers in his hand. He asked Helen if she would agree to write letters to a man on death row at Angola prison. Helen agreed, rather absent-mindedly. She was used to people ...read more

Scripture: Luke 7:11-16

Denomination: Baptist

On His Majesty's Secret Service

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 27, 2003

Funeral sermon for Ruth Gossage, age 97, one of the first female U.S. Secret Service agents.

But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. Life is mystery. It is not just that life contains mystery, nor that there are so many unsolved questions. It is that life itself is mystery, secret and hidden, as Paul says. It has often been ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:1-16

Denomination: Baptist

This Town Ain't Big Enough

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 28, 2003

The demonstrations on Palm Sunday show that good and evil cannot coexist easily; but there is always room for those who repent and receive grace.

Today the city is jammed with people who have come to demonstrate. They have a point of view, and they intend to speak their minds. It may be crowded, it may be inconvenient, it may disrupt business; but the issues are too important. The demonstrators will speak their minds, they will march for ...read more

Scripture: Luke 13:29-33

Denomination: Baptist