Sermons on Joseph Smith:

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

Overwhelming Or Overcoming? It Depends

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 23, 2008

Autobiographical account of memories of race relations. Christ gives us the power to overcome backgrounds that might overwhelm us.

If you find yourself facing a monstrous evil, there are really only two choices: either to run or to fight. Either to run or to fight. Now most of us will try a third choice; we will try to ignore the problem. But that won’t work. That won’t work. Massive, monstrous evil demands a response: ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:14-21

Denomination: Baptist

Hands Reaching Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 28, 2008

Missions emphasis message; Jesus’ hands, bearing the marks of crucifixion, have lifted us out of sin and now empower us to reach out to places of pain.

I had thought that this past Wednesday I was going to get a little time to myself, maybe to sit down and read, or take a walk, or drink coffee on the deck, gazing into nowhere. I had thought there might be a little leisure, as somehow the calendar had no entries on it! But no!! She who has for ...read more

Scripture: John 20:19-29

Denomination: Baptist

That Old-Time Religion: Job's Friend Bildad Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 4, 2009

When we are in distress, we do not want doctrine. We want a fresh encounter with God, we want listening friends, and most of all, we want, and have, a Redeemer.

Years ago the church of which I was then a member had an evening ice-cream social and service out on the church grounds one summer Sunday. It was a gently warm night, and as the sun went down and a little chill crept into the air, as the stars began to come out and faces began to disappear into the ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

The Sun Do Move

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 5, 2009

Dramatic monologue as if Joshua were speaking: we are to be courageous, for God is with us when we do battle for Him. The ultimate victory will come because Joshua/Jesus has won it for us.

"We are soldiers, in the army; we are soldiers, in the army; and we have to fight; and we have to fight". We have indeed had to fight. We have fought long and hard. We have fought our way against scores of chieftains and their armies; we have fought our way against scorching heat, fearful hearts, ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 10:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

Since You're Going Anyway, Teach

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 6, 2009

Jesus’ call to us is to use the natural intersections of life to share what we know, to learn together with others, and to claim the victory of the Lord who will always be with us.

My wife and I made the rounds of the carpet stores one evening last week. She is a member of the church’s Building and Grounds Committee and has been given the assignment of refurbishing my office. It was an educational experience, but not a particularly entertaining one. At one carpet store we ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Denomination: Baptist

Cast Down, Scattered Down, Sent Down

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 8, 2009

World Hunger Sunday: God’s judgment will come on a people whose consumption habits oppress others and whose patriotism masks greed. But God will continue to send blessings on a people who will invest more in others.

The laws of physics say that what goes up must come down. You pitch a rock into the air and right away it comes down with a thud. Hendricks throws a football in a long arc out over the New York Giant defenders and knows that it will come down, he hopes into the hands of Monk or Clark or Sanders who ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 147:1-20

Denomination: Baptist

The Church Of My Dreams

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 9, 2009

The church as God intended it will be affirmative of one another’s gifts, evangelical in spirit, inquiring in mind, comprehensive in compassion, and empowered by Christ.

I have two requests to make of you this morning as we continue. Two things I need for you to do: First, I am going to ask our ushers to distribute a little document that I have prepared for you. It is something of an outline of today’s message, but it is also a starter kit for your vision of ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:7-21

Denomination: Baptist

Christian Compassion Risks Others' Criticism

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 10, 2009

To be an effective and compassionate church, we must risk the criticism of those who would like us to do church within our old confines. But not to take risks may cause our best to leave us. This is a time to work for peace, family life, community.

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun; and makes gaps even two can pass abreast.” "Something there is that doesn’t love a wall …” So speaks the poet Robert Frost, reflecting on the ravages of a New ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Without Wavering

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 11, 2009

Funeral sermon for Howard Abernethy, the church’s longest-standing member. He lived without wavering from old values, from his church, from his friendships.

Howard Abernethy approached me after worship one Sunday and said that he and his wife wanted to invite Margaret and me on a little excursion. It would be a day on the railroad. He had learned that my grandfather had been a railroad mechanic, and thought maybe we were kindred spirits. Howard ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 26:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

Christian Compassion Believes The Best About The Worst

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 12, 2009

Delivered as if Ananias were telling his story about encountering Paul: The Spirit calls us to believe that others can be changed, that if we do not go to them the consequences are large, and that others need a human touch from us.

I had always prided myself on understanding people. I had always thought I knew enough about the human mind that I could predict what a man would be like on the basis of what he had always done. After all, if a person is a thief when he is a child, you expect that he will be a cheating thief when ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:1-19

Denomination: Baptist

The Old Rules Uncloaked

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 13, 2009

MLK Sunday: In the beloved community we no longer need to think of over and under. The old way is a prison; Christ sees us as sinners in need of grace, and therefore all children of His, family.

When our children were small, they liked to play games with us. But they liked it best when they could win. Whether it was crazy eights, or chutes and ladders, or just hide-and-go-seek, our children loved to play games as long as they could win. If they lost too much they would burst into tears and ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 3:25-28

Denomination: Baptist

Supercharged

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 14, 2009

A renewed mind finds energy in working because it discerns God’s will, thinks in terms of service, and focuses on the meaning of the Cross.

In 1960, John Kennedy was running for the presidency, and was campaigning near a coal mine in West Virginia. One of the miners put a series of questions to Kennedy: "Is it true that your father is one of the wealthiest men in the world?" Kennedy admitted that this was true. "Well, then, is it ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:1-8

Denomination: Baptist

The Talented Tenth

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 16, 2009

The old Wshington-DuBois debate is mirrored in Jacob: his trouble was from his own foolishness as well as from others’ deceit. The way out was to receive God’s promise of greatness and to act now to offer concrete help to those coming after.

Almost exactly a century ago, American listened to a debate between two great thinkers, two men who had unquestionable credentials, first-rate minds, and powerful pens. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois. In September 1895, in a speech in Atlanta, Booker Taliaferro Washington advocated ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 28:10-22

Denomination: Baptist

The Anatomy Of Rebellion: Forehead, Heart, And Mouth

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 17, 2009

We rebel against God when we refuse to learn anything new, when we resist His love, and when we refrain from telling others about Christ.

Parenting is the toughest job in the world. Nobody has it harder than parents. Amen? Now this insight didn’t come out of a book somewhere. This is not just some Freudian theory, cooked up in the psychology lab. I learned this truth, that parenting is the toughest job in the world, in another ...read more

Denomination: Baptist