Sermons on Joseph:

Insults Or Joy? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 11, 2008

Annas and Caiphas exhibit the truth that if we do not know God, we do not know ourselves. That produces insecurity, which, in turn, yields destructive defensiveness.

A riddle to begin with today. Can you answer this question? How do two porcupines hug one another? Very carefully! It’s one of those encounters in which, no matter how you approach it, somebody is likely to get hurt. And we all know some porcupines. Any one of us can be a porcupine on any ...read more

Scripture: John 18:12-24

Denomination: Baptist

It's Not About Power

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 13, 2008

For deacon ordination at Montgomery Hills Baptist Church: deacons are to be humble, secure, and serving, and thus to coach the whole church in Kingdom ways.

Power is what the world knows. You cannot live in the metro DC area without seeing that power is everything for this world. The power of a position in the government, where you can order people around like pawns on a chessboard. The power of access to huge sums of money, so that shopping sprees ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:7-11

Denomination: Baptist

God's Own Among God's Strays

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 13, 2008

For the anniversary of the Lai Baptist Church of Gaithersburg, a Burmese congregation. You came as strangers, but God has made you His own. Now we American Christians, who have strayed from what we once were, need your passion among us.

Sometimes people of differing cultures fail to understand one another. Sometimes people with differing backgrounds cannot grasp what others are all about. So they end up hurting one another, when, really, they need one another. If you do not understand your neighbor, and if your neighbor is ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:9-25

Denomination: Baptist

This Thorny Thicket Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 20, 2008

For Martin Luther King Day. The words we offer fall into the thorny thicket of anxiety, despair, and distraction. Like King with his dream, we the church can give hands and feet to help those so captured.

Our back yard is a thorny thicket. Other people have manicured lawns, with friendly plants laid out in neat rows. But our back yard is a tangled thorny thicket. Along one fence there are blackberries, growing in long canes that have to be tied up lest they wander into the next county. They ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:13-20

Denomination: Baptist

Stand And Be Counted

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 23, 2008

At a church-sponsored rally for census involvement. Census taking may seem invasive, but the information leads toward justice; God is able to use the census for His purposes; and it reminds us of the vast task of redemption to which we are called.

When Rev. Gray asked me to preach, the answer was easy. I am just about always ready to preach! You know how it is with preachers, especially Baptists: we can come up with a Scripture to cover all occasions, we have an opinion about everything, and we believe that everybody is waiting to hear our ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 7:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

To Desire A Better Country

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 23, 2008

Funeral service for Anne Tlholakae, diplomat of the Embassy of South Africa. All of us desire a better country; that journey begins with faith. As Biblical wanderers sought that better country but died in a foreign land, so Anne sought and found Christ

The desire for a better country goes deep in the human heart. The desire for something more, something finer, than what our ancestors left us is an aspiration that transcends all boundaries. Just as here in the United States we celebrate those markers in our history that made us a greater nation, ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Keeping The Doorkeeper

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 26, 2008

Funeral for Guy Robinson, one-time chair of Takoma Park Baptist Church’s Building and Grounds Committee. God keeps the doorkeeper secure, and withholds no good thing from those who stay away from dishonesty.

I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Eight plus one equals nine, subtract nine, leaves zero. That is the first thing Guy Robinson taught me, more than 23 years ago. It was the first thing, but by no means the last. Guy was at the time I ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 84:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

When No One Cares Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 27, 2008

What are the implications if no one cares about the dillusioned, the desperate, or those who have made poor decisions? What if no one cares for the soul, the essence, of others?

He had been running so long and so hard. Running from everything. What an irony that he of all people had had to flee for his very life! He had been on the upswing, he had been successful in everything. He had been the fair-haired lad in the eyes of those who counted, and had even married into ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 142:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

Why Should The Work Stop? Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 17, 2008

For Lent and for Black History Month: Those who are threatened by progress will always ask us not to go too far. But this church must not stop reaching all people, serving all needs, touching all children and youth.

In the fall of 1955 I sat in the auditorium of the Speed Scientific School at the University of Louisville, one of about 300 newly admitted engineering students. The dean welcomed us, and yet also warned us. He instructed us, “Look at the person on your right. Now look at the person on your ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 6:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

Caring With A Difference

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 30, 2007

A Labor Day message on providing caring services, but not simply as self-fulfillment, but as a means to witness.

The true test of whether what you are doing is real is not how you feel about it when you start. The true test is whether you can keep going and complete your task. Anybody can get excited about a new job. But not everybody can stay by the stuff and finish. Some people get bored, or ...read more

Scripture: John 4:31-38

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Real With Your Friends Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 2, 2007

Jesus understands us as we are, but loves us into what we may become. With Peter, he loved the Type A person; with James, the passive-aggressive; with John, the immature -- all into effectiveness. Montgomery Hills Baptist Church

History is full of stories of betrayal. Those who look like friends sometimes turn on you. Some of us have friends who would sell us for even less than Judas’ thirty pieces of silver if they could! Personally, I wish I could get at least ten cents on the dollar for everything I have loaned to ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:37-42

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Real With Your Enemies Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 10, 2007

Opposition actually helps us grow. Hostility is destructive not only of others, but also of one’s self; and it spreads without reason. Jesus named its absurdity and then left it in the hands of God. Montgomery Hills Baptist Church

Stress strengthens. That is a physical fact. It is also a spiritual truth. Stress strengthens. When we face opposition, we grow. When we deal with differences, we become stronger. Strange as it may sound, give thanks when you are opposed! For stress strengthens; enmity empowers; and ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:43-50

Denomination: Baptist

Thelema: Thelma's And God's

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 12, 2007

Funeral message for Thelma Green Mann, known for her direct manner and strong will. The name Thelma is derived from the Greek, "Thelema", meaning will. A turning point is reached when one no longer focus on her own will, but on God’s will. Takoma Park

Grandchildren will teach you much about life. One of mine, Jackie, age 5, taught me about human nature recently. My wife and I had gone to take care of the girls while their parents were away, and we came, as always, armed with things to do – arts and crafts, games, books, the whole gamut of ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

From The Very Least

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 16, 2007

Done as first-person, in costume and character, summary of Paul’s teaching; built on acronym of the name PAUL -- prayer, avoidance (of immorality), understanding, love. Montgomery Hills Baptist Church

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. As an apostle, charged to preach the Gospel, I am here today to say to you ... What?! You challenge me? You challenge my right to speak? Am I not an apostle?! Am I not, though born at the wrong time, nonetheless one whom ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:7-13

Denomination: Baptist

First Thank God Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 14, 2007

Initial sermon of interim pastorate. As Paul lived into relationship with God prior to theologizing, I thank God for the faithfulness in the congregation’s history; for mutual enrichment in its diversity; and for coming victory when no one need be ashame

God is not a problem to be solved. God is a mystery with whom we are to live. God is not an equation to be worked out in mathematical precision; God is personal, with whom we connect. God is a who, a where, and a when -- acting, living, and doing; and if God is sometimes a what and a why, an ...read more

Scripture: Romans 1:8-17

Denomination: Baptist