Sermons on Josephs Process:

Consider The Source Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 16, 2003

Job, struggling to find his source of meaning, is frustrated with Bildad, who finds meaning in the past; and with his own feelings, looking for meaning in the present. Look to Christ, who provides meaning from the future.

Sooner or later, we all come to a point where we wake up and ask ourselves what life means. This life we are living: does it matter? All this energy we are putting in on studying or working or church or family or whatever: is it really necessary? I submit to you that most of us at one time or ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Cutting Through The Legalese Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 17, 2003

We look for loopholes in what God has called us to do, but the Bible calls us to a proactive lifestyle, it makes us face who we really are, and it calls us to accountability.

Some of us love to take the simple and make it complex. Some of us thrive on taking perfectly obvious matters and making them as obscure as possible. My neighbor’s car has on it a bumper sticker that says, “Eschew obfuscation”. After about a half-hour with the dictionary, I found out that means, ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 4:12-13

Denomination: Baptist

Carry Me Back To Old

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 18, 2003

Nostalgia is a fatal disease, because the burdens of the past are idolatrous and wearisome, and will bring us down with them. But remember who God is and what His purpose is.

This past February I received a diagnosis, and, I’m sorry to say, it’s serious. I have a disease, commonly fatal. If it is not treated, it will destroy me, and I will gradually lose my abilities. I’m telling you about it, because, if we do not take some protective efforts, it will become ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 46:1-4, Isaiah 46:9-10

Denomination: Baptist

More Than Hatch, Match, And Dispatch Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 20, 2003

People expect only the ceremonial from the church. But God wants to give us a rich, varied, and outward-reaching life.

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

It Is Finished!

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 20, 2003

For Labor Day Sunday: God is not finished with His work on us until we finish our work for Him. An experiential service.

The car in front of mine was carrying a puzzling bumper sticker. In large, readable print, it said, [hold up sign] “PBPWMGIFWMY”. Whatever could that mean? And what language was that? Polish, maybe? Swahili? Hindi? Serbo-Croatian? I inched a little closer, because there was something ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:58

Denomination: Baptist

Time Out, Time In Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 24, 2003

After vacation -- time out -- it would be ridiculous if there were no "time in", engagement. God calls us to full engagement with Himself, which in turn calls us to live in newness and not in old habits. There is no time for anything that is not a serio

There are certain intense situations in which the best answer, maybe the only answer, is to take a “time out”. Time out, to get perspective; time out, to get emotions under control; time out to back off and take a better look. There are certain serious situations in which your instincts tell you ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

Pain At The Threshold Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 24, 2003

Interactive sermon on the anxieties involved in sharing our faith and on the power of being prepared, both intellectually and emotionally.

Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Closed doors intimidate me. If your door is closed, I want to leave it alone. I don’t like to knock and ask for admission. I want somebody to ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:13-17

Denomination: Baptist

But Nails Hurt! Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 24, 2003

Nails were distributed to the congregation, so that they could test: if you wish to endure, you have to endure some pounding. Holes may be punched in you, too. But if you persist, ultimately you will be built up.

If you really want to grow, it’s going to cost you. If you truly expect to be built up, there will be some pain involved. No growth ever takes place without pain. That’s a law of life. That’s not negotiable. No pain, no gain. No hurt, no growth. No rough edges, no building up. If you truly ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

Road Maps For A Far Country

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 24, 2003

For Father’s Day: Fathers who say "yes" to everything provide a road map to disaster; who keep their children at arm’s length point to alienation; but who may also go home themselves to lead their children home. (Maps were displayed)

I have always liked maps. Any kind of map fascinates me. You can learn so much from a map. If it is a road map, you can find out how to get from here to there and back again. When I was in elementary school and the classroom got boring, like most kids, I would doodle. But while some kids ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32, Galatians 4:6-11

Denomination: Baptist

Goliath: He's Back!

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 24, 2003

A first person monologue, done as King David, who wishes he could feel the rush of victory when he first slew Goliath; but he has learned that evil recurs, does not recognize God, is related to power. He needs a greater than David to come and deal with i

Ah, if only I could go back to those wonderful days! If only I could be a young man again and feel the rush of victory! But I cannot. I am old and tired, and I feel defeated. I have lost so much. My body is weary and my soul is drained. If only I could go back and feel victory ...read more

Scripture: 1 Chronicles 20:1-8, Psalm 51:2-12

Denomination: Baptist

On His Majesty's Secret Service

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 27, 2003

Funeral sermon for Ruth Gossage, age 97, one of the first female U.S. Secret Service agents.

But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. Life is mystery. It is not just that life contains mystery, nor that there are so many unsolved questions. It is that life itself is mystery, secret and hidden, as Paul says. It has often been ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:1-16

Denomination: Baptist

Never Abandoned Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 19, 2002

Sermon for Pentecost Sunday, intended as the first of three on the Trinity, all based on John 14. The Holy Spirit does not abandon His church, but if we are not obedient before claiming His support, we may forfeit His power. And if we do not acknowledge

If you believe you’ve been abandoned, you have two choices: either you can indulge in something that may soothe you temporarily, or you can watch for the power that will lead you out to success. If someone that matters to you has walked off and abandoned you, you can either pretend ...read more

Scripture: John 14:15-17, John 14:25-27

Denomination: Baptist

A Prevailing Church: Loosing Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 20, 2002

A prevailing church is one which lives like those persons others thought Jesus might be -- like John the Baptist, loosing himself from tradition; like Elijah, living out of grace; like Jeremiah, let loose in the world.

I walked into the Baptist Student Center at the University of Kentucky, about to take over as chaplain. My predecessor was still on the scene, filling up garbage cans with files. In those pre-Watergate days, nobody had thought of shredders, I guess. He was throwing away every record, ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Never Powerless Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 26, 2002

We are powerless to change things only because we give power away and do not know how to reclaim it. We can do so first by affirming that change comes only through Jesus Christ, and then by believing that He partners with us when we pray. To do any less

We are never powerless. We think we are. We think we cannot change the things that trouble us. But in fact we are never powerless. We just give away our power. We give away our power and do not know how to claim it again. Those who have power over us have it only because we let them ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-12, John 14:28-31

Denomination: Baptist

Never Unloved Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 2, 2002

Some receive love, but reject it; others never know that they are loved. In either case, the Cross is evidence that we have never been unloved.

We need to think not only about the way we relate to other people, but also about how we receive them. It is not enough simply to be friendly and cordial. We also need to look at how we receive people when they extend themselves to us. I went to a meeting this week, where all the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32, John 14:18-24

Denomination: Baptist