I'm a retired Southern Baptist pastor of almost 40 years. My wife Cheryl & I moved to Norman, OK in March of 2025. I share a weekly overview for Sunday School teachers of the weekly Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, as well as texts of my sermons and other articles.
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Top Posts & Pages
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 22:15-22, 34-40, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, "Honor" for 5/03/26
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 24:36-51, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, "Alert" for May 10, 2026
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 21:23-32, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Authority," for 4/26/26.
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "The Word That Sustains In Difficult Days" (Habakkuk 2:1-3 sermon)
- "The Gift That Is An Insult" (I Kings 9:10-14)
- "True Religion" (Philippians 3:2-3)
- "This Is My Story: The Philippian Jailer" (Acts 16:25-34 sermon)
Categories
- "The Disciple's Character" series (Beatitudes Mt. 5:3-12)
- "The Disciplines of Disciples" series
- "This Is My Story" sermon series
- Beatitudes Series 2020 FBCA
- Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like
- COVID-19 crisis assorted messages
- Current Events
- Devotions/Bible Studies
- Discipleship
- Discovering FBCA Membership class lessons
- Doctrine/Theology
- Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews
- Explore the Bible Sunday School lessons
- Habakkuk "Find Us Faithful" series messages
- History
- Home & Family Life
- I Peter sermons
- India Mission Trip 2011
- Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King
- John 3:16 sermon series
- Luke 10:38-42 Mary & Martha series
- Luke 2 Christmas series
- Matthew sermons
- Ministry
- missions
- Music
- Philippians sermons
- POTS (dysautonomia) articles
- Psalms studies and messages
- Revelation sermon series
- Reviews
- Sermon Illustrations
- Sermons
- The Model Prayer Series
- The Model Prayer series (FBCA 2020)
- This Week In Paradise (pastors family blog)
- Travel
- Uncategorized
- worship
Author Archives: Shawn Thomas
A Worrier’s Mantra
Psalm 94:19 is a word for the worriers among us: “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.” Many of us can identify with the Psalmist, who said that his anxious thoughts “multiplied” within him. Isn’t … Continue reading
No Minor Flaw
I Timothy 3:6 gives an important warning to all us when it speaks to one of the qualifications for pastor. Verse 6 says he is to be “not a new convert.” Many people would nod their heads in agreement with … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged flattery, I Timothy 3:6, overseer, pride, qualifications
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Start At Home
There is what many people consider to be a strange episode in Exodus 4:24-26. Why was the Lord so upset with Moses because his son was not circumcised? Yet there is a lesson here which should cause many of us … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged consistency, Exodus 4:24-26, hypocrisy, religion starts at home
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Morning and Night
In Psalm 92:2 the Psalmist says he will “declare Your steadfast love in the morning and Your faithfulness by night”. This is typical of Hebrew poetry, which is characterized by parallelism, but it is not over-reaching to think that there … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged faithfulness, lovingkindness, morning and evening, Psalm 92:2
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Your Secret Sins
Psalm 90:8 says that God has “placed” “our secret sins in the light of (His) presence.” One of the things this means is that He purposefully arranges circumstances so that the hidden sins of our hearts have occasion to manifest … Continue reading
The Highways To Zion
Psalm 84:5 says, “How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion!” This verse is significant because it tells us that “the highways to Zion” are in your “heart.” You don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged highways to Zion, Psalm 85:4, Romans 10:8-9
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It Will End Better
Headlines in Oklahoma today shared the bad news: Whitney Hand, starting guard for the University of Oklahoma women’s basketball team, had torn her left ACL during the game against North Texas the night before. Whitney had previously worked hard to … Continue reading
The Last Word
In Psalm 89 the author feels cast off and rejected by God (:38) as well as reproached by men (:41). He asks God in :49, “Where are Your former lovingkindnesses, O Lord?” He feels totally deserted. And yet with all … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged blessed be the Lord, commitment, faith, Job, Psalm 89:52, trials
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Working With Delight
Proverbs 31:13 says that the excellent wife “works with her hands IN DELIGHT”. This is one of the many qualities in that chapter which apply to more than just a virtuous woman. Each of us — male or female — … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
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Family Christmas Newsletter 2012
— One weekend in September while Libby and Josh came home for her birthday, she gave US perhaps the biggest present of the year: they are expecting our first grandchild in May! Josh is finishing his ministry degree at Louisiana … Continue reading
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