Sermons on Oswald Smith:

Testimony The Prosecutor Cannot Shake

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 26, 2009

We need defining moments in which we must decide for ourselves who our god is. It may require a true friend to push us. But when such a life-decision is made, it will be rock-solid.

How well do you stand up under tough, aggressive questioning? If somebody gets in your face and will not let you go until they get the answers they want, how do you feel? What do you do? I can tell you what I do. I look for the back door. I look for a way out. I want to avoid the questions. I ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 24:1-28

Denomination: Baptist

There'll Always Be An Egypt

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 27, 2009

We are either dreamers or detractors, but God will use both. Whatever is worth doing begins as a dream; and the dreamers redeem the detractors. There will always be ministry to do.

The world is made up of two kinds of people. The dreamers and the detractors. Dreamers and detractors. Dreamers look at the world as it is, and see new possibilities. Detractors look at the world and see nothing but disaster. Dreamers look at the world as it is and know it can be better. ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 37:1-36

Denomination: Baptist

Sons, Sin, Swine, And Starving Souls

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 28, 2009

World Hunger Sunday: The younger son found that physical hunger starved his soul; the elder son found that spiritual hunger hardened his heart; the Father hungers for all of his children’s needs.

When I read the Gospels, I know that Jesus must have been a Baptist, and the twelve disciples must have been the Deacons of the First Baptist Church of Galilee. Must have been! Do you know why? Because there is all this talk about eating! Everywhere you turn in the Gospels, there are stories ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Denomination: Baptist

I'm Coming Out!

Contributed by Kevin Smith on Nov 28, 2009

This sermon talks about how just like Esther and her people came out from under Bondage, so too can we come out of our bondage, mess, and situations today!!

-Remarks to God & Bishop (brief) -Prayer/Reading of scripture/Seating of ppl I. Introduction -This particular text excites me on many levels, and is pregnant with possibility. We see in the text that King Xerxes, Hamam, and Esther are all dining together at a banquet requested by Esther the Queen. ...read more

Scripture: Esther 7:1-7

Denomination: Pentecostal

Everything Will Be Thrown Down!

Contributed by David Smith on Dec 3, 2009

"Jesus said ’Do you see these great buildings?’ Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’" (Mark 3:2)

It is such an offensive thing to say! Oh, I know that nothing in permanent in this life and that the greatest of our human institutions and heroic achievements will eventually pass and go the way of all flesh, but I really didn’t want to be confronted with that just now!. And though they take our ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Christ Is King! Series

Contributed by David Smith on Dec 3, 2009

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ’Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ’Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ Pilate replied, ’I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief

Welcome to the last Sunday of the Christian year - a day traditionally referred to as the feast of ’Christ the King’. I appreciate that there are probably not many here that manage their schedule according to the ecclesiastical calendar, yet I’m sure w are all familiar with the way in which ...read more

Scripture: John 18:33-38

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

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

God Operates Value Village, Not The Landfill

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 6, 2009

For Senior Adult Sunday: There are legitimate concerns about aging; but there are also those who would prey on the elderly. God is our ultimate refuge and the protector of those who are to be valued, not thrown away.

If it’s old, it has to go. That used to be the message. In the years after World War II, once we got our economy back on a peacetime basis, we all wanted only new things. Bright, shiny, new. And so, if it’s old, it has to go. Do you remember? Do you remember, if you go back that far, how, during ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 71:4-12

Denomination: Baptist

Hope Does Not Disappoint

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 8, 2009

Suffering, endurance, character, hope: the formula is not automatic. All depends on whether we learn to live in the resurrected Christ.

One of my friends begins nearly every conversation with the phrase, "You just can’t win.” "You just can’t win." One day recently he was wearing a long, long face. He had just gotten his car repaired, but some inebriated partygoer had slammed into it. He had just worked off his debts, but suddenly ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

How Much Does God Care About Us?

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 9, 2009

The word "while" alerts us to the sources of our frustration: weakness, pride, and broken relationships. But God in the crucified Christ has an answer to each of these issues.

Why are so many people so unhappy? Why is it that there are so many people with so much ability and with so many resources, but they still feel profoundly unhappy and frustrated? A great many people do, you know. Some of them show it in the obvious ways; some of them are angry and even ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Ignorance Is Bliss -- Not!

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 14, 2009

First Baptist Church of Gaithersburg, MD: We avoid too much information because we know we will have to respond. Some escape into private piety; some escape from knowing themselves. But true bliss comes from knowing how to invest in Kingdom concerns.

You can buy it anywhere in Pennsylvania Dutch country – a banner, an apron, a towel, anything really – and it proclaims, in pidgin German, “Ve get too soon oldt und too late schmart”. Your preacher this morning is a walking example of that ancient truth. Too soon oldt und too late schmart. The ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 92:1-15

Denomination: Baptist