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.

“Preparing the Way for Our King” (Luke 3 sermon)

Posted on 2020/06/01 by Shawn Thomas

In 1789 George Washington was elected as the first President of the United States — and the country went wild with celebration. Washington, who was reluctant to take the office, left his home at Mount Vernon to make his way … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged "rededicate your life", Bible Reading, change of mind, confession, COVID-19, daily Bible reading, First Baptist Church, George Washington, Isaiah 40, John the Baptist, Luke 3, preparation, rededication, repent, repentance, revival, sin, specific repentance, Then what shall I do?, U-turn, u-turn absolutely required | Leave a comment

“Coming Back To Worship ‘In The Spirit'” (Luke 2:27 sermon)

Posted on 2020/05/18 by Shawn Thomas

It’s good to see people starting to come back and participate in our worship services again — it’s been growing over the last 2-3 weeks, and hopefully that will continue. But many are suggesting that we won’t ever get back … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Discipleship, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Acts 1:8, baptism in the Holy Spirit, church, church attendance, church like an orchestra, cleanse yourselves, confession of sin, daily Bible reading, daily quiet time, devotions, don't mortgage your Sunday morning, Ephesians 1:13, expectation for worship, faith, full of the Spirit, Hebrews 10:25, Hebrews 11:6, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit and salvation, Holy Spirit in you, I Corinthians 11 Lord's Supper, II TImothy 2:21, indwelling Holy Spirit, Isaiah 1, Isaiah 1:18, John 15:5, Luke 2:27 sermon, Luke Holy Spirit, morning worship time, One God Three Persons, Person of the Holy Spirit, preparation for worship, prepare for worship, prepare worship, Puritans, rest Sunday, Romans 8:9, salvation, Saturday night, sealed in the Holy Spirit, sermon note taking, sermon notes, Simeon, sin, spirit, spiritual preparation for worship, Sunday morning worship attire, Trinity, wash yourselves, worship, worship expectancy, worship preparation | Leave a comment

“Blessed Is She Who Believed” (Luke 1:45 sermon)

Posted on 2020/05/11 by Shawn Thomas

A few months ago, our ladies ministry had a neat fellowship, in which they painted little decorative signs for their homes, with a portion of scripture on each one. The ladies painted some good verses: “I can do all things … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Home & Family Life, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Abigail Adams, assurance, believe, Blessed is she who believed, circumstances, co-redemptrix, COVID-19 crisis, daily Bible reading, daily devotions, David McCullough John Adams, Ephesians 2:8-9, evangelism, faith, faith in circumstances, fear, God's word, Hebrews 13:7, hero of scripture, imitate their faith, John 3:16, John Calvin idol factory, John Newton, John Newton Mary Barham, Luke 1:45, Mariolatry, Mary, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary worship, mothers, Mothers Day, Mothers Day sermon, nail down salvation, Philippians 4:19, Revelation 22:8-9, Romans 8:18, Romans 8:28, salvation, Savior, sinners prayer, theology, trust, Virgin Mary, worship, worship God | Leave a comment

“The People of Joy & Gladness” (Luke 1:14 sermon)

Posted on 2020/05/04 by Shawn Thomas

H.L. Mencken was an American writer and commentator in the mid-1900’s, and he is famous, among other things, for his quip that “Puritanism (is) the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” That’s the picture that many people have … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Adam & Eve, angel Gabriel, Bible Reading, church, coronavirus, COVID-19, daily quiet time, daily worship time, devotions, eternity, false gods, forbidden fruit, forgiveness, George Muller, gladness, God sun, H.L. Mencken Puritanism, Habakkuk 3:16-19, heaven, idols, J.I. Packer Puritans, Jesus, John Newton Amazing Grace, joy, joy and gladness, joy in circumstances, Luke 1 sermon, Luke 1:14, Luke 1:19, marriage, Paradise, people of God, presence of God, presence of the Lord, Psalm 118:24, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 31:7, Psalm 4:7, Psalm 84:11, rejoice and be glad, relationships, repentance, salvation, sin, sin and creation, sun, walk with God, walking with God, wife idol, worship, worship forever, Zacharias and Elizabeth, Zacharias sermon | Leave a comment

“Not Flashy, But Faithful” (Luke 1:8-11 sermon)

Posted on 2020/04/27 by Shawn Thomas

You’d have to be a pretty avid football fan to know the name of Bryce Paup. Bryce Paup was a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers back in the early 1990’s. Most everybody knows of Brett Favre, the Green Bay … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Acts 2 Day of Pentecost, Anna Luke 2, assignment, be faithful, Bible Reading, Bryce Paup Green Bay Packers, church service, clean team, COVID-19, day of small things, Elizabeth, faith, faithful, faithfulness, family, farmers, givng, John the Baptist parents, Luke 1 Zacharias sermon, marriage, ministry, mundane, not flashy but faithful, Piper Bravo Oil Rig tragedy, prayer, prayer meeting, Revelation John, routine, routine assignments, routine tasks, salvation, service, take your turn, witness, Zacharias, Zechariah 4:10 | Leave a comment

“The Refiner’s Fire” (Malachi 3:1-4 sermon)

Posted on 2020/04/20 by Shawn Thomas

Ruth Bell Graham was the wife of the famous evangelist Billy Graham. Billy had of course garnered so much world-wide attention, having been seen on tv, and having written so many books, and so on — but after some years, … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Babylonian Captivity, Billy Graham, Bishop Moule no situation so chaotic, Brass Bell Milwaukee, busy-ness, C.S. Lewis, circumstances, coronavirus crisis, COVID-19, daily Bible reading, devotional time, devotions, Ephesians 1:11, finances, financial crisis, fuller's soap, Genesis Joseph, God, God's purpose, growing through trials, Hebrews 13:5, holiness, holy, II Corinthians 12 Apostle Paul, It's My Turn Graham, Italy doctor COVID-19 atheist, Malachi 3:1-4 sermon, money, normal, offerings in righteousness, pandemic, Peter Acts 2 sermon, predestined plan and purpose of God, purification, purpose, refiner's fire, relationships, rest, Romans 8:28, Ruth Bell Graham, sacrifice of praise, sanctification, schedule, sickness, Thanksgiving, thorn in the flesh, time, trials, worship | 1 Comment

“Our Assurance of Glory” (I Corinthians 15:1-4 sermon Easter 2020)

Posted on 2020/04/12 by Shawn Thomas

Easter 2020 “Our Assurance of Glory” Last week I mentioned Charles Lindbergh’s historic trans-Atlantic flight to Paris in 1927. Not long after he landed, Lindbergh visited nearby … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Current Events, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged "Sovereignty of God", A. Scott Berg Lindbergh, Adam and Eve, C.S. Lewis, Charles Lindbergh glory, Christ cross, Christians and COVID-19 virus, contamination, coronavirus sermon, COVID-19 heroes, COVID-19 origin, COVID-19 sermon, creation groans, do this in remembrance of Me, Easter 2020, Easter COVID-19 sermon, Easter sermon, evangelism, fear, Garden of Eden sin, God foreknowledge, gospel, heroes, hope, I Corinthians 15 gospel, I Corinthians 15:1-4, I John 1 blood of Jesus, I Peter 2:24, I will go straight to glory, Jesus cross, Jesus death, Jesus resurrection, Kimberly Lopez nurse COVID-19, Lord's Supper, Lord's Supper sermon, pandemic, Peter Brown Augustine, resurrection of Jesus, Revelation 13:8, Romans 5:12, Romans 5:8, Romans 8:22, sacrifice, salvation, Salvation A B C, sin, sin and creation, St. Augustine devil, St. Augustine quote, substitutionary atonement, The Facts Brazoria County news, there are times when a man is his own devil, virus cure | 4 Comments

“Faith In Crisis” (Psalm 74 sermon)

Posted on 2020/04/06 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 74 “Faith in Crisis” (COVID crisis Sunday #4, 4/05/20) The verses we find here in Psalm 74 are not going to make many “verse-of-the-day” Bible calendars: “O God, why have You rejected us forever?” “The enemy has damaged everything … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Current Events, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged A. Scott Berg Lindbergh, Asaph, Babylonian Captivity idolatry, C.S. Lewis Screwtape Letters, Charles Lindbergh 1927 flight, commitment, commitment to Jesus, coronavirus, COVID-19, COVID-19 crisis, COVID-19 prayers, crisis, daily Bible reading, daily devotions, daily worship, Daniel 4:17-18, devotional time, faith in crisis, forsaken, girl praying, girl praying for Lindbergh, ICU doctor St. John's Tulsa, intercession, Jeremiah 7:4, Jesus is King, Jesus is Lord, Job 13:15, obedience, perseverance, prayer, Psalm 22:3, Psalm 74, questioning God, Romans 10:9, salvation, seeking God, The Temple of the Lord, theodicy, trials, Tulsa World, Why have you rejected us?, Yet, yet You are my King from of old, Yours also is the night | 5 Comments

“Finding Comfort In God” (II Corinthians 7:6 sermon)

Posted on 2020/03/30 by Shawn Thomas

It was not my advance plan to preach two weeks in a row from this Book of II Corinthians. But last week, in the course of my regular daily Bible reading, God impressed me that the verse “we are the … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Acts 16 Paul prison, Back-2-Back Ministry Mazatlan, comfort, comfort in God, comfort one another, coronavirus crisis, COVID-19, daily quiet time, daily worship time, Ephesians 1:11, Ephesians 1:13, eternity, evangelism, God, God sovereignty, God's comfort, God's providence, God's purposes, gospel, heaven, heaven is our home, Hebrews 11 Moses, Holy Spirit, homeward bound, Hudson Taylor, II Corinthians 7:6, John 14 Holy Spirit Comforter, John Newton letters, media, news, paraclete, parakaleo, Psalm 149, Psalm 16:11, purpose, R.H. Dana Two Years Before The Mast, Rancho de los Ninos Mazatlan, Romans 8:28, salvation, We're homeward bound, worship | 4 Comments

“We Are The Temple” (II Corinthians 6:16 message)

Posted on 2020/03/24 by Shawn Thomas

II Corinthians 6:16 “We Are The Temple” The White House is one of the most recognizable buildings in the United States. It was finished in the year 1800, when Thomas Jefferson moved in, and every U.S. … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Bible, church, church buildings, church giving, coronavirus crisis sermon, COVID-19, crisis ministry, daily Bible reading, doctrine of church, ecclesiology, Ephesians 2, evangelism, First Baptist Church Angleton Texas, first church buildings, God's word, holy, Holy of Holies, holy place, II Corinthians 6:16 message, II Corinthians 7:1, internet, internet worship, Luke 21, ministry, outreach, salvation, television, Temple, temple naos, War of 1812 White House, we are the temple, White House, widow's mite, worship | Leave a comment