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.

Teacher’s Overview: Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Mark 9:17-29, “Strengthens”

Posted on 2023/10/07 by Shawn Thomas

A brief overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s Explore the Bible lesson of Mark 9:17-29 “Strengthens” for Sunday, October 15, 2023. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRO: share a … Continue reading →

Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged Charles Wesley prayer, demonic, demons, dipsuchos, double minded man, drugs, Explore the Bible, fasting, from the mountain to the valley, homosexuality, I do believe help my unbelief, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus power, John 10:10, Lifeway, Mark 9:17-29, Matthew 5:3, mountain top experience, occult, perversions, poor in spirit, poverty in spirit, prayer, prayer and fasting, Raphael painter, Raphael Transfirguration, Ruth Graham prayer, salvation, Satan, Strengthens, Sunday school lesson, Sunday school teacher help, teacher overview, Tim Keller prayer, transgender | 6 Comments

“The Word That Sustains In Difficult Days” (Habakkuk 2:1-3 sermon)

Posted on 2023/10/02 by Shawn Thomas

After my dad passed away, I got a couple of his Ernest Hemingway books which he liked to read. In one of those books Hemingway wrote: “You know what a classic is, don’t you? A book that everyone mentions and … Continue reading →

Posted in Habakkuk "Find Us Faithful" series messages, Sermons | Tagged Bible, Bible promise, Bible Reading, classic book, conscience, counsel, devotions, Ernest Hemingway, God's word, Habakkuk, how to be saved, how to walk with God, II Timothy 3:16, input, Isaiah 55:10, Jeremiah 29:13, Jesus, judgment, morning devotions, prayer, Psalm 19, salvation, same-sex marriage, scripture, scripture reading, sin, theodicy, trials, word of God | 1 Comment

“Not I, But Christ”

Posted on 2023/09/30 by Shawn Thomas

NOT I, BUT CHRIST Lord, bend that proud and stiffnecked “I,” Help me to bow the neck and die, Beholding Him on Calvary, Who bowed His Head for me. The following are some of the features and manifestations of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Not I but Christ, tract | Leave a comment

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway “Explore the Bible” lesson: Mark 8:31-9:1, “Followed”

Posted on 2023/09/30 by Shawn Thomas

An overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s Explore the Bible lesson of Mark 8:31-9:1, “Followed,” for Sunday, October 8, 2023. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRO: Just after Calvin … Continue reading →

Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews, Uncategorized | Tagged baptism, begone Satan, Bible study, Bible study teacher help, Bourges, Caesarea Philippi, Calvin Coolidge, confession of faith, Daniel 7 Son of Man, deny self, discipleship, Edmund Starling, eternal life, eternity, Explore the Bible, follow Me, Jesus, Julius Caesar, kingdom of God, Lifeway, Mark 8 Bible Study, Mark 8 Sunday School, Mark 8:31-9:1, Messiah, Peter, Roman soliders branded, Simon Peter, Son of Man, Sunday School, Sunday school lesson, Sunday school lesson help, Sunday school teacher help, take up cross, teacher overview, tract Not I But Christ, transfiguration, Vercingetorix | 5 Comments

“The God Who Reigns in Evil Days” (Habakkuk 1:12 sermon)

Posted on 2023/09/25 by Shawn Thomas

Years ago someone I knew had lost a loved one in a tragedy, and a friend of theirs asked them: “How do you manage to still look to God in a time like this?” They said, “In a time like … Continue reading →

Posted in Habakkuk "Find Us Faithful" series messages, Sermons | Tagged America judgment, Assyria, Babylon, business ethics, Charles Spurgeon, Christian businessman, Cyrus, eternal, ethics, faith, faith in trials, father love, father trust, from everlasting, God, God holiness, God love, God sovereign, gossip, Habakkuk, Habakkuk 1:12, Habakkuk 1:13, holiness, holiness of God, holy, I Peter 4:17, immorality, judgment, Matthew Henry, perseverance, pornography, Psalm 90:2, salvation, sex, shaken, sin, slander, sovereign, trials, trust | 1 Comment

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson: Mark 7:24-37, “Includes”

Posted on 2023/09/23 by Shawn Thomas

A brief overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Mark 7:24-37 with the title “Includes,” for Sunday, October 1, 2023. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: … Continue reading →

Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged church missions, deaf, Decapolis, evangelism, Explore the Bible, Gentiles, Includes, Lifeway, Mark 1:24-37, mission, mission trips, missions, racism, Sunday school lesson, Sunday school teacher help, Texas Port Ministry, travel, Tyre | 4 Comments

“Faith Under Trial: Living in a Nation Under Condemnation” (Habakkuk 1:1-13 sermon)

Posted on 2023/09/18 by Shawn Thomas

In David Platt’s book Radical, he writes about how on a mission trip he visited with a group of believers in Southeast Asia. He said they had to disguise themselves to meet, and come in one or two at a … Continue reading →

Posted in Habakkuk "Find Us Faithful" series messages, Sermons | Tagged abortiion, America judgment, C.S. Lewis unanswered prayer, causal Christian, commitment, David Platt Radical, faith, gay marriage, Habakkuk sermon, Habukkuk, hate speech, immorality, injustice, judgment, justice, modesty, name it claim it, persecution, pledge under God, prayer, Psalm 11, Psalm 11 when the foundations are destroyed, trials, unanswered prayer, when the foundations are destroyed | Leave a comment

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway “Explore the Bible” lesson: Mark 6:30-44, “Satisfies”

Posted on 2023/09/16 by Shawn Thomas

A brief overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Mark 6:30-44, “Satisfies,” for Sunday, September, 24, 2023. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRODUCTION: One way … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged caring, church organization, Evangelism Mack Stiles, Explore the Bible, feeding the 5000, I Corinthians 14:40, Lifeway, Mark 6 Sunday school lesson, Mark 6:30-44, ministry, miracles, organization, providence, provision, responsibility, rest, see feel compassion do, Steven King On Writing, Stolen Focus Hari, Sunday school lesson help Mark 6, Sunday school teacher help, you give them something to eat | 9 Comments

“Find Us Faithful” (Introduction to Habakkuk sermon)

Posted on 2023/09/11 by Shawn Thomas

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Christian, pastor, and teacher, who lived in Germany in the 1930s & 40s. (By the way, speaking of Bonhoeffer, in North Carolina we had a ministry to the deaf, and each service we had a … Continue reading →

Posted in Habakkuk "Find Us Faithful" series messages, Sermons | Tagged Call Me Max, Chick tracts, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Habakkuk, Habakkuk introduction, Habakkuk sermon, holiness, Martin Luther, Minor Prophets, Reformation, salvation, sanctification, sin, The just shall live by faith | 3 Comments

Teacher’s Overview: Lifeway “Explore the Bible” lesson: Mark 3:20-30, “Questioned”

Posted on 2023/09/09 by Shawn Thomas

A brief overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Mark 3:20-30, for Sunday, September 17, 2023, with the title, “Questioned.” (A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: … Continue reading →

Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged a house divided, Abraham Lincoln a house divided, all sin may be forgiven, bind Satan, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, church, Civil War, criticism, division, Explore the Bible, forgiveness, Franklin Graham, George Whitefield, High Priestly Prayer, I Corinthians 6:9, In Jesus' name, Jesus, John 10 thief, John 17, John R Tyson Assist Me To Proclaim, John Wesley, Lifeway, Mark 3:20-30, prayer, presidents criticism, Shawn Thomas, sin, spiritual warfare, strong man, Sunday school lesson, Sunday school teacher help, the unforgivable sin, unity, Woodrow Wilson | 5 Comments