Sermons on Joseph Smith:

Standing On The Rubbishes

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 30, 2010

Revised from an earlier message for a small church trying to affirm a new direction: Focus on what you have accomplished, know the heart of Christ for His church, confirm loving relationships.

Bethesda First Baptist Church, Bethesda, MD October 3, 2004 Some things end, but are not completed. Other things are completed, but do not end. There is a world of difference between the two. Some things end, but are not completed. Some things stop, unfinished. All these recent accidents ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

In Touch With Earth

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 1, 2010

Revision of earlier message. God calls us to remember that we are both physical and spiritual, and are therefore to be stewards of the earth as well as spiritually sound. The Table reminds of both our physical and spiritual sides and responsibilities.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, October 6, 1985, World Communion Sunday No matter how sophisticated we may become, something in us reaches out for the soil, reaches out for our roots and stirs within us to claim a simpler, more basic way of life. I would just about bet that most of us ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31

Denomination: Baptist

Will Anything Really Change?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 2, 2010

Revised from an earlier message for a church making a major turn in direction and leadership. Change is hard for us, for some of us fear change, some of us do not think change is real. But God is able and willing to complete what He begins among us.

Bethesda First Baptist Church, Bethesda, MD, September 19, 2004 Will anything really change? I mean, really?! So often change is only apparent, and not real. So often we tinker with things, but we do not really change them. We lack the will to change things, really. We lack the imagination ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:1-21

Denomination: Baptist

In Touch With Earth

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 2, 2010

We are both physical and spiritual, and our calling is to be good stewards of both. The Lord's Table ably symbolizes this.

Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD June 5, 1983 No matter how sophisticated we may become, something in us reaches out for the soil, reaches out for our roots and stirs within us to claim a simpler, more basic way of life. I would just about bet that most of us here do not think of ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31

Denomination: Baptist

The Sword Of Speech

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 2, 2010

If we have God's truth in our hearts, we must speak our witness. It is not good enough to remain silent. That word must be a word of love and it must be a word of justice. Martin Luther King exemplified this discipline.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC January 19, 1986 It was the spring of 1964, and I had to make a choice. I had to decide whether I would, in my very first year of ministry, do something which would create a bit of tension in the church, but which the students with whom I worked were ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 12:17-18

Denomination: Baptist

The Women At The Tomb: Remember

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 3, 2010

The skepticism of the apostles, hearing the women's testimony of the resurrection, could have been prevented had they heeded the angels' admonition to remember what Jesus predicted would happen. So today when our witness is challenged or our desires to d

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC April 14, 1987, Easter The old vaudeville song proclaims, “Dearie, do you remember? Because if you remember, then you’re much older than I.” The idea seems to be that remembering is nothing to be proud of; the implication is that ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Water For Drowning, Water For Thirst

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 4, 2010

After Christmas it is easy to feel overwhelmed with the return to reality, responsibility, and even depressing weather. The psalmist also felt overwhelmed until he remembered what God had done in and for him and that God was still present, even when unfe

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC January 6, 1985 Well, Christmas is over, isn't it? Christmas is over and done with, except for a few remaining lights and poinsettias … over, done with, finished. It was great while it lasted, but Christmas is over. How do you know that ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 42:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

Pain Turned Into Joy Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 12, 2009

It seems unreal that pain could be turned into joy. Yet pain is the very stuff of joy. It will come, not instantaneously, but completely. The risen Christ proves this, and can transform our disappointments, disillusionments, and shame into joy.

“You will have pain, but y our pain will turn into joy.” That brings back memories of the doctor’s office and that giant needle moving ever closer. “This will hurt a little bit.” A little bit! When you are a year old, it hurts a lot, and there is no joy in it. No, I do not remember being one ...read more

Scripture: John 16:17-24

Denomination: Baptist

In The Spin Cycle

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 13, 2009

Addictive behaviors are sins that we simply ought not to start; and they are sicknesses that stem from low self-esteem. Christ is able to deliver from both sin and sickness.

When washday comes at our house, I go on alert. I go on alert for a certain noise. If we are washing something heavy, like bathroom mats or a bedspread, I can predict that during the washing process, I will hear great clunks and thunks arising from the basement. It will sound as though somebody is ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 23:29-35

Denomination: Baptist

Heart Bypass (1996)

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 15, 2009

If we do not understand what God does for us every day, then we will not receive what He wants to do when we really need Him. Sometimes He must withdraw from us because our abundance blinds us. (Communion message)

If we do not understand what God does, every day, then we will not receive what He wants to do when we really need Him. If with both minds and hearts we do not grasp that it is God who provides for us, day after day, even when we don’t think we need Him, then our minds will be closed and our ...read more

Scripture: Mark 6:45-52

Denomination: Baptist

The Great Dismal Swamp And The Evereadies

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 15, 2009

Just as comic strip characters were saved from the Great Dismal Swamp because their Eveready batteries summoned the Fleet, so also if we will use the resources we have, we can save others from this world because the risen Christ is our resource.

The travel brochures say practically nothing about it, and yet it is one of the largest features on the landscape of two’ adjacent states. Two incorporated cities encompass include a great deal of it, but very few people live there. It’s mostly hundreds of square miles of nothing. The official ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 49:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

Knit Quilt

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 16, 2009

Jonathan and David demonstrate how people are joined to one another: acknowledging a Father, receiving validation, empowering one another, working together for life.

There is a group in our church which is planning a quilt. This quilt is to depict the history of our church, with each square representing a decade in the church’s life. The finished product will be put on display so that everyone can get a picture of our history. Now this is not the first time ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

What More Can You Ask?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 19, 2009

What keeps us from fulfilling Jesus’ "So send I you" mandate? Lack of information? There is the Bible. Motivation? Forgiveness is critical for all. No personal experience with Christ? Now is the time for a fresh encounter. Montgomery Hills Baptist

Some of us live in a state of perpetual unreadiness. No matter what happens, we think we are not ready. Notice how I put that. We THINK we are not ready. We may have plenty of stuff in our old kit bags. We may have assembled all that we need to accomplish whatever we are about to do, but the ...read more

Scripture: John 20:19-31

Denomination: Baptist

Hands

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 21, 2009

To a church which has prided itself on its accumulated resources, but which now faces austerity, God says that if we do not fear but trust Him, we are enough to get Him the victory.

Hands. You have two hands. A right hand and a left hand, two hands. They are the most versatile parts of the human body, the places where our creativity is expressed, the instruments through which we register emotions, the tools we use to earn our daily bread. Hands. What a wonderful gift are our ...read more

Scripture: Judges 7:1-22

Denomination: Baptist

His Poverty, Our Wealth

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 22, 2009

Ours are uncertain times, like those into which Jesus came. But God in Christ invested for the long haul and pours Himself into something risky. So therefore can we.

These are uncertain times. And in uncertain times uncertain people do irrational things, destructive things. People who are drifting, people who have no anchor, people who have no center - in uncertain times, such people do things which destroy. The pages of the calendar are turning toward ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:9

Denomination: Baptist