Sermons on There For Joseph:

Without A Trace

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Feb 18, 2004

Funeral sermon for Paul Quick, member of the cleaning crew. A gentle spirit without a trace of negatives help others, labors in the house of God, and has received gentle treatment from a Christ who understands our weaknesses.

Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom ... the wisdom from above is ... gentle ... without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. He is able to deal gently with the ... wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness. In this noisy world, it is easy to miss ...read more

Scripture: James 3:13-18, Hebrews 5:2

Denomination: Baptist

Can God Trust You?

Contributed by Joseph Comage on Nov 8, 2002

Can God trust you when you are under attack and all hell is breaking loose?

CAN GOD TRUST YOU 2 Corinthians 1:8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren of our trouble which came to us in Asia; that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even life. CAN GOD TRUST YOU? To be able to trust the ones we love is important to almost all ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:8

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Jesus Chilling Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 10, 2002

Jesus understood when, how, and why to "chill": when His emotional energies had been drained; how to back off the need to be needed; and for the purpose of providing a still point of healing for others.

If there is any one thing that distinguishes my generation and later generations, like the Gen-xers, it is that we have totally different attitudes about work and play. We are light years apart about what we expect from work or what we want from play. People born before and during the ...read more

Scripture: Mark 6:45-56

Denomination: Baptist

Jesus In Love Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 18, 2002

Jesus, in dealing with sexual sin, did NOT make an object out of the woman involved, nor did He feel it necessary to do anything but give her space to work out her own spiritual issues. He DID determine that His aim was redemption, not shame, and He love

All these years of preaching and teaching, and no one has ever asked me why Jesus didn’t have a wife or a girl friend. No one has even so much as wondered out loud whether Jesus the man felt what most men feel. Are you afraid of that question? Or do you just suppose that, after all, ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Jesus Partying Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 24, 2002

We have taken our cues about how to have fun from the wrong places. When Jesus parties, he includes rather than excludes the misfits; he goes not to participate nor to criticize, but to listen and redeem; and when you party with Jesus, you have joy and z

Suppose you gave a party and Jesus showed up! What would that do to your party? He wasn’t on the invitation list, He didn’t RSVP, but here He comes, making a beeline straight at you, with arms outstretched in greeting, and about twelve of his best buds looking eagerly at the buffet table. ...read more

Scripture: Luke 5:27-38

Denomination: Baptist

Strange Land, Foreign Land, Promised Land Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 1, 2002

A poetic, impressionistic rendering of Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, presented by two readers in dialogue

Every day is unique, every time is new. Never before have these same things happened, never again will this moment come. But the one who made this day, the one who is ever new, knows this moment. And knew that moment in which all things would be fulfilled. Each day is a gift. And each ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:1-17

Denomination: Baptist

Two Ways To Reclaim The Season Series

Contributed by Joseph Hughes on Dec 7, 2002

Jesus’ words in Mark 13 sound strange this time of year, but they remind us that the season is about the redemption of the world not the resurrection of the "bottom line."

First Sunday in Advent -December 1, 2002 The Holy Gospel - Mark 13:24-37 13:24 "But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 13:25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 13:26 Then they ...read more

Scripture: Mark 13:24-37

Denomination: Lutheran

Be Careful What You Pray For, You Might Get It Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 15, 2002

There are only two motives for prayer: fear and hope. If you pray and live in fear, you will live a lie and deny God, and you will become destructive. But if you pray and live in fear, you will find satisfaction and will become a life-giver.

God answers prayer. Let there be no doubt about that. God answers prayer. God responds to what His people ask. So it has often been said that you had better be careful what you pray for, because you just might get it! There is something awesome, something even dangerous about prayer. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-16, Psalm 106:15

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

Dead Man Walking

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 26, 2003

There is a kind of death in family life today. Jesus offers unconditional compassion, used His authority to give life, and gives us as gifts to one another.

One sweltering afternoon, on the dirty streets of a dangerous section of New Orleans, a man approached a woman with some papers in his hand. He asked Helen if she would agree to write letters to a man on death row at Angola prison. Helen agreed, rather absent-mindedly. She was used to people ...read more

Scripture: Luke 7:11-16

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