Sermons on Joseph:

Too Wide To Hide

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 8, 2003

Preached in a church of another denomination for Christian Unity Sunday and Martin Luther King Sunday: we tend to hide our own history and to conceal our witness. But God calls us into a wider ministry.

I’m not sure how it is among Methodists, but we Baptist folks have a strange custom of hiding when we come to church. We hide. We try to get in and get out without being noticed. I don’t know whether Methodists are infected with this disease, but with Baptists it is an epidemic. We hide. ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 40:1-11, Micah 6:6-8

Denomination: Baptist

God's Perfect Plan: Strength, Action, Courage

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 9, 2003

When God gives us a task, His perfect plan includes the resources to do it: strength, action, and courage. Sermon for deacon ordination service.

We have been burning fuel very rapidly. Coal, oil, natural gas .. we are consuming it. It is irreplaceable. Some scientists say that unless we change our ways, we are going to burden our children and our grandchildren with a very serious energy problem. The next generation will inherit a burden ...read more

Scripture: 1 Chronicles 28:20-21

Denomination: Baptist

Heavenly Minded, Earthly Good Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 9, 2003

Introductory sermon to a series on the Purpose-Driven Life: the world says life’s purpose is having things or impressing people. But we are empowered when we use our lives for the purposes for which they are intended.

The choir began to sing, “This earth is not my home”, and I began to be uncomfortable. The more they chanted, the more I squirmed. “This earth is not my home, I am a stranger here, but I am bound for heaven, whence I shall never roam.” Well, yes and no. It is true that this earth is not our ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Real With God Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 16, 2003

Jesus showed how to get real, in prayer, with God: He admitted His true feelings; He told God what He really wanted; and He enlisted His imperfect friends as companions for the journey.

“Yes, God is Real” Don’t you like singing that song? You sing that with relish! So do I! “Yes, God is real, real in my soul.” We believe that. That’s our faith. Or is it? Do we truly believe that God is real? If we believe it, why do we play games with God? Why do we hide ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:32-42

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Real With God Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 16, 2003

Jesus showed how to get real, in prayer, with God: He admitted His true feelings; He told God what He really wanted; and He enlisted His imperfect friends as companions for the journey.

“Yes, God is Real” Don’t you like singing that song? You sing that with relish! So do I! “Yes, God is real, real in my soul.” We believe that. That’s our faith. Or is it? Do we truly believe that God is real? If we believe it, why do we play games with God? Why do we hide ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:32-42

Denomination: Baptist

Walking, Sitting, Standing

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 29, 2003

Funeral service for Marcia Jean Tucker, single mother and immigration officer.

Our third-grade teacher was very concerned about our posture. Day after day she would command her students to watch their posture. “Sit with your back straight and your feet flat on the floor; don’t slump in your seat.” “Stand erect, with your weight equally distributed on both feet; ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 26:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Real With Your Friends Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 29, 2003

Jesus used the principle of understanding our weaknesses but trusting our possibilities in order to transform people-pleasers into persons of integrity, ambition into selfless commitment, and immaturity into responsibility.

History is full of stories of betrayal. Those who look like friends sometimes turn on you. Friendship means nothing to people who are bent on preserving privileges or feeding ambitions. Some of us have friends who would sell us for even less than Judas’ thirty pieces of silver if they ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:37-42

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Real With Your Enemies Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 5, 2003

Hostility comes from the obsessed, self-absorbed heart, and often offers permission for random acts of violence. Jesus got real with His enemies by naming their madness but trusting His own defense to God.

Stress strengthens. That is a physical fact. It is also a spiritual truth. Stress strengthens us. When we face opposition, we grow. When we deal with differences, we become stronger than we were. Strange as it may seem, and unpleasant though it may feel, give thanks when you ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:43-50

Denomination: Baptist

Certainly -- At A Distance

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 18, 2003

For Good Friday: sometimes we no longer see things because we are too close to them. The disciples saw the cross "at a distance", but the centurion saw it through his callousness, cynicism, and skepticism, and affirmed, "Certainly".

Sometimes when you are too close to something you cannot see it. Or at least you cannot recognize what it is. You can be so close that you do not know what you are looking at. You need somebody else to give you a fresh perspective. My wife and I buy grocery items when they are on ...read more

Scripture: Luke 23:44-49

Denomination: Baptist

Nailprints Don't Lie

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 19, 2003

Thomas dealt with his loss by postponing his choices and by absenting himself from the community. We do the same; but the nailprints of our shame and our guilt tell the truth about us.

 We respond to loss in a variety of ways. There is no predicting how people will act when they lose something they cherish. I have seen everything from screaming and wailing to solid stoicism to outright laughter. I have conducted funerals where people have wept openly, and others ...read more

Scripture: John 20:19-29

Denomination: Baptist

In A Better Place

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 26, 2003

For Remembrance Sunday, when we honor the memories of those who have died in the previous year: Those who suffer loss go to a better place emotionally when they cast off unproductive patterns and allow themselves time to receive unconditional love. They

There is something we say to console ourselves when someone dies. It is a phrase I have heard over and over. We say,“I know she is in a better place.” My friend, my parent, my spouse has passed away, but it feels good to think of one truth: “He is in a better place.” By that, of course, ...read more

Scripture: Acts 18:1-23

Denomination: Baptist

Revival, Reform, Renewal

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 12, 2003

For Reformation Sunday, and a followup to a week of revival services: revival is good, reformation is better, but renewal is what God is really aiming at.

My great-uncle, Ed Weber, drove an ancient car. I doubt if you’ve ever heard of its brand name. He drove a Terraplane. Anybody remember the Terraplane? Well, dearie, if you do, then you are much older than I, because my great-uncle’s Terraplane was already ancient when I was a boy. It had been ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 23:25, Zephaniah 3:14-17

Denomination: Baptist

A Fresh Start

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 13, 2003

Preached at a rescue mission; everyone needs a fresh start when we mess up on life-building. It’s not enough to feel guilty, not enough to blame others, not even enough to get new skills. We need the help of the Master Carpenter.

I don’t know anybody who doesn’t need, from time to time, a fresh start. No matter who you are, no matter where you have been, no matter what you are trying to do, you just need, sometimes a fresh start, a new beginning. Trying to fix things the way they are won’t work; you need sometimes to ...read more

Scripture: John 3:1-16

Denomination: Baptist

The Land Of Beginning Again

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 15, 2003

For New Year’s: a participatory sermon, raising the questions: [1] What comfort zone is God calling you to leave? [2] What frightens you most about what God is calling you toward? [3] In what ways have you resisted God’s desire to bless you? [4] How is G

Every now and then God does something which guarantees that those among whom He is working will never be the same again. Whatever it is that He does may seem small and insignificant at the time, but after a while you come to realize that He has done something which has changed everything. We’ve ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 12:1-3, Psalm 137:1

Denomination: Baptist

You Were Formed To Be Part Of God's Family Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 23, 2003

Diversity divides the human family, but understanding unites us. However, finally the fragmented family can be fixed only by faith. Part of a series to support the study of Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life.

A few years ago I began to pay attention to the tradition of family reunions in African-American families. I think it may have been when I learned that the Faulkners were driving to Massachusetts to meet other Faulkners. Or maybe it was when I found out that the Hairstons rent an entire hotel and ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:16-34

Denomination: Baptist