Sermons on joseph smith: showing 466-480 of 26,523

Survivors And Castaways Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 24, 2000

The fundamental stance we have before God is critical to everything else in our lives, for personal idolatries, failed intimacies, and low self-esteem are all results of our not experiencing salvation.

When I was young, and riding a bicycle, we didn’t wear helmets. Nobody had thought of such a thing. And even if they had, no government was telling us we had to wear helmets. I haven’t even worn so much as a hat since I reached the age of 13, much less a helmet. So when we spilled, we spilled, ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18

Denomination: Baptist

Who Got Revived?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 1, 2000

Pulpit drama, imaginatively reconstructing Elijah

Elijah: Zarephath! What a lovely town! It’s always good to come to Zarephath. A man wants to feel welcomed, and I find that here. Out there, in some of the towns and villages of Israel, I have to watch my back. King Ahab’s agents are everywhere, and who knows what they will do? In some places ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 17:1-24

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Real With Your Enemies Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 5, 2003

Hostility comes from the obsessed, self-absorbed heart, and often offers permission for random acts of violence. Jesus got real with His enemies by naming their madness but trusting His own defense to God.

Stress strengthens. That is a physical fact. It is also a spiritual truth. Stress strengthens us. When we face opposition, we grow. When we deal with differences, we become stronger than we were. Strange as it may seem, and unpleasant though it may feel, give thanks when you ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:43-50

Denomination: Baptist

Knee Bowed And Body Bent Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 19, 2000

Since body language communicates our real feelings, we must pay attention to how we present our bodies to God -- in the words of James Weldon Johnson, "knee-bowed", ready to submit our wills to His; and "body-bent", ready to work for things that matter.

You may not speak a great many foreign languages, but there is one language other than English at which most of us are proficient. That is body language. Whether our mouths can pronounce strange sounds or whether our eyes can make any sense out of different alphabets, we can see body language. ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

Teary Eyes, Stumbling Feet, Hands Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 19, 2000

Deepseated shame and objective guilt arise from a self-serving spirit, but the Cross delivers us from both and frees us to live out of gratitude.

Mark it down. Memorize this. Engrave it somewhere. It is an ironclad rule. This will always happen: when it is the least convenient for you to respond, someone will want you to respond. When it is nearly impossible for you to get up and do what someone wants you to do, that is the very moment ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 116:1-19

Denomination: Baptist

This Day The Victor's Song

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 19, 2000

The enemies of God's people are entrenched oppression and their own loser's heart, but God is a God of victory, who calls us to participate in His victory.

I like winning. I do not like to lose. If I am going to compete, I want to be the winner. Number two is not good enough. Silver medals are not good enough. Almost is not good enough. I like winning. I do not like to lose. Grantland Rice may be more deeply Christian than I, as he wrote, ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

The Secrets Of A Beautiful Face

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 19, 2000

The beauty of a nation, like that of a human face, is not cosmetic, but comes out of generosity, self-control, sacrificial love, and a vision that accords with God

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth … Beauty. When I was a boy, my parents decided to take a trip to Niagara Falls. They wanted my brother and me to be exposed to one of the world’s great ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 48:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

Gatekeeper, Gateopener

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 19, 2000

The pastor has two roles that must not be reduced -- a gatekeeper to guard against useless ideas and hateful attitudes, and a gateopener to let in God's surprises.

Do you think the Lord has a sense of humor? I do. I see a delicious little coincidence that God’s word drops in our laps today. Some of us remember a 70’s TV program, the Mary Tyler Moore show. If you remember that program, you will recall that sweet, nice, loveable Mary lived in an apartment ...read more

Scripture: Acts 12:1-17

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

Laughing Away The Burdens

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 4, 2000

Abraham laughed in the cynicism of old age; Sarah laughed in the denial that defends against what is inevitable; but beyond both of them God laughed in joy at the triumph of His purposes, fulfilled in two aged followers.

You have heard it said, “He who laughs last, laughs best.” Let me expand on that: I may laugh, you may laugh, but God will have the last and best laugh, for God’s purposes will be served. Laughter. There are all sorts of reasons to laugh. Some will laugh out of frustration; unable to do what ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 17:15-17, Genesis 18:10-15, Genesis 21:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

Do I Really Have A Choice?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 4, 2000

When we are offered great choices, although we think we have no real freedom, we can choose to live emotionally, we can choose to give and affirm life for the most vulnerable in our society, and we can always choose to receive God’s gift of eternal life.

“Do I really have a choice?” That question was posed the other day by one of our teenagers. She was talking about whether she had to go to school. She felt cornered. She felt boxed in. She was speaking for a great many of us. We feel as though we really do not have any choice about many ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Denomination: Baptist

I Have The Keys Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 1, 2003

For All Saints/All Souls: the Lord has the keys to the church, so we need not fear its future despite our locking up its resources; and He has the keys to our lives, so we need not lock ourselves in privacy; and He has the keys of eternal life.

Keys. I have keys. Lots and lots of keys. Thanks to keys, we can keep safe the things we consider valuable. But we are also kept from access to those things. Keys; we all have them, we all need them, we all appreciate them, but we all resent them at times. If you don’t have the right keys, ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 1:4-18

Denomination: Baptist

Listening To I Am Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 6, 2003

Listening to ourselves is also listening to God. If we listen in availability, God will respond in our own history. If we listen for responsibility, God will offer His presence.

There come those times in life when we do not trust what we have heard. Something is said, our ears pick it up, but we don’t quite trust it. We don’t know whether we really heard what we thought we heard. Or we don’t know whether to believe what we heard. Or maybe we don’t trust the speaker. Or, ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 3:1-14

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

Listening For Leadership Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 6, 2003

Our view of leadership is that it is aggressive, know-it-all. But in reality it is bearing witness to God’s power, not our own; and leaders are qualified to be leaders by what they do NOT know.

Do you know the story of the woman who liked to sit for an hour or so every evening at her front window? She would just sit, looking at the traffic racing by. After the children had been coached through their homework, after her husband had been reminded about the jobs on his "To do" list; after ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 19:1-9

Denomination: Baptist