Sermons on Joseph Stowell:

Pointing To The Light Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 11, 2009

John the Baptist knew who he was not and who he was, and accepted his task of pointing to Christ. Our mistakes are imagining that we are more than we are, or that we are less than we are. The real task is: just point to the light.

My son and his wife live in a five-level townhouse in Reston, Virginia. You enter into a kind of combination corridor and stairwell at the second level. Typically I turn right when I arrive and go into the kitchen area. But when I leave that level to go to another one, I walk out of that kitchen ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-28

Denomination: Baptist

A Mother's A Mother All Of Her Life

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 13, 2009

Preached in 1989. The Holy Spirit, like mothers, is stubborn. He will accomplish what He sets out to do, as mothers do not abandon their children; so we must not give up on each other but must become motherlike.

There’s just something about mothers -- they are without a doubt the stubbornest people on God’s green earth. Mothers are stubborn, mothers stick with it, mothers stay with something until the cows come home. Mothers are persistent, mothers are consistent ... I think I said it best at the ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:6-11

Denomination: Baptist

When Curiosity Isn't Enough

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 13, 2009

It is not enough to be curious about Christ, keeping your distance or living in the world unequipped. If you are merely curious, come closer and you will grow and mature.

We have a new puppy at our house. She’s about 11 weeks old. And is she ever curious! She is curious about everything. There is nothing that escapes her attention, and nothing that does not interest her. She has to sniff at the house plants; she pulls at the towels; she tugs at the bedspread ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:43-52

Denomination: Baptist

Looking Good: Just One More Thing

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 14, 2009

Dinosaurs look good in the museum, but their bones are really disconnected, are not together, and are dry as dust. The church must learn to connect, to unite, and to be exciting, as God wills.

Dinosaurs fascinate me. Those ancient beasts which once upon a time roamed this planet, foraging for food and terrorizing smaller creatures. You’ve seen them on the late movies, enormous reptiles, roaring and raring up on their hind legs, grabbing the pretty girl between those giant jaws and ...read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

Men Of Militant Mercy

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 15, 2009

In response to the Million Man March and Promise Keeper’s rallies. God’s men need to step up and mentor children, take chances on the helpless, build practical structures, and become evangelistic.

The image remains strong and vibrant in my mind, after all these years: the image of my father, marching. Y’left, y’right, y’left. One-two-three-four. Marching. No, my dad was not in the army; he wasn’t even a veteran, having been born a little too early for the First World War and a little too ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 68:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

When God Wrestles With Family Tensions

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 16, 2009

We use avoidance, anger, anxiety, and aloneness to manage family tensions. We even use self-centered prayer. But when we let God wrestle with us, we are changed and we accept vulnerability in family life.

The most critical issue in family life is not anger or argument. It is avoidance. What plagues most families is not that they are embroiled in fighting or torn by argument. What destroys families is that people drift apart from one another; they avoid one another. You see, if you fight with ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

If It's Light, Let It Lead Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 18, 2009

MLK Sunday: to work in the darkness, we need light, lots of it, but it may show us things we don’t want to know. The Bible is light for life; the church makes us see its truth in ways that claim us; and Christ leads us to a healthy integrity

If you are going to work in the darkness you need light. There is only so much you can do by feeling your way. You need light and lots of it. Last Wednesday night as my wife and I left Montgomery Hills Church, I noticed some poor soul in the driveway of the house next door. He had the hood of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:22-23

Denomination: Baptist

Give Up Or Get Up?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 8, 2009

Never consider anyone hopeless. Pray intensely, watch out for the naysayers or for your own negativity, and then participate in the redemption Christ wants to bring.

He’s just hopeless! She is beyond redemption! I am never going to make it! They have no future whatsoever! They are hopeless! Are you ever tempted to speak like that? Do you ever feel that way about somebody, maybe even about yourself? Hopeless? Watch out. Because there is nothing more ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:40-56

Denomination: Baptist

Revived To Die?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 9, 2009

What must it have felt like to be revived, only to know that you will die again? It is true of a church that has undergone revival. Some will even try to kill the revival. Embrace it, unbind it.

We always welcome visitors in our church from wherever they may come. But I do wonder today if we have any visitors from the other side. The other side, you know. No, I don’t mean the Catholics. I mean the other other side. Do we have any visitors from beyond the grave? Thus begins the sermon ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Walls Come Tumblin' Down

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 14, 2009

We run into many walls we cannot seem to get past: estrangement, grief, illness. The way past those walls is described as Sabbath, symbol, silence, and shout.

When you are up against a wall, there will be more than one way to deal with it. There will be the conventional way. And there will be the creative way. When you are up against a wall, there will be a way to break it down that costs a whole lot less than the usual way. All of us remember Mark ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 6:1-21

Denomination: Baptist

Venus De Milo: Beautiful But Not Perfect

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 14, 2009

We are not perfect, nor are we beyond redemption. Wake up to correct the inadequacies; strengthen what is worth keeping; and remember the grace of God.

In the best of us there are deep flaws; but in the worst of us there is something worth redeeming. In the best of us there are deep, profound flaws. Every fine and saintly person I have known has been hard to get along with, had blinders on about some issue, or just hung on to some irritating ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

Ghostbusters

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 15, 2009

Panicked people do irrational things, like attempt to live in the past or to live out of bad religion. Panic can be dealt with only by trusting God and living in integrity. Luther’s Reformation is a prime illustration.

Children are not the only ones who are afraid of the dark. You do not have to be a child to be subject to irrational, unreasoning fears, fears that take you over and leave you breathless. Children may be afraid of dark rooms and of monsters under the bed, but the rest of us also panic. Don’t tell ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 28:3-18

Denomination: Baptist

God's Bountiful Buffet

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 16, 2009

Juy 31, 1988. When we don’t have enough, materially, it’s easy to be spiritual, and we respond with gratitude. When we have enough, materially, it’s still easy to be spiritual, and we respond with responsibility.

You may not know it, but we may be in the vicinity of a piece of history. We may be in the neighborhood that gave rise to a revolution in the restaurant business. I cannot really document this, but at least in my limited observation, it was right here in this neighborhood that one enterprising ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:1-18

Denomination: Baptist

Flirting With An Old Flame

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 17, 2009

Cowardice keeps us from a relationship with God. Rekindle God’s gifts: power to make a difference, love that stays by those in need, and self-discipline to choose a lifestyle of ministry. Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD

Are you that rare person who married your first love and you are still just as much in love today as you were at first sight? If you are such a creature, I salute you, but there are not many like you. When I attended Betty Noe’s funeral here not long ago, it was said that she was Hulon’s first ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

Having And Giving Authority

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 18, 2009

How do we decide whom to help and how, of all the needs presented? Jesus responded to the needs that presented themselves, He discerns what the real problems are, and He trusted others with authority.

The problem is never whether somebody needs help. The problem is always which somebody we can help. The issue is never whether there are any needs. There are always needs. In any given moment there are more needs than anyone person can possibly address. The issue is how to make the choice. Who ...read more

Denomination: Baptist