Sermons on Joseph: showing 2,386-2,400 of 21,515

To An Unknown God

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 15, 2010

Our world is incurably religious and is filled with people on a spiritual search. We find it easy to talk religion, but our calling is to share our relationship with the living Christ.

We are incurably religious! Wherever you go, you will find that people are religious. We are groping for something we never quite find. Ride with me up and down Sixteenth Street, here in the city, or out New Hampshire Avenue, past Colesville. The architecture is ample proof that people are ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:16-33

Denomination: Baptist

Anticipating Grief

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 18, 2010

A grief anticipating what will happen is difficult, but can be handled if we ask and accept forgiveness. When the grief is fulfilled, then we are ready to do what our hearts tell us. God suffered anticipating grief and so understands.

Only someone who has done some grieving can help those who now grieve. A hundred "I’m sorries" and a thousand "I know how you feels" are worthless when you feel profound grief. You need at your side someone who has been through loss. And if yours is anticipating grief; that is, if yours is the ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 12:13-25

Denomination: Baptist

Answers, Not Appeasement

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 19, 2010

When our needs are real, we want genuine answers, not just appeasements. Look to self-esteem, look to the resources already present, and look to the Lord of victory for real answers.

When you need something, and you ask for it, what do you expect? Do you expect an answer or an appeasement? Do you expect a clear-cut, usable answer to your request, or are you satisfied if you are just told, well, have a nice day? When you need something, and you ask for it, which really satisfies ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 17:14-18

Denomination: Baptist

Annas And Caiaphas: Stuck In Responsibility Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 20, 2010

We feel stuck in responsibilities, trying to maintain something just because we’ve inherited it, and are tempted to think of leadership as image. In a relationship to Christ, responsibility is transformed into freedom.

He was tired to the bone, but rose to go trim the wicks and boost the light again. How many times had he been to these lamps tonight? How many times had he wanted just to give it up and go to bed? How many times had he hoped that some magic answer would swoop in his open window and land on his ...read more

Scripture: John 18:12-32

Denomination: Baptist

Earth Yielding Increase

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 24, 2009

For Worldwide Communion Sunday: How can we, like the Psalmist, be optimistic in the face of international conflict, national dispute, racism, church tension, our personal conflicts? The Cross is God’s reaching out to heal.

It was an awesome ruin. A hulk of stone, a pile of rubble. Smoke stains clearly visible. Jagged edges its roofline. What once had been a magnificent building lay now exposed to the open air, useless, a scar on the horizon. What terrible thing had happened here to create this ugly defacing of the ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 67:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

Come: To A Harvested Self

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 5, 2009

Evil and good live side by side, so we need to accept our sinfulness in order to receive our salvation. God in Christ takes on Himself the penalty we should receive.

It would seem that the negative things in life grow of their own accord, but that the good things, positive things, take a lot of work. If you are at all a pessimist, you will agree that bad things, destructive things, just happen. Nobody has to make them happen. They happen on their own. But good ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30

Denomination: Baptist

Come: To A Choking World

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 6, 2009

What chokes the joy out of life? Too many cares that major on minors, and the relentless pursuit of material success. Jesus came to be authentically human among us.

Nearly every time I take an airplane trip, I get a happy surprise. When we take off and rise through the congestion of earth and the grim gray clouds of our immediate atmosphere, there comes that astonishing moment when the plane bursts through the cloud cover into bright sunlight. I am always ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:3-22

Denomination: Baptist

Can I Get A Lift?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 6, 2009

August 1989: If we want to be lifted up out of our unhappiness through worship, we must bring our whole selves to the worship experience and must pray passionately even our negative wishes.

I recently became aware that some folks shop for a church much as you would shop for a car or a home appliance. In talking with some people about joining our church, they said that they were shopping – that’s their word, not mine -- that they were shopping for a church by systematically attending ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 28:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

Candle And Cradle, Curse And Cross

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 6, 2009

Every positive experience has its negative side. Jesus’ coming was threatening to many, and His birth foreshadows a cross. The light of Christ, however, will never be put out.

Dr. Seuss knew that every Christmas has a Grinch. Every positive experience, it would seem, has a dark side, a negative side. Every Christmas has a Grinch to steal away its joy. Maybe you are one of those people, and there are quite a few of them, who just get tired of the whole murky business ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 1:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

Conquerors All

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 8, 2009

We are bored. Feelings shut down because we strive for security and for status, and even for spirituality, but nothing works. Only allegiance to the risen Christ provides fulfillment.

Of all the diseases of our time, the most serious one is boredom. Of all the sicknesses this flesh is heir to, the most fatal is boredom. Not AIDS, not homicide, not heart disease nor cancer, but boredom. Oh, I don’t suppose any mortuary ever tagged a cadaver’s toe with "boredom". I don’t suppose ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:15-22

Denomination: Baptist

Connected, Like It Or Not

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 9, 2009

Baptist Heritage Sunday: broad as we are, we can stay together if we live out our understanding of soul competence and if we focus on missions and evangelism.

I want to introduce you to the least exclusive club in the world. A club so open that anybody can get in, whether they qualify or not, although the club says it has high standards for membership. It is a club so broad in its social standings that it has included the lowest of the low and the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16

Denomination: Baptist

Dissin' The Homeboy Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 9, 2009

When we disrespect our own children, we disempower them, we give evidence that ours is a sick community, and we write off God’s ability to redeem.

The church was plagued with two bad boys, or maybe it was three. The two really bad boys offended nearly everybody in that church. They ran through the hails, rudely bumping those who were in the way. Elderly ladies cringed when they saw them coming. Small children screamed and hid behind their ...read more

Scripture: Mark 6:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

Completing Christ

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 10, 2009

Our lives find meaning and completeness if we first recognize what God has already done in us, if we see that God never stops working in any life, and if we devote ourselves to His purposes.

If I were to take you to my home this afternoon, I could show you a parable of the human condition. My house would tell you a whole lot about our family, of course, but it also would tell you about the whole human problem. You see, our house is unfinished. It is incomplete. Oh, it was built in ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:21-29

Denomination: Baptist

A Complete Hunger

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 11, 2009

It’s healthy to feel hunger and thirst, and if these are never satisfied, health will deteriorate. To satisfy spiritual hunger, do something for the Kingdom and for others, and you will feel fulfilled.

Hunger is something we feel at every stage of life and every day of our lives. In fact, when you are no longer able to get hungry, you know you are very sick. Being hungry is a sign of health. Hunger is something felt by the youngest infant, from the very beginning. I had the rare chance this ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:6

Denomination: Baptist

A Dirty Altar

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 12, 2009

(Various objects on the altar). Our church altar is dirty with unresolved anger, put-downs, and prejudicial outreach. These things must be cleaned away before God accepts what we bring here.

Who says there’s nothing new under the sun? The pastor not accepting the offering! Lots of folks think that raising money is about all we ever do in church. Wish they could have seen that! But, you see, the problem is there isn’t any room up here on the altar. We have a dirty altar today. It’s ...read more

Denomination: Baptist