Sermons on Strategy:

Paternal Pleas To Posterity

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 21, 2009

Calvary Baptist Church, Washington, DC: We will never achieve maturity until we come to terms with our paternity and accept our posterity. Understand that those who shaped us were also maturing; the transforming power of Christ will open wide our hearts.

All of us aspire to maturity. All of us hope to become mature and complete, grown up in every way, accomplished, respected, and honored. It’s a worthy goal. It’s a proper ambition. But we will never achieve maturity until we come to terms with both our paternity and our posterity. Our ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Denomination: Baptist

Handling God's Success When We Wanted It For Ourselves Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 29, 2009

Ministry looks impossible, and we want to run the other way. But when we do finally tackle it, and God redeems, then we want the credit. In His grace He assures us that we are not forgotten even though we are inappropriate.

All during this month we’ve worked together on the theme of compassion. Because we are a church which urgently needs to do ministry in this community; because we are a people with much to give and much to share, and with a place to share it, by the time this week is over we will have invested four ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

The Pharisees: Stuck In Correctness Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 30, 2009

It is easier to be smug than satisfied, to be correct than compassionate, to be religious than real. What we need to do is to cry, "Lord forgive my sin."

The surest formula for unhappiness is have to be right, all of the time. If you are expected to be one hundred percent correct, never making a mistake, no blunders allowed, then you are asking for a serious heart attack, for high blood pressure, and for plain old unhappiness. It’s an awesome burden ...read more

Scripture: John 10:31-39

Denomination: Baptist

Judas Iscariot: Stuck In Frustration Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 8, 2009

Frustration means that we forget about others in our need to do what we want, and it means we are tempted to abandon God’s way. The model is Jesus, whose obedience gave Him the ultimate accomplishment.

God must have a sense of humor, don’t you think? God must do some things just because they are fun to do! Several years ago, I thought I saw God’s funny bone at work overtime. Margaret and J were members of Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church in Silver Spring, and I was serving as the chairman ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Remembering, Reconnecting, And Rejoicing: What God Gives To The Grieving Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 25, 2009

Grieving healthily means remembering both positive and negative; it means connecting with others who can love us and whom we can love. In His own time God will give joy.

One of the laws of life is: To get something, you must give up something. To gain, you must also lose. We call that the tradeoff principle. We operate on the tradeoff principle every day. When you go to the grocery store and fill your basket, they have the audacity to expect you to pay for what ...read more

Scripture: John 19:25-27

Denomination: Baptist

Remedy Part 6: The Remedy For Bitterness Series

Contributed by Stephen Collins on May 18, 2009

Let’s be honest: sometimes people hurt us. We get put down, run down, and trampled on. And it becomes easy to want to get revenge. And it’s even easier to become bitter. But bitterness is a disease. And if we’re not careful, this disease of bitternes

REMEDY The Remedy for Bitterness “Bitterness imprisons life; love releases it” Harry Emerson Fosdick (American clergyman 1878-1969)  Key Scripture: Romans 12:14-21 Icebreaker: During the Korean war a certain military unit had hired a local boy to cook and clean for them. Being a bunch of ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:14-21

Denomination: Church Of God

When Bad Things Happen To Good People

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 3, 2009

Rewritten for Calverton Baptist Church, Silver Spring, MD: When terrible things happen, pray honestly, in complaint; remember what God has done in the past; and know that He may be forcing us to see how much we need Him.

There is very little justice in the world. Many people feel that they are not being treated fairly. Just about all of us think we deserve a better deal than we are getting. We think that there is very little justice in the world. But that’s old news. We already know that. So what do you do ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 22:1-31

Denomination: Baptist

Pharaoh's Daughter: Enduring Rejection For The Sake Of God's Call Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 25, 2009

The princess of Egypt knew that God’s law superseded the state’s law; and chose to act for compassion and justice.

As I began this series of three messages on the theme, Designing Women, last week, I said that we were going to be looking for qualities of leadership out of the stories of those women mentioned in the roll call of faith known as the 11th chapter of Hebrews. You’ll remember that I pointed out ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 1:15-20

Denomination: Baptist

The Two Swords Series

Contributed by Stephen Sheane on Jan 5, 2010

People of courage go first, have faith and inspire others

THE TWO SWORDS A young writer with a very uncertain income went into a quiet park to contemplate a serious problem. For four years he had been engaged but felt he did not have enough money to get married. He wanted to live and write in Paris, Rome, Vienna, London -- everywhere. However, without ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 14:1-7

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Under Siege Series

Contributed by Byron Harvey on Jan 18, 2010

In true prayer, we sign up for the struggle against sin.

“Under Siege” Matthew 6:13 April 26, 2009 Where we’ve been: • Begin by coming to grips with “Our Father” • Pray then that, above all else, the purposes and plans of God come to accomplishment o That His moral will be increasingly ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:13

Denomination: Evangelical Free

An Appeal To The Fringe

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 22, 2010

Serving others when they need help is distracting, but it is our calling; it is draining, but not depleting ... rather it is empowering.

The trouble with my "honey-do" list is, it is much too complicated for my limited brainpower! How am I supposed to remember all the things I am expected to do? How am I supposed to keep it all straight? 3 I am about to walk out the front door, and I hear: “Oh, you’re going out to make a hospital ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:43-48

Denomination: Baptist

University To Change The World

Contributed by Jerry Falwell on Sep 21, 2009

The vision and intentional evangelism of Liberty University.

A UNIVERSITY TO CHANGE THE WORLD By Jerry Falwell “And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Mediocre Church Series

Contributed by David Welch on Oct 19, 2009

Sermon 10 in series dealing with Laodocia and the mediocrity.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ “The Mediocre Church” I. Prologue 1:1-20 The Prologue in chapter one records what John the aging Apostle saw (and heard) including a manifestation of Jesus far different that what John had known previously. The theme of the book describes the time of Jesus’ coming ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:14-22

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

God's Worldwide Mission Series

Contributed by Freddy Fritz on Dec 13, 2008

Isaiah teaches us that the Messiah’s worldwide mission is to preach good news, to replace shame with honor, to make an everlasting covenant, and to bring great joy.

Scripture Today is the Third Sunday of Advent. Our Scripture reading in this Advent season brings us to Isaiah 61:1-11. In this text we read about God’s worldwide mission. This text teaches us what God’s Anointed One will do when God comes down. And it also teaches us what we will do when God ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 61:1-11

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Defeating The Darkness Series

Contributed by Byron Harvey on Jan 8, 2009

This continues in my expository series through the book of Acts.

The metaphors of darkness and light are widely used in the world of literature. Dylan Thomas wrote, “Do not go gentle into that good night; rage, rage against the dying of the light.” One of the most often repeated image patterns in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet involves the interplay of light ...read more

Scripture: Acts 19:8-20

Denomination: Evangelical Free