Sermons on joseph smith: showing 511-525 of 26,524

Caring With A Difference

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 30, 2007

A Labor Day message on providing caring services, but not simply as self-fulfillment, but as a means to witness.

The true test of whether what you are doing is real is not how you feel about it when you start. The true test is whether you can keep going and complete your task. Anybody can get excited about a new job. But not everybody can stay by the stuff and finish. Some people get bored, or ...read more

Scripture: John 4:31-38

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Real With Your Friends Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 2, 2007

Jesus understands us as we are, but loves us into what we may become. With Peter, he loved the Type A person; with James, the passive-aggressive; with John, the immature -- all into effectiveness. Montgomery Hills Baptist Church

History is full of stories of betrayal. Those who look like friends sometimes turn on you. Some of us have friends who would sell us for even less than Judas’ thirty pieces of silver if they could! Personally, I wish I could get at least ten cents on the dollar for everything I have loaned to ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:37-42

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Real With Your Enemies Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 10, 2007

Opposition actually helps us grow. Hostility is destructive not only of others, but also of one’s self; and it spreads without reason. Jesus named its absurdity and then left it in the hands of God. Montgomery Hills Baptist Church

Stress strengthens. That is a physical fact. It is also a spiritual truth. Stress strengthens. When we face opposition, we grow. When we deal with differences, we become stronger. Strange as it may sound, give thanks when you are opposed! For stress strengthens; enmity empowers; and ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:43-50

Denomination: Baptist

Thelema: Thelma's And God's

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 12, 2007

Funeral message for Thelma Green Mann, known for her direct manner and strong will. The name Thelma is derived from the Greek, "Thelema", meaning will. A turning point is reached when one no longer focus on her own will, but on God’s will. Takoma Park

Grandchildren will teach you much about life. One of mine, Jackie, age 5, taught me about human nature recently. My wife and I had gone to take care of the girls while their parents were away, and we came, as always, armed with things to do – arts and crafts, games, books, the whole gamut of ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

From The Very Least

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 16, 2007

Done as first-person, in costume and character, summary of Paul’s teaching; built on acronym of the name PAUL -- prayer, avoidance (of immorality), understanding, love. Montgomery Hills Baptist Church

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. As an apostle, charged to preach the Gospel, I am here today to say to you ... What?! You challenge me? You challenge my right to speak? Am I not an apostle?! Am I not, though born at the wrong time, nonetheless one whom ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:7-13

Denomination: Baptist

I Know Where I Need To Be Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 25, 2007

Our sin is that we do not know who or where we are, or where we need to be. We can discover that by setting no boundaries, taking risks, and finding that in God we are already where we need to be. Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD

“Watch where you plant your feet!” That’s the command I hear every time I work in the garden. “Watch where you plant your feet!” My job is to clear out dead leaves and old twigs. I open up the flowerbeds for spring. But to do that I have to step into the flowerbeds; I cannot reach all the ...read more

Scripture: Job 13:1-27

Denomination: Baptist

Declare If You Know Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 1, 2007

Declare if you know. Interesting word, “Declare”. As in the Declaration of Independence, or the Balfour Declaration. The word suggests speaking with force and clarity, with certainty and intensity. Some folks do not declare, they merely suggest.

Declare if you know. Interesting word, “Declare”. As in the Declaration of Independence, or the Balfour Declaration. The word suggests speaking with force and clarity, with certainty and intensity. Some folks do not declare, they merely suggest. They offer timid little ideas and apologize ...read more

Scripture: Job 38:1-21

Denomination: Baptist

Freedom: Devotion Or Devouring?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 11, 2007

Black History Month and Amazing Grace Sunday: there is much to celebrate about freedom, when we review history. But we either devote ourselves to freedom (political, social, spiritual) or we devour ourselves. Newton’s story illustrates. Montgomery Hill

It’s a glorious thing to discover that you are free. Freedom tastes good, smells good, feels good. But after you find out you are free, then what? What do you do with your freedom? There are only two answers to that question: freedom either leads you to devotion; or it drives you to devour. ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:13-15

Denomination: Baptist

Discerning The Body

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 4, 2006

Communion service for Black History Month: discerning the body means seeing our connectedness, understanding one another, and living in hope beyond our history. For Montgomery Hills Baptist Church; reworking of message done in 2000 at Takoma Park Baptist

Several years ago my wife and I went with a group on a tour of Italy. It was a wonderful experience, most of it. Most of it, but not all. The part that was less than wonderful came when we had a few free hours in Florence. Margaret and I decided to set out on our own to find the Uffizi Palace ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Denomination: Baptist

That We May Flourish

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 10, 2006

God wants us to flourish. We plead dryness, incompleteness, or sin, but in the tiny infant of Bethlehem strengthening is coming. Hillandale Baptist Church, Adelphi, MD

I am persuaded that we are intended by our Creator to flourish. He created us to blossom and to grow. God wants our lives to be colorful, joyful, full. I am convinced that God does not intend for us to live like miserable little mice, afraid of our own shadows, scurrying for cover every time ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

Available For Liberation

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 8, 2006

To be effective as peacemakers in a warlike time, we must have a healthy self-doubt, we must understand God’s concern for justice, and we must use what is available to us, no matter how small. Reworking for Montgomery Hills Baptist Church of a message do

There is an old saying here in Washington that nothing ever happens in August. Government people head off on vacation to the beaches, to the mountains, or to beautiful downtown Crawford, so there is nobody to make things happen. So, it is said, nothing ever happens in August. Of course that ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Playing Follow The Leader

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 20, 2006

Leadership and followship demand truth, grace, and sacrifice to be effective. A story-sermon, reworked from one originally done in 1999.

The desire to be “somebody” is deep within all of us. We want to be distinguished, we need to be acknowledged, we must be somebodies, not nobodies. That desire to be “somebody” can lead us to glorious accomplishment, or it can lead to the depths of degradation. It’s all in what motivates us. Do ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 13:7-16

Denomination: Baptist

While We Wait

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 26, 2005

Funeral service for Elizabeth Wilkey Abernethy, a quiet yet committed long-term church member who struggled with cancer for nine years. We can wait if, like Liz, we are self-controlled, upright, and godly, for the glory of the risen Christ is coming.

I am not very good at waiting. Are you? I do not like to sit and twiddle my thumbs waiting for something to happen. Do you remember that in days past shoe repair shops would advertize, “Shoes repaired while you wait”? You would go in, sit down, take off your old clodhoppers, and turn them in, ...read more

Scripture: Titus 2:11-15

Denomination: Baptist

From Goodness To Going

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 11, 2005

Preached at the National Baptist Memorial Church -- a congregation facing selecting a pastor, dealing with an aging building, and in decline. The issue is whether we will stop depending on just being "good" and will live out of grace to bear our witness

I heard not long ago about a very special automobile. It was built in the 1920’s by the Italian firm Bugatti, and it was designed for the outrageously wealthy. This car had 450 horses under the hood, it was 22 feet long and weighed 6000 pounds. It was hand-crafted of the finest materials, it ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:1-19

Denomination: Baptist

Mourning The End Of Summer

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 20, 2005

We come to points in our lives when it appears to be too late to do what we felt called to do. Our problem is that we have expected God to do for us what we would not do ourselves. But the good news is that God is an empowering healer.

“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore – and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over – like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load; or does it just explode?” Langston Hughes, poet of the Harlem ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 8:18-22

Denomination: Baptist