Sermons on Joseph Smith:

The Elbow Test Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 31, 2009

We may test our spiritual maturity by assessing who Jesus is for us, whether we live with a sense of victory, and whose opinions matter to us.

During our stay in England, we visited my wife’s cousin and his wife, who have a nine-month-old baby son. One night they needed to go out for a while on an errand, so they asked us if we would take care of the baby for a couple of hours. Of course we were delighted with the chance to do so, since ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

The Road Work Is Finally Finished

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 1, 2009

Neither grief nor guilt are productive, take us anywhere. The Cross is God’s signpost that will put an end to our continuing struggles with both.

Just a few days ago we celebrated, if that’s the right word, the thirtieth anniversary of something we all love to hate. Imagine observing the anniversary of something that has cost us dearly in dollars and also in blood and tears. Something we cannot live without, but sometimes wonder if we can ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:1-11

Denomination: Baptist

A Child-Sized House

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 2, 2009

Let us commit to building a church building with room for personal response to Christ and not business as usual; with room for spontaneity and not control; with room for those who need healing and not for exploitation.

When our children were small, we often took them to the Smithsonian museums, to try and cram a little culture into heads usually preoccupied with cartoons or sports. The best place to go was the Museum of American History, because there were so many different kinds of exhibits and so many ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 21:12-17

Denomination: Baptist

Echoes That Will Not Die

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 3, 2009

In the song of the angels we hear echoes of our ancient problems -- meaning, sin, peace -- all of which are dealt with in the coming of Christ.

The drama of Christmas is focused on a starlit night at a manger, on a mother and a babe, on the small things of life. And yet it is also wide open to eternity, it is a window into past and present and future. The drama of Christmas seems to play on such ordinary things. Tax legislation; taxes, ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 14:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

Dressed In His Righteousness Alone

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 24, 2006

Funeral sermon for Buford Pervall: deacon, usher, church clerk. To know your own value means that you learn to trust God in large matters and you seek positive change.

Someone once remarked that a cynic is a person who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Isn’t that an apt description of our time, when we will pay inflated prices for houses, we will spend $75.00 to fill up our SUV’s, and will hire basketball coaches for forty million dollars ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34

Denomination: Baptist

Shaping The Clay Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 24, 2008

For Memorial Day/Christian Legacy Sunday: We must not protect the vessel in which the Gospel is carried more than the Gospel itself. The Gospel is power; the vessel must be impervious to popularity, a good transporter. Legacy giving encouraged.

I am not much of a gardener. The Scripture says that there is a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted, but I must tell you that I don’t know the difference. I pluck up only what I am told to pluck up, because I don’t know a weed from a willow. However, the mistress of our little ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

What Do These Stones Mean? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 31, 2008

For a Children’s Day message; twelve varying stones used as visuals to speak of original innocence, sin and accountability, and the redemptive work of Christ.

For centuries, people have raised up stones as a witness. Stone monuments testify as to who they are and what happened among them. Just this week news came of discoveries at the ancient monument of Stonehenge on the Salisbury plain in England. Those great Sarsen stones were raised to honor the ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 4:8-24

Denomination: Baptist

So Filled We Cannot Stand Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 8, 2008

The Presence comes not because we manufacture emotions, but because we complete what our history calls us to and because we cultivate holiness and unity.

Prayer, in the words of hymn-writer Charles Wesley: Finish then Thy new creation, Pure and spotless let us be; Let us see Thy great salvation Perfectly restored in Thee! Changed from glory into glory, Till in heaven we take our place, Till we cast our crowns before Thee, Lost in wonder, love, and ...read more

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 5:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

You Missed The Point Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 14, 2008

Like Josiah’s sorry sons, we have missed the point of our fathers’ messages about the value of Scripture, the worth of the church, and the meaning of the work ethic.

Why is it that on Mother’s Day we honor our mothers, we talk of saintly moms who worked their fingers to the bone to cook and clean and sew for us? But on Father’s Day we scold the dads! Why is that? Have you noticed? We honor mothers for their industry, their wisdom, their prayer life, and ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 22:11-23

Denomination: Baptist

En Route To A Better Country

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 24, 2009

For Remembrance Sunday, celebrating the lives of those who had passed away during the previous year: We resist change because we fear failure and we fear temporariness. But faith launches us and God equips us to new things.

Why do some of us embrace change and others of us resist change? Why do some people look for new things to do, search for new things to learn? But others of us resist until our dying breath doing anything but what we’ve always done? Why is that? Why do we approach to life so very differently? ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 11:8-16

Denomination: Baptist

Pharaoh's Daughter: Enduring Rejection For The Sake Of God's Call Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 25, 2009

The princess of Egypt knew that God’s law superseded the state’s law; and chose to act for compassion and justice.

As I began this series of three messages on the theme, Designing Women, last week, I said that we were going to be looking for qualities of leadership out of the stories of those women mentioned in the roll call of faith known as the 11th chapter of Hebrews. You’ll remember that I pointed out ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 1:15-20

Denomination: Baptist

A Command For The Compulsive

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 27, 2009

Sabbath rest addresses our compulsive need to be busy by giving us a day for authentic enjoyment, by providing a vivid contrast with other days, and by giving us a glimpse of eternal rest.

God rested. Well, why not? After all, He had had a busy week, almost as busy as ours! Some of us have had weeks like that, when we’ve had to build the moon and the stars, separate the waters from the dry land, and bring forth swarms of living creatures, all in one week. Every parent knows what ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 20:8-11

Denomination: Baptist

Sanding The Floors Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 5, 2009

Developing leaders is like sanding floors -- acknowledging that flaws will be removed only by abrasion. But such weaknesses become a channel for strength and for God’s grace to work.

We could all have such perfect houses if people didn’t use them. The most beautiful and perfect rooms you will ever see are the ones in furniture displays at the store or maybe in a museum someplace, and the reason they are so perfect is that nobody uses them. But in the real world houses are ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

Delivered From Among The Bricks

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 6, 2009

Labor Day sermon, Calverton Baptist Church: God is able to deliver us from work we do not like and which is focused only on the bottom line. Work faithfully but do not let work consume you. Believe that God is at work even in financially difficult times

We have a love-hate relationship with our jobs. If we do not have jobs, we are anxious, because no job means no income, and no income means trouble, so we want to work. But when we get those jobs, we begin a love-hate relationship. We say that we love our work, but then we want to take as ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Tearing Up The Ticket

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 7, 2009

God in Christ will enable us to remove the penalties of sin and our guilt and shame by creating a relationship with us and by taking into Himself our limitations.

This past spring, when my wife and I went to Britain, I knew that driving there would be quite a challenge. Not only do you have to drive on the left side of the road; and not only to you have to decipher the lingo on the road signs -- anybody know what a "dual carriageway" is? -- but also you have ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 31:31-34

Denomination: Baptist