Sermons on Joseph The Saviour:

God's Nobodies

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 20, 2011

We as the church, facing today's challenges, think of ourselves as nobodies. But we are God's kind of nobodies, those in whom He has been at work to make changes, and we are needed by the world around us.

(Originally preached at Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, Aug. 12, 1973; subsequently, with variations, at Woodbrook Baptist Church, Baltimore, MD, Aug. 19, 1973; Viers Mill Baptist Church, Rockville, MD, Sept. 9, 1973; Bethesda First Baptist Church, Bethesda, MD, Oct. 14, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:9-10

Denomination: Baptist

We Have A Light To Shine

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 21, 2011

Stewardship message, designed as a dialogue between the pastor and a lay reader, and focusing on all the light we as a church now shed, but also could share, with adequate personnel and finances. Ends with a candlelighting ceremony.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, Nov. 11, 1990 Pastor: One Christian organization that is concerned with helping people who have emotional problems uses as its slogan, "It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness." Today we are going to test that theory. This morning we ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16

Denomination: Baptist

Open Windows

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 25, 2011

Annual Theme for the church for 1988, announcing a program of enhancing the educational ministries.

(Annual Theme Sunday, Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, Jan. 24, 1988) A little over a year ago I brought you a report on the rebuilding of Takoma Park Baptist Church. In that report I said that our rebuilding and renewing process could be compared to the business of building a building, ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 2:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

The Process

Contributed by Joseph Persaud on Jan 25, 2011

Each step of the process of our life is ordered by the Lord.

THE PROCESS Jer. 18:2-4 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 18:1-4

Denomination: Church Of God

Absence Of Pain Or Pain Of Absence? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 9, 2008

We either want to disengage from conflict situations and save ourselves the pain, or we have to absorb the guilt of being absent and causing others pain. Trust an abundant God, who is able to take our pain and express abundant love.

We serve a God of abundance and not a God of scarcity. Ours is not a dilettante deity with nothing in His hands. Ours is the God who possesses the cattle on a thousand hills, who flung the stars into space, and who has made all things – all things. All things are made by Him and all things are ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Who Can Be Saved? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 11, 2008

Salvation seems elusive, whether it means personal peace, reconciliation, or productive life. Good Friday we see what God will do about that frustration.

I Everyone gets frustrated. In ways small or great, we feel the frustration of not being able to do what we want to do, not being able have what we want to have, not being able to achieve as we would want to achieve. Young people, by nature, dream great dreams. If you give them half a chance, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:16-26

Denomination: Baptist

A New Dimension Of Obedience

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 12, 2008

Dated 1985. Jesus saw that we live in a complicated age and are therefore called to love God with our minds as well as heart and soul and strength. Consider serious Biblical and theological study.

In order for you to understand fully what I am about to say, you would need to know my wife, and moreover, you would need to visit our backyard and find out that my wife is a wild flower nut. Now you will be very careful to get exactly what I said. I did not say, exactly, that my wife has lost her ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

A World-Class Child For A World Of Children

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 15, 2008

Story sermon: a child watches her father being taken away charged with being disorderly, feels guilty, but does not understand why all the others in her family "receive him not."

No Scripture is more loved and more often quoted than the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verses 16 and 17. If you want to put: the good news in miniature, there it is. One sentence encompassing the heart of the good news. So as we cane to the Advent season, during which we shall remember the Lord’s ...read more

Scripture: John 1:10-13

Denomination: Baptist

Payday Someday

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 15, 2008

Dated 1988. Being paid not only means money, it also means self-worth. So when they complained to Malachi that evil people got rewarded, he pointed out that being God’s possession was reward enough, and that God’s justice would ultimately be done.

My seminary classmates and I were approaching graduation, and went through a little process requested by the alumni office of the seminary. They asked us to fill out a form that would help them place us in churches or other ministry positions, now that we were finishing our training. And one of the ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Let's Turn The World Over To Mothers

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 15, 2008

Dated 1988. Part dialogue, part conversation, between the preacher and his wife. Pain is caused by absenting ourselves from those against whom we have a grievance. Mothers understand compassion and challenge the rest of us to reconcile.

It is very appropriate that Margaret join me in bringing the message today… appropriate not only because she is a mother, but also because today’s message was inspired by both of our mothers … both hers and mine. Several years ago my mother was sitting in her living room reading the newspaper with ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 14:1-24

Denomination: Baptist

Leaky Disciples

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 17, 2008

Dated 1988; post-revival message. We do not retain the Spirit after a period of excitement because we have not counted the cost, we are victims of low self-esteem, or we are not our own persons.

Nothing is more annoying than to be trying to transport some liquid in a leaky vessel. You think you’ve got whatever it is all secure and ready for use, and then all of a sudden you find out it has leaked and drained allover the place ... and nothing is more disturbing and frustrating. When I ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:57-62

Denomination: Baptist

Letting God Be God Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 20, 2008

To pray as Jesus prayed is to have the same understanding of God as He did: a firm but compassionate father, a giver who expects us to learn appreciation, and an empowering forgiver.

Introduction to Series Praying As Jesus Prayed Every fall I like to take at least two Sundays to focus on some aspect of that most basic of all the disciplines of the Christian life, the discipline of prayer. I do this for several reasons. First, building in a specific emphasis on prayer in our ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:1-13

Denomination: Baptist

No Fools Here: Job's Young Friend Elihu

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 20, 2008

April Fool’s Day. Brash young Elihu is angry at Job and his friends for their inactivity. And he sees the extravagant, "foolish" mercy of God that foreshadows God’s forgiveness in Christ, "foolishly" spending His life for us.

Of some folks they say, "He’s really just a big kid at heart". "He’s really just a big kid at heart." Which means that even if he is in his fifties and has grown-up children, a mortgage and a pension plan, even so he has that irrepressible urge to play. Even so he wants nothing more than to have ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

No Secret Christians

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 20, 2008

Our desire to keep it secret that we are Christians will have to be revised when we receive joy from a redemptive fellowship. when we become informed about our faith, and when we learn to live conscious of the presence of Christ.

Before I begin, I do have some instructions for our ushers. Can I get the ushers to help us make sure we are truly ready for this experience? First, gentlemen, please make sure all the windows are sealed tight. We don’t want any sound to seep out to the outside world. And then will you please ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:12-17

Denomination: Baptist

God's Indescribable Abundance Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 23, 2008

How can one describe what God has given in this church, with the successes of the past year? How describe human needs, especially for the Gospel? And how describe the opportunities for inclusive worship, honest learning, and artistic expression?

Once upon a time a certain church was in an uproar. Some said that the pastor was not performing according to expectations. And so complaints were brought to the deacons, who met to consider the issue, and asked those who were grumbling, “What is the problem with the pastor?” One disaffected ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:1-15

Denomination: Baptist