Sermons on Joseph:

Three Coins In The (Spirit) Fountain Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Oct 28, 2007

Everyone wants fulfillment. Some try being good, but that only brings smugness. Some try religion, as Luther did, but that brings only busy-ness. Life and peace are found in the Spirit of God as our companion.

When I look deep down and ask myself what I really want out of life, one answer keeps coming back over and over: I want meaning. I want significance. I want fulfillment. When I look deep down and ask myself what I really want for my life, I know that the accumulation of things is not it. These ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:1-11

Denomination: Baptist

On Eagles Wings

Contributed by Joseph Marshall on Nov 4, 2007

We need to understand how the Lord works in our lives. The Bible says in Exodus 19:3-4, “And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye h

On Eagle’s Wings by Dr. Joseph M. Marshall Exodus 19:3-4; Deuteronomy 32:11-12 GBC 21 October 07 AM INTRODUCTION: We need to understand how the Lord works in our lives. The Bible says in Exodus 19:3-4, “And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 19:3-4, Exodus 19:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

Promises To Keep Before I Sleep

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 8, 2007

We find it difficult to keep promises because we are focused on dealing with today’s issues. We back off our commitments to God because they are hard, but we can receive help from accountability partners, and can know joy and fulfillment.

To be a saint is not to be perfect; to be a saint is to be someone who makes promises and keeps them. Sainthood is not some magic status, conferred by the church for merit or miracles; sainthood is ordinary people living in extraordinary faithfulness, making promises and keeping them. Did you ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 1:48

Denomination: Baptist

Gifted For Ministry

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 10, 2007

We are a gifted church, with diversely gifted members, and we need to turn that into creative expressions of love for our community.

I don’t get to watch the Miss America pageant any more. Used to be, every September I would hunker down in front of a TV set and prepare to ogle. Gorgeous gals, we called them, in those Neanderthal days, before our language had to become politically correct. Beauty contest, we called it, before ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

A Harvest Of Peace

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 11, 2007

As gardeners grow beauty, so also we must grow peace: speak truth without prejudice; pass judgments but do something to help the troubled grow; pay attention to our own hearts; and settle for nothing less than Christ as the full truth.

As if we did not have enough yard work to do at home, my wife and I have taken on a gardening project at the church to which we belong, Montgomery Hills Baptist Church. The landscaping had deteriorated, and so a gardening team was formed to take care of it. My wife volunteered; I got volunteered. ...read more

Scripture: Zechariah 8:9-17

Denomination: Baptist

Enough

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 12, 2007

Wealth leads us to illusions wherein we lose sight of God; poverty leads us to spiritual disease. Pray for enough to satisfy real needs and to be able to give for others.

You don’t have to raise your hands on this one. But I do wonder how many of you spent some time this week fantasizing about that Powerball lottery. What would you have done with $250,000,000? What dreams would you have indulged? What unthinkable thoughts did you think? Well, now, I, being a ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 30:8-9

Denomination: Baptist

Living With A Ministry Outlook

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 17, 2007

Pulpit drama monologue as if Naaman the Syrian were reporting his healing. God’s gifts are free, contrary to what Gehazi thought.

It’s incredible. Truly remarkable. That I should look this good, after all I have been through. Maybe you wouldn’t understand. You did not see what I looked like only yesterday. Leprosy! I had leprosy! Great scabs on my skin. Whitish blotches here and there. Horrible sores, everywhere. ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 5:1-27

Denomination: Baptist

Living At Four Corners

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 25, 2007

For Christ the King Sunday and in support of international missions: using a metaphor of a complex intersection, we are to give, teach, heal and share as the four corners of our Christian life.

May I introduce you to my neighborhood? For two months now I have been burning up the Beltway and 270 coming up to your place two or three times a week. It would seem only fair that you should come down to where I live, if only in your mind’s eye. Let me introduce you to Four Corners. Four ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 11:10-13

Denomination: Baptist

Getting Real With Your Self Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 9, 2003

Lenten series based on Mark 14 and Jesus’ encounters: Jesus was so comfortable with Himself that He could encounter threatening people without being threatened; could correct hostile people without being destructive; and could receive the heart of a tortu

We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes – This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties. Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:3-9

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