Sermons on Joseph:

Worship: Sense And The Senses

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 3, 2008

Too often it is true that those who pray do not work and those who work do not pray. Real worship will engage our entire beings and will empower us for action.

I’m sure you know the statement which Jesus made, "God is a spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." We want to think today about both spirit and truth. Worshipping in both modes. Over the door of the monastery hung a sign. It read, "To pray is to work; to work ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8

Denomination: Baptist

Mothers And The Sword

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 3, 2008

Mothering in our time is mirrored in the one prostitute, who decided just to take what she could, though it was destructive. But the true mother was willing to sacrifice that her child might live.

Preface Who is the real mother? How do you measure authentic mothering? Is it by the mere accident of birth, or is it by something deeper? Who is the real mother, who is the authentic mother? Is it simply the woman you gave you birth and who wiped your messy nose during your growing up years, or ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 3:16-28

Denomination: Baptist

A Motley Crew, In Chains

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 3, 2008

Tychicus, Onesimus, and Aristarchus chose to chain themselves to ministries of encouragement, inclusion, and support.

If you follow the rock music scene, I guess I should hurry to assure you that the sermon today is not about a heavy metal group, nor is it about some kind of kinky fetish. The theme, "A Motley Crew, In Chains" is evoked by the long list of names which Paul singles out as he finishes the Colossian ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 4:7-18

Denomination: Baptist

My Gospel

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 4, 2008

Dramatic monologue as if given by Paul. Against trusting in ritual, correct ideas, or emotion, trust the grace of Christ given in personal relationship with Him.

Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Oh.. almost didn’t see you there. See what large letters I make when I am writing ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 1:6-13

Denomination: Baptist

My Home In God's Heart

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 6, 2008

Dramatic monologue as if Hosea were speaking; his mixed feelings of anger and compassion toward Gomer become the clue for understanding God’s feelings about Israel.

It had been a hard day in the fields. The sun had beat down without mercy on my back. Twice or three times, my team of oxen had stumbled and I had had to stop and help them up out of the miry clay, lest they break their legs and be useless. I’ve always found that it’s not hard to stop and care for ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Healed Hearts His Home Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 7, 2008

Two obstacles must be removed before we may receive the peace God wants to give us, so long delayed and frustrated: our false pride and our negative spirit of self-accusation. Then His victory will be ours.

The neighborhood, if you could call it that, was one of the most rundown and poverty-stricken in the city. For fifty years the housing had decayed, and, as the original residents left, absentee landlords jammed far too many people into the old dwellings. Diseases became epidemic, and fires not ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 57:14-21

Denomination: Baptist

My Three Sons

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 7, 2008

Dramatic monologue as if David were speaking: he starved emotionally his son Adonijah, he indulged his son Solomon, and he distanced himself from his son Absalom.

"Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and do not forget all his benefits ... as a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him." As a father has compassion for his children … When I first ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 18:1-33

Denomination: Baptist

Whatever You Get, Pass It On

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 8, 2008

Deacon ordination: Christ has won the victory, so yours is the opportunity to roll up the score with no fear of losing. Pass on what you have received in comfort, conversion, gifts.

Some things, once they get started, cannot be stopped. There are just some things, once they get rolling, which cannot be interrupted. It’s just impossible. You’re a student and have an exam tomorrow. When the morning dawns and the sun begins to rise, no amount of wishing that the day light would ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

Denomination: Baptist

How To Stand For Christ

Contributed by Joseph Tew on Dec 29, 2007

A look into Esther’s decision to stand even though her situation was not so good.

Esther 4: 13-17 13. Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. 14. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; ...read more

Scripture: Esther 4:13-17

Denomination: Pentecostal

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