Sermons on Joseph Smith: showing 571-585 of 26,426

This Thorny Thicket Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 20, 2008

For Martin Luther King Day. The words we offer fall into the thorny thicket of anxiety, despair, and distraction. Like King with his dream, we the church can give hands and feet to help those so captured.

Our back yard is a thorny thicket. Other people have manicured lawns, with friendly plants laid out in neat rows. But our back yard is a tangled thorny thicket. Along one fence there are blackberries, growing in long canes that have to be tied up lest they wander into the next county. They ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:13-20

Denomination: Baptist

Stand And Be Counted

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 23, 2008

At a church-sponsored rally for census involvement. Census taking may seem invasive, but the information leads toward justice; God is able to use the census for His purposes; and it reminds us of the vast task of redemption to which we are called.

When Rev. Gray asked me to preach, the answer was easy. I am just about always ready to preach! You know how it is with preachers, especially Baptists: we can come up with a Scripture to cover all occasions, we have an opinion about everything, and we believe that everybody is waiting to hear our ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 7:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

To Desire A Better Country

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 23, 2008

Funeral service for Anne Tlholakae, diplomat of the Embassy of South Africa. All of us desire a better country; that journey begins with faith. As Biblical wanderers sought that better country but died in a foreign land, so Anne sought and found Christ

The desire for a better country goes deep in the human heart. The desire for something more, something finer, than what our ancestors left us is an aspiration that transcends all boundaries. Just as here in the United States we celebrate those markers in our history that made us a greater nation, ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Keeping The Doorkeeper

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 26, 2008

Funeral for Guy Robinson, one-time chair of Takoma Park Baptist Church’s Building and Grounds Committee. God keeps the doorkeeper secure, and withholds no good thing from those who stay away from dishonesty.

I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Eight plus one equals nine, subtract nine, leaves zero. That is the first thing Guy Robinson taught me, more than 23 years ago. It was the first thing, but by no means the last. Guy was at the time I ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 84:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

When No One Cares Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 27, 2008

What are the implications if no one cares about the dillusioned, the desperate, or those who have made poor decisions? What if no one cares for the soul, the essence, of others?

He had been running so long and so hard. Running from everything. What an irony that he of all people had had to flee for his very life! He had been on the upswing, he had been successful in everything. He had been the fair-haired lad in the eyes of those who counted, and had even married into ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 142:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

Why Should The Work Stop? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 17, 2008

For Lent and for Black History Month: Those who are threatened by progress will always ask us not to go too far. But this church must not stop reaching all people, serving all needs, touching all children and youth.

In the fall of 1955 I sat in the auditorium of the Speed Scientific School at the University of Louisville, one of about 300 newly admitted engineering students. The dean welcomed us, and yet also warned us. He instructed us, “Look at the person on your right. Now look at the person on your ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 6:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

Without Hindrance Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 24, 2008

For Lent and for Black History Month, with a focus on Africa: the purposes of God will be accomplished, though not without difficulties and sacrifice. Examples of African Christians to show this truth.

I cannot imagine how Paul did it. Here he is, in prison, chained to a soldier, and he is talking about hope and making plans for the future. How can anyone with half a brain do that? Does he not understand how perilous is his predicament? Chained! Awaiting trial! And yet he can say, “It is ...read more

Scripture: Acts 28:16-30

Denomination: Baptist

Stumbling Into A Quantum Leap

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 3, 2008

When we stumble, but repent, God gives us a chance to leap like a deer and rejoice.

The best discoveries are the discoveries made by accident. The things you did not set out to find, but found anyway. The five dollar bill tucked in between the pages of the book you picked up to read. The charming little boutique around the corner from where you really intended to go. The best ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

Hidden Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 17, 2008

God always reveals Himself in personal ways. Three times "hidden" appears in Colossians: to show that there is meaning in our suffering, to demonstrate that transformation can come, to call us to personal commitment, all at the right times.

Every child loves to play “Hide and Seek”. And every grandparent loves to play with them. But the lesson I learned is that playing “Hide and Seek” is a delicate operation. It is a test of grandpa’s interpersonal skills. “Hide and Seek” is about more than using your powers of observation to find ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Remember My Chains Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 24, 2008

Like some of Paul’s companions in prison, we may be held back by tasks too small, by shame, or even by our own prejudices. But once we accept our limitations as part of God’s will, they become ways to help others and fulfill our life callings.

If you suffer severe limitations, what do you wish for? What is your prayer, if you are bound by something that keeps you from doing what you really want to do? Do you wish you could be free from it? Likely you do. Do you even pray that you might have that limitation removed? I expect that I ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 4:2-18

Denomination: Baptist

The Price Of Peace

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 6, 2008

Conflict is fundamentally spiritual, not just interpersonal, founded in insecurity and elusive. But persistence in prayer will ultimately provide peace.

When Jesus spoke of those who cry, “Peace, peace” when there is no peace, He must have foreseen the pain of the present time. Never before in human history, I would suspect, have more people felt less peace than now. Everywhere you turn there is the evidence of a generation which is deeply ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

The Time Came

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 9, 2008

When God comes, it seems inconvenient to us, but it is the right time. And when we cannot get Him to arrive when we want Him, that simply is not the right time.

While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. The time came? Whose time? What kind of timing is this? A child deserves to be born in the surroundings of home, not in some strange place scores of miles away. A young woman wants to give birth to her child with her own ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7

Denomination: Baptist

Nights Of Miracles

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 10, 2008

A Communion meditation that compares and contrasts the night of the Lord’s birth with the night of His betrayal and the night on which He shall return. Designed to be spoken in sections during the Communion service.

A night of miracles?! Yes, it was. A night of miracles, more than one. A miracle that the child of promise should finally be born, a miracle that a virgin should conceive and bear a son and we would call His name Immanuel, a miracle that from lowly shepherds to lofty wise men to angelic choirs ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Denomination: Baptist

Hands Touching Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 14, 2008

Ordination sermon for new deacons. God’s gifts are not found in timidity, but in the power to encourage, the touch of love, and the skill of self-discipline, all symbolized in the laying on of hands.

Of all the ways we can use our hands, none is more authentically human than touching. Touching, not grasping, for some of the apes can do that too. Touching, not hitting, for that is a perversion of our humanity. Touching, not taking, for that is part of our fallen nature. We are most human ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Hands Open Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 21, 2008

Hands open may be a handshake or a salute, signalling friendship or respect. Just as those gestures affirmed Saul, we also must approach others by leading them to safety and by affirming their potential.

f I come toward you with an open hand, what does that mean? If I approach you from across the room with either one hand or both hands open, how would you interpret that? Well, of course, it would mean different things for different kinds of open hands. There is more than one way to be ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:1-19

Denomination: Baptist