Sermons on Oswald Smith:

No Deposit, No Return

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 2, 2011

To fail to do what is right is not only sin, but is unproductive. What of our knowledge resources and our financial resources? Are they making a difference? If not, no gain.

Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, August 15, 1982; Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, Sept. 30, 1984) Preachers find sermons in all sorts of strange places, and I found this one in a bottle! Now you can just stop thinking what you are thinking and listen to what I mean! ...read more

Scripture: James 4:17

Denomination: Baptist

On Not Giving Up On The Family

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 3, 2011

Baptists have a distinctive history, with some soaring moments and yet with some dismal ones as well. There is much to correct, but the good news is that we remain committed to missions and evangelism.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, Feb. 4, 1996 They came out of nowhere. From small villages and obscure city streets, from backwoods farms and hard labor coal mines; from workingmen’s cottages, but not from the plantations, and from the ranks of domestics and cooks, but not ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:7-10

Denomination: Baptist

A Mother's Loan

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 4, 2011

Hannah shows us that women today can turn their insecurities and their relationships over to God and can find fulfillment.

(First Baptist Church, Gaithersburg, MD, May 11, 1980; Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, May 9, 1982; Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, May 12, 1985) One of God's great mercies is that He consistently takes our faltering insecurities and transforms them into something ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

All Your Anxieties?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Mar 5, 2011

God is able to deal with all of our anxieties, not just a portion. He can relieve us of our fears for those things which will not really happen; for our concern for daily survival; and most of all, for our fear of death.

(Originally preached at Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD, Jan. 30, 1983; thereafter, with slight variations, at Clinton Baptist Church, Clinton, MD, July 29, 1984; Cresthill Baptist Church, Bowie, MD, Aug. 5, 1984; Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, Aug. 12, 1984; First Baptist ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:7

Denomination: Baptist

Abused And Used But Not Used Up

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 3, 2010

We must determine that the children with whom we are surrounded are God’s gift and God’s assignment for us, no matter how difficult or inconvenient they are.

I received a letter the other day from someone very close to me. His letter was written hurriedly, because I had written him asking some questions. He felt he needed to answer those right away. He had a conviction he wanted me to hear immediately. I had asked him if he was going to leave his ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:17-22

Denomination: Baptist

A Deadly Virus

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 3, 2010

Sin is not excused by good works, and unrepentant self-indulgence is destructive. Sexual integrity is not just a private matter; how we handle it will determine what happens with our church.

This has the potential for being the shortest sermon I’ve ever done. At first glance, it seems all I need to do with this text is to praise the church for doing so well, declare myself to be against sin, and wrap it up. The shortest sermon I’ve ever done, and maybe the shortest on record! Anybody ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:18-29

Denomination: Baptist

Every Barrier Down: Mary Magdalene

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 6, 2010

Commitment to the living Christ will let Him break down circumstantial, cultural, and spiritual barriers to our success. Illustrated with the story of Marian Anderson.

I think it was John Lennon, one of the Beatles, who once observed, "Life is what happens while you are making other plans." That really is the issue, isn't it? Getting a fix on our lives. Getting hold of life. Being able to make it go the way you want it to go. And the trouble is that life just ...read more

Scripture: John 20:1-18

Denomination: Baptist

Every Mother's Child Matters

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 7, 2010

Sarah's me-ism blinded her to Ishmael's value; Abraham's comfort blinded him to how best to support Hagar and Ishmael; Hagar, like many of our mothers, had to trust God in the desert. We today must support the Hagars of this world.

The barren landscape seemed to dance before her eyes, as she looked toward a horizon littered with debris, strewn with the rubbish of thousands of careless people who had gone this way. Filthy and dirty as it was, though, it seemed to dance before her eyes, for the sun was high above and hot; the ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 21:8-20

Denomination: Baptist

Eyewitnesses Of Majesty

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 8, 2010

We tend to see only what we expect to see, and thus at Christmas we do not see the glory and majesty of the Christ child in the homeless, the downtrodden, the ashamed.

They say that "seeing is believing". Well, that depends. That depends on whether you can trust your eyesight. And it depends on whether you have decided to see what is really there or just what you think is there. "Seeing is believing." It depends on whether you can trust your eyesight. My ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:3-19

Denomination: Baptist

Doing More With Less

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 9, 2010

In times of scarcity or stress, two personalities respond: fear, the cup half empty; and faith, the cup half full.

A few moments ago we sang, "Drop Thy still dews of quietness, Till all our strivings cease; Take from our souls the strain and stress, And let our ordered lives confess The beauty of Thy peace." Those are beautiful words; they are lofty sentiments. But how? How can such things happen? In an ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 17:1-24

Denomination: Baptist

Doubt, Dignity, And Discovery

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 10, 2010

Often we are not credible because we do not accept others’ doubt as real, nor do we permit them to retain their dignity. We are called simply to invite them on a voyage of discovery where they will find that their hurts are healed.

What do you do when you try to help, and those you are helping are not sure they want that help? What do you say when someone has a need, you propose an answer to that need, but they don’t believe that what you want to give will really do any good? How do you help people who are not sure they ...read more

Scripture: Luke 7:18-23

Denomination: Baptist

Coach God

Contributed by Bill Smith on Jan 10, 2010

Imagine God as a coach

January 10, 2010 Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church Rescue United Methodist Church Luke 3:15-22 A funny thing happened last Thursday night, and no I don’t mean Alabama won the national championship. That wasn’t a funny thing……that was a great thing! The sermon that I had been ...read more

Scripture: Luke 3:15-22

Denomination: United Methodist

Driving Under The Influence

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 11, 2010

Energy and passion in worship are fine, but they must push us toward authentic living and toward dedicated mission, else they will be destructive.

I could not help noticing this car that morning. It was a tiny little car, one of those that looks like a sardine can on wheels. The rust spots and the dents suggested that it had survived more than its share of bumps and bruises. But that was not all that made me notice this little puddle ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-20

Denomination: Baptist

The Dysfunctional Family Of Jesus? Series

Contributed by David Smith on Jan 12, 2010

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did

For he was our childhood pattern Day by day like us He grew; He was little, weak, and helpless; Tears and smiles like us he knew; ... Christian children all must be Mild, obedient, good as He. (Cecil Frances Alexander, 1848) It’s the first Sunday after Christmas - the ’Feast of the Holy Family’. ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:41-49

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

The Yuletide Cheer Of John The Baptist Series

Contributed by David Smith on Jan 12, 2010

[John] said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ’We have Abraham as our father.’ F

Last week we welcomed back to the Christmas stage that most unlikely of Yuletide figures - the gaunt and rather unjolly figure of John the Baptist. He emerges from the background shadows of the Nativity scene each year at this time, and last week I focused on just what an unexpected and unwanted ...read more

Scripture: Luke 3:7-18

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican