Author Archives: Shawn Thomas

About Shawn Thomas

My blog, shawnethomas.com, features the text of my sermons, book reviews, family life experiences -- as well as a brief overview of the Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson for Southern Baptist Sunday School teachers.

“What Real Faith Looks Like: True Religion” (James 1:26-27 sermon)

Posted on 2024/07/01 by Shawn Thomas

What does a “religious” person look like? What do you envision when you think of someone who is “religious”? Someone carrying a big Bible, or wearing a cross around their neck? Maybe somebody speaking from a pulpit, or singing a … Continue reading →

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Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 4:36-5:11, “Accountable,” for July 7, 2024

Posted on 2024/06/29 by Shawn Thomas

An overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 4:35-5:11 for Sunday, July 7, 2024, with the title, “Accountable.” A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRO: … Continue reading →

Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged Accountable, Acts 4, Acts 4:36-5:11, Acts 5, Ananias, Ananias and Sapphira, appearance, awe, Barnabas, Bible study, Bible study helps, Charles Spurgeon, China, Christianity, church, Cyprus, encourager, example, Explore the Bible, fear, George Eliot, giving, giving story, God, God judge, heart, hypocrisy, Jerry Rankin, Jesus, John Wanamaker, Joseph, judge not, judgment, Lifeway, Middlemarch, motivation, ox, Psalm 139, Psalm 90, responsibility, sacrifice, sacrificial giving, Sapphira, secret sins, Sunday School, Sunday school lesson, tithe, worship | 4 Comments

“What Real Faith Looks Like: Doers of the Word” (James 1:22-25 sermon)

Posted on 2024/06/24 by Shawn Thomas

In late 1942, the United States landed troops in North Africa to begin the liberation of Europe from Hitler’s Nazi Germany. In the early days after the invasion, the U.S. Army initially was not making much progress in their march … Continue reading →

Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Sermons | Tagged An Army At Dawn, application, better cheese, Bible, big talk, Book of James, change, change your life, Christianity, church, doers of the word, Dwight Eisenhower, Edward Dolnich, faith, few doers, God, hearer or doer, hearers only, hearing the word, Isaac Newton, James, James 1, James 1:22-25, Jesus, life change, Luke 3, Mark 6:20, Matthew 7:24-27, mirror, mirror of the word, New Testament, perfect attendance church, practical application, Psalm 119:11, repentance, Rick Atkinson, Robert Boyle, sanctification, scripture, The Clockwork Universe, what shall we do, word of God | Leave a comment

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 4:8-21, “Emboldened’

Posted on 2024/06/22 by Shawn Thomas

An overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, or Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 4:8-21 for Sunday, June 30, 2024, with the title, “Emboldened.” A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRO: … Continue reading →

Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged Acts 4, Acts 4:12, Acts 4:8-21, Annas, Baptist Faith & Message 2000, Bible, bold witness, boldness, Book of Acts, Brandan Robertson, Caiaphas, Christianity, cornerstone, Emboldened, evangelism, Explore the Bible, faith, God, gospel, Holy Spirit, I John 5:12, India, India mission, Jesus, Jesus only way, John, John 14:6, liberal, liberal Christianity, Lifeway, ministry, objective truth, persecution, Peter, platform, Sadducees, salvation, saving faith, Steve Bushey, Temple, University of Oklahoma women's softball, witness | 4 Comments

“What Real Faith Looks Like: Relationships & Righteousness” (James 1:19-21 sermon)

Posted on 2024/06/17 by Shawn Thomas

In the fall of 1871, explorer Harry Stanley found missionary Dr. Livingstone in Ujiji, Africa, after he had been lost to civilization for several years. It was then that he uttered those famous words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.” Staying there … Continue reading →

Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like | Tagged A.T. Robertson, anger, Bible, Christianity, continual repentance, conversation, dads, Dr. Livingstone, ethics, evangelism, faith, fathers, Fathers Day, garden, gay Christian, gospel, Harry Stanley, hearing, holiness, humility, James, James 1, James 1 sermon, ministry, mouth, proverbs, quick to hear, real Christianity, receive Jesus, relationships, repent, repentance, salvation, sanctification, saving faith, sermons, Shekinah, sin, slow to anger, slow to speak, Sunday school class, teaching, temper, thrice was Moses angry, two ears one mouth, weeds, What Real Faith Looks Like, witness, word implanted, words, Zeno | 2 Comments

Teachers’ Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 3:12-25, “Placed” for June 23, 2024

Posted on 2024/06/15 by Shawn Thomas

An overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders of Lifeways “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 3:12-26, with the title, “Placed,” for Sunday, June 23, 2024. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRO: … Continue reading →

Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged Acts, Acts 12:20-25, Acts 3, application, credit, deliverance, divine appointments, evangelism, Explore the Bible, God's plan, God's provision, gospel, Holy Spirit, How Firm A Foundation, how to be saved, how to share the gospel, humility, James 1:17, King Herod, Lifeway, Man's Need, Man's Response, missions, Moses, Old Testament, Old Testament prophecy, Old Testament quotes in the New Testament, personal application, Peter, portico of Solomon, repent, repentance, resurrection of Jesus, Romans 1:4, Ron and Patricia Owens, salvation, sharing the gospel, sin, Touch not the glory, witness, witnessing | 1 Comment

“What Real Faith Looks Like: Trusting A Benevolent God” (James 1:17-18 sermon)

Posted on 2024/06/10 by Shawn Thomas

One of my favorite scenes from the movies is from the holiday classic: “A Christmas Story,” when little Ralphie discovers the BB gun his father had bought him for Christmas. The dad watches with delight as Ralphie opens the box, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Sermons | Tagged 119:68, A Christmas Story, bb gun, benevolent God, Book of James, born again, Ephesians 1:13, evangelism, faith, giving, God, God change, God good, God is good, God is good all the time, good, goodness of God, gospel, gospel message, I Timothy 2:4, II Peter 3:9, James, James 1:17, James sermons, Jesus, Jimmy Stewart, John 3:3, John 3:7, John MacArthur, Joshua Breland, Makr 10:18, Matthew 7:11, new birth, Nicodemus, Psalm 100:5, radio ministry, Ralphie, salvation, Shenandoah movie, Shenandoah movie prayer, shifting shadow, sun, sunlight, trust, What Real Faith Looks Like, witness | 1 Comment

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 2:41-47, “United”

Posted on 2024/06/08 by Shawn Thomas

And overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 2:41-47, for Sunday, June 16, 2024, with the title, “United.” A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRO: … Continue reading →

Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged Acts, Acts 2, Acts 2:41-47, apostolic teaching, At Arm's Length, baptism, believer's baptism, Bible, Bill Elliff, Book of Acts, church in Acts, Dan Emmitt, Early Church, Explore the Bible, fellowship, house of prayer, infant baptism, Jack Tillery, kidney transplant, koinonia, lesson overview, lesson plan, Lifeway, love, marks of the church, prayer, Simply Prayer, sprinkling baptism, Sunday School, Sunday school help, Sunday School teacher, unity, word of God | 3 Comments

“What Real Faith Looks Like: The Blame Game” (James 1:13-16 sermon)

Posted on 2024/06/03 by Shawn Thomas

On our trip to see our grand daughters baptized, Cheryl & I stopped to see a couple of Presidential libraries, including Jimmy Carter’s in Atlanta. I had to chuckle when we stopped there, because we have an ongoing joke in … Continue reading →

Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Sermons | Tagged A.T. Robertson, ABCs of salvation, accountability, Adam & Eve, alpha privative, blame, blame God, blaming God, Book of James, born this way, C.S. Lewis, Calvinism, Charles Guiteau, Clint Hill, David and Bathsheba, Dwight D. Eisenhower, excuses, first step to salvation, free will, Gary Powers, genetic predisposition, God, God author of sin, Greek grammar, habits, homosexuality, how to be saved, James, James 1, James 1:13-16 sermon, James sermons, Jesus, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, King David, lust, Mere Christianity, peirazo, President Eisenhower, Psalm 51, responsibility, Ronald Reagan, salvation, sin, temptation, temptations, The Blame Game, trials, trials vs temptations, Westminister Confession, What Real Faith Looks Like | Leave a comment

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 2:5-16, 36-38, “Empowered”

Posted on 2024/06/01 by Shawn Thomas

An overview for Sunday school teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 2, for Sunday, June 9, 2024, with the title, “Empowered.” A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRO … Continue reading →

Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged Acts, Acts 2, Acts 2 Sunday school lesson, cheap grace, Day of Pentecost, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, evangelism, Explore the Bible, Feast of Weeks, first fruits, gospel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, kerygma, Lifeway, Pentecost, repent, repentance, The Cost of Discipleship, tongues, witnessing | 9 Comments