Sermons on Joseph: showing 2,686-2,700 of 21,516

In The Hour Of Trial: Open Door

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 1, 2009

The doors of the church: some are locked, but panic hardware always lets us out for mission; some are heavily locked, but it is Christ who is our security; and some are never locked, for we are to be open to embrace those who need us.

Have you ever seen a place with as many doors as this church building has! A hardware salesman would be in heaven, right here! Doors, doors, everywhere doors. There are doors leading to the outside. Eight of them, I think. There are doors inside, leading into the rooms. Some doors take you into ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:7-13

Denomination: Baptist

Knowing When To Break The Rules

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 2, 2009

Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician woman admits several interpretations, all of which teach us: give what is needed rather than what is wanted; teach others rather than do for them; watch your motives.

Just when you think you have your life routines down pat, settled and secure, something comes along and upsets the whole pattern. Just when you think you have your life all organized, something comes up to discombobulate it! Just when you think you know the rules by which you govern your life, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 15:21-28

Denomination: Baptist

How To Drive Your Mother Crazy

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 3, 2009

Know your own self, do what is right whether you like it or not, and go beyond the norm. It will drive your mother crazy and will call from your Father, "Well done".

Our relationship with our mothers is at once the most wonderful and yet the most difficult of all our relationships. We love them deeply, and we get so upset with them we almost hate them. Few of us are neutral about our mothers; we hold them close and then push them away forcefully. We get ...read more

Scripture: John 2:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

How New Is New?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 4, 2009

We live in a revolutionary time. Can we seize it for Christ. God is doing something new and is calling us to join Him in it, as walls and barriers come down.

If this winter is like most winters, you will wake up one morning, peer out your window, and find the whole scene blanketed in pure white snow. It will seem like a fairyland to you, and for a little while, at least, the whole world will appear to be new. Brand new, clean and fresh, sparkling and ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

Denomination: Baptist

The Inevitable Cleanup Job Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 5, 2009

Sin is inevitable and needs to be identified as the filth that is in all of us, and it needs to be acknowledged in the Christian community. But God loves us and cares for us and is in the blood of Christ cleaning us.

No matter how good it is, it has to be cleaned up. Isn’t that always the case? No matter how good anything is, it has to be cleaned up. You get a new suit of clothes, you wear it a few times -- maybe only one time, in this heat -- and before you know it, it has to go off to the dry cleaners. No ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 1:5-10

Denomination: Baptist

Lessons From Wiffle Ball

Contributed by Joseph Stapleton on May 5, 2009

I loved wiffle ball as a child, some of those lessons apply to our walk with Christ

LESSONS FROM WIFFLE BALL (All my sermons use illustrations from sermon central and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted) When I was a young child I loved to play wiffle ball. We would set up a small “ball park” in the back yard and pretend we were great base ball players. You can do ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:2

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Getting Past Self-Indulgence

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 6, 2009

Self-indulgence does not mean denying yourself what you actually need, but meeting needs easily turns into obsession. The way out is service to others.

Whoever first baked Pecan Sandies should be made a saint. I love Pecan Sandies cookies! The taste of crunchy pecans, the texture of shortbread. I don’t care if you are from Georgia and pronounce it pee-kan, I’ll insist that Pecan or pee-kan Sandies are the finest cookie on the market. And so ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:13-15

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Over

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 7, 2009

God wants us to be more than minimal. Acknowledge that Christ is Lord, make sure our witness is clear, go beyond quick thrills, and be faithful, and your faith will sustain you over the long haul.

Too often, we choose "getting by", when we could choose "getting over". Too often, we try to skimp on life, hoping not to invest too deeply. That’s "getting by". But we could turn to a better answer. We could choose "getting over". "Getting by" and "getting over" are not the same thing. "Getting ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:12-17

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

From Goodness To Going

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 11, 2005

Preached at the National Baptist Memorial Church -- a congregation facing selecting a pastor, dealing with an aging building, and in decline. The issue is whether we will stop depending on just being "good" and will live out of grace to bear our witness

I heard not long ago about a very special automobile. It was built in the 1920’s by the Italian firm Bugatti, and it was designed for the outrageously wealthy. This car had 450 horses under the hood, it was 22 feet long and weighed 6000 pounds. It was hand-crafted of the finest materials, it ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:1-19

Denomination: Baptist

Who's Your Daddy?

Contributed by Joseph Comage on Jul 20, 2005

James and John we know, but who’s their Daddy? Is he important or is he significant in any way?

Who’s Your Daddy? Mark 1: 16 - 20 16And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 17Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18They immediately left their nets and followed ...read more

Scripture: Mark 1:16-20

Denomination: Independent/Bible

With A Child's Heart

Contributed by Joseph Comage on Aug 4, 2005

The church is responsible to train and feed the New Born Christian in the ways of the Lord

With a Childs Heart Proverbs 22:6 6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. When we speak of a child, it can mean different things. ľ There is the child that is an infant. ľ There is the child of God. ľ There is a New Born Christian Child. Every ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 22:6

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Blessed Assurance

Contributed by Joseph Comage on Aug 8, 2005

We all remember days of major life events. Brother Job had a day and the bible says NOW THERE WAS A DAY. Jesus is ready to help you through that Day.

BLESSED ASSURANCE Job 2:11 11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place-- Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort ...read more

Scripture: Job 2:11

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Mourning The End Of Summer

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 20, 2005

We come to points in our lives when it appears to be too late to do what we felt called to do. Our problem is that we have expected God to do for us what we would not do ourselves. But the good news is that God is an empowering healer.

“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore – and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over – like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load; or does it just explode?” Langston Hughes, poet of the Harlem ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 8:18-22

Denomination: Baptist