Sermons on Joseph:

The Loveliest Lynchee Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 4, 2001

The poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks, recently deceased African-American poet, illustrates how a commitment to justice begins with hope, turns to a sense of responsiblity, rises to act, but also acknowledges the depth of human sin.

The dateline was to be Little Rock, Arkansas, September 1957. The story was to be about the vicious hatred of a city whose people were resisting justice and terrifying school children. Little Rock, Arkansas, where Governor Orval Faubus had become the symbol of massive resistance, and where an ...read more

Scripture: John 11:1-40

Denomination: Baptist

The Ugly, The Bad, And The Good

Contributed by Joseph Ng on Feb 26, 2001

God’s verdict on the lives of Solomon, Ahab, and Hezekiah is different from that of secular history and is what matters ultimately.

Opening: You’ve heard of the 1966 Western movie starring Clint Eastwood entitled The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. As we consider the lives of kings in the Old Testament, it will be apparent that some are ugly, bad, or good. In particular, the lives of three Hebrew kings--Solomon, Ahab, and ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 17:14-20

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Stairway To Heaven Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 4, 2001

The beatitudes can be understood sequentially .. as stairsteps to "perfection" (Matt. 5:48). The first four lift us to fellowship with God; the other four bring us back down to the reality of ministry with needy people. This sermon was delivered using a ladder as a "prop".

When Stanley Kubrick made the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”, he guessed that by this time we would be flitting back and forth in outer space, visiting other planets and seeing things never before seen by human beings. The movie suggested that those who would be alive in the year 2001 would go on ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

Diagnosing Illness Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 11, 2001

Jesus diagnoses our illnesses as primarily spiritual and/or connective; the fatal illness He diagnoses is the one which cannot see God at work.

We all know people for whom illness is a way of life. It is not just incidental, it is every day. Every day is spent dealing with sickness or pain. Every day is invested in physicians, treatments, medications, therapies. People who struggle just to stay alive, or to manage pain. Their lives ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:1-17

Denomination: Baptist

Love Almighty And Ills Unlimited Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 17, 2001

When we are dealing with issues and conflicts, we may select to be babies (unlimited retaliation), children (limited retaliation), adolescents (limited love), or mature (unlimited love), toward Jesus’ command to "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. What madman spoke those words? What visionary would even in his wildest dreams suppose that you and I could be perfect? What is this raving? It is the word of Jesus, at the end of a series of challenges. Love your enemies. Give to ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-48

Denomination: Baptist

Played Out Or Prayed Out Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 27, 2001

We are given to frenetic activity, most of it characterized by wrong priorities, a lack of partnerships, and the failure of power. We get played out unless we are prayed out.

Is there a lawyer in the house? Somebody who can give me a little legal advice? I need to know what the statute of limitations is on destruction of church property. Can somebody tell me, is it possible to prosecute fifteen years after the crime? And especially, is it possible to prosecute a pastor ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Isolation On The Journey

Contributed by Joseph Sykes on Mar 27, 2001

Walking by faith, not by sight.

Isolation on the Journey Psalms 27:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 27:11-14

Denomination: Baptist

Many Children To Glory

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 29, 2001

Funeral message for Chastine Bailey, whose life had been devoted to children as a mother, grandmother, teacher, Sunday School teacher, and neighborhood "mom".

If you are in any way involved with children, I have bad news for you. I have somber tidings. If you are involved with children, your work is not complete. It has not been completed, it is not completed, it never will be completed. Anyone who works with children knows that they will never quite ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 2:5-10

Denomination: Baptist

Eleventh Hour Peace

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 11, 2001

Peace seems so elusive; the armistice signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month was not permanent, and now we are dealing with the 11th of September. But we are never more near deliverance than when our troubles deepen, and we can wait ac

Peace! What an elusive thing peace is! Most of the time, we don’t have peace. And when we get it, we cannot keep it. Peace is hard to come by and even harder to keep. In a railway carriage in the forest of Compiegne, in France, gathered representatives of imperial Germany and of the allied ...read more

Scripture: John 16:16-33

Denomination: Baptist

How Did All This Happen?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 26, 2001

For the Festival of Christ the King, and in celebration of a round of studying Blackaby’s "Experiencing God". God empowers His church by cutting away barriers, supplying resources, and giving His own presence.

This morning I invite you to a football game. Thanksgiving Day wasn’t enough! I see the men grinning and I hear the women groaning. What, football, again, even at church? But imagine this morning a very peculiar football game. On one side you have our Redskins. The Redskins of the last ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 45:1-8

Denomination: Baptist

Distant Country, Better Country

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 1, 2001

Funeral message for Michael Keys, age 36, whose parents requested a message from the parable of the Prodigal Son

In my study there hangs a reproduction of a sixteenth century map. My son gave it to me several years ago. He knows that I have always liked maps. I like to look at maps, study maps, even sketch maps myself. There is something fulfilling about seeing how things are laid out, how streets and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-24, Hebrews 11:16

Denomination: Baptist

Brought Down

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 3, 2001

A brief message intended to serve as a transition from a choral concert of Advent music, featuring our children and youth choirs, to the Communion table.

“He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly.” Children bring things down. All sorts of things. Around our place we are learning that a ten-month-old can move very quickly and has a vice-like grasp. Things will come down if they are not moved beyond reach. But ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:57-62

Denomination: Baptist

In Terror, Peace

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 23, 2001

Our times of terror are like those into which Jesus was born. Then and now we try to carve out peace with government, wealth, ingenuity. But Jesus is the source of peace because His life was given to service, His dependence on things was nil, and He ope

And on earth, peace. What an ancient longing! What a long-standing frustration! On earth, peace. I don’t know what language angels sing in, and I suppose the shepherds would have known only Aramaic, but we have grown accustomed to choirs singing the angelic words in Latin: “Gloria in excelsis ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

Looking Forward

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 23, 2001

Funeral sermon for Edward D. Mitchell -- accountant, musician, deacon; age 85

That classic spiritual writer John Bunyan ends his Pilgrim’s Progress with a triumphant note, saying that after Pilgrim had traveled many miles and fought off many adversaries, when he got to the other side, the angels came out to welcome him. John Bunyan knew that if your lifestyle is that of a ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:25-32

Denomination: Baptist

More Than Hatch, Match, And Dispatch Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 13, 2000

The church is for far more than empty ceremony on occasions demanded by tradition; it is the steward of new life, with a rich and full experience that employs the diversity of gifts God has given it.

Last week you seemed to get a big charge out of my little story about going to a wedding rehearsal and wasting time waiting for a key person to arrive. When I said that I didn’t know what we’d do on Sunday afternoon if he didn’t show up, you let out a belly laugh. You assumed I was talking about ...read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1-14

Denomination: Baptist