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.

“The Model Prayer: Begin With Praise” (Matthew 6:9 sermon)

Posted on 2020/09/21 by Shawn Thomas

When the Revolutionary War was over and the United States became a new nation, our country appointed John Adams as its new ambassador to England. When he arrived in London, Adams was to make his first appearance before George III, … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Sermons, The Model Prayer series (FBCA 2020), Uncategorized | Tagged Acts 4 prayer, ambassador, begin with praise, Charles Spurgeon, Daniel prayer, David McCullough, discipleship, enter His gates with thanksgiving, example of giving thanks, George III, giving thanks, God is worthy, Heidelberg Castle, how to begin prayer, how to pray, iPod, Jesus' Model Prayer, John Adams, learning to pray, Mark Twain A Tramp Abroad, Model Prayer outline, music, Nehemiah prayer, praise, praise Psalm, praise scriptures, praise songs, prayer, prayer changes you, prayer example, praying, Psalm 100, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 8:1, Psalm 95:1-2, Psalm 96:1, Psalm 9:1, Psalm 9:2, Psalm songs thanks, Revelation 4:11, Revolutionary War, scripture memory, sing to God, singing, Solomon prayer, Spurgeon praise, St. James palace, thankgiving, thanks, Thanksgiving, The Lord's Prayer, The Model Prayer, three means of praise, vertical praise songs | Leave a comment

Introduction to the Model Prayer (Matthew 6:1-13 sermon)

Posted on 2020/09/14 by Shawn Thomas

(Preached at the First Baptist Church of Angleton, TX 9/13/20) The pastor who married Cheryl & I, Bill Elliff, tells of how a mentor of his, Ron Dunn, was visiting Scotland with his wife, Kay. They rented a car to … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Sermons, The Model Prayer series (FBCA 2020) | Tagged Amity Schlaes, Bill Elliff, Calvin Coolidge, Christian life, communication, daily Bible reading, daily devotions, daily quiet time, devotions, email, forgiveness, God's will, Hail Mary prayer, how to pray, hurry is the death of prayer, hypocrisy in prayer, John 17:3, kingdom, legalism, Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:1-13, Matthew 6:9-13, meal prayers, meaningless repetition, model prayer, Model Prayer outline, Our Father prayer, praise, prayer, prayer relationship, prayer wheel Buddhist, praying in public, public prayer, relationship with God, requests, Ron Dunn, rut in prayer, salvation, Samuel Chadwick, spiritual protection | Leave a comment

“Inviting Jesus Into Your Home” (Luke 10:38-42 sermon)

Posted on 2020/08/31 by Shawn Thomas

Last week I mentioned George Washington, and some of his strengths and weaknesses. One of the good qualities that he and his wife Martha had was the gift of hospitality. After the Revolutionary War, in which Washington became a hero, … Continue reading →

Posted in Home & Family Life, Luke 10:38-42 Mary & Martha series, Sermons | Tagged Barbara Boyd, books, Christian life, Christian music, daily Bible reading, daily devotional time, daily devotions, daily prayer time, daily quiet time, depression, discipleship, discouragement, DVD, faith and home, family, family life, George Washington hospitality, Gospel Comes With a House Key, holiness, home, home as a base for ministry, home Bible studies, home life, home ministry, hospitality, hospitality ministry, how to pray, Hurricane Laura refugees, input, inviting Jesus into your home, Jesus as Lord, John Newton Amazing Grace, Levi, Lordship, Luke 10:38-42, Luke 10:38-42 sermon, Martha, music, P.G. Wodehouse golf story, prepare for Jesus in your home, Psalm 118:24, rich young ruler, Ron Chernow George Washington, Rosaria Butterfield, salvation, sanctification, spiritual diet, spiritual food, spiritual growth, stumbling blocks, teen rebellion, Tim Keller, worship, worship at church, worship at home, worship God at home | Leave a comment

“We Are All A Mixed Bag” (Luke 10:38-42 sermon)

Posted on 2020/08/24 by Shawn Thomas

One of the controversies that has engulfed our country the last months has been regarding statues in different parts of our country, of people who had something in their past which is offensive to some people today. For example, Thomas … Continue reading →

Posted in Luke 10:38-42 Mary & Martha series, Sermons | Tagged Apostle Paul, Christ sinless, Christopher Columbus, church family, church members, church staff, depravity of man, discernment, Donald Trump, Dr. D. James Kennedy, Dr. Lydgate Rosamund, evaluating sermons, flaws, friends, George Eliot, George Washington, George Washington anger, George Washington slavery, Hebrews 4:15, I Corinthians 13, II Corinthians 5:21, image of God, Imago Dei, Joe Biden, Love is patient, Luke 10:38-42, marriage, Martin Luther King Jr., Mary and Martha, Max Barnett, Middlemarch, ministers, no perfect candidate, pastors, perfect womanhood, Peter, Pharisee Luke 18, plan of salvation, political candidates, politics, Psalm 14, relationships, Romans 7, salvation, sin, sin nature, soulmate, statue controversy, the best person you know is fatally flawed, Thomas Jefferson, We Are All A Mixed Bag | Leave a comment

“The Maladies of Martha” (Luke 10:38-42 sermon)

Posted on 2020/08/17 by Shawn Thomas

A few weeks ago I read Joseph J. Ellis’ book on President Thomas Jefferson, entitled American Sphinx. In it, he discussed, among other things, the men who influenced Jefferson and made him the kind of president that he was. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Luke 10:38-42 Mary & Martha series, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged accusing God, busy-ness, Christian growth, consecration, COVID-19, daily Bible reading, daily devotions, daily prayer time, daily quiet time, devotions, discipleship, does God care?, egocentrism, Ephesians 2, example, Exodus 2:24-25, God, God mercy, God who sees, God's will, Hagar in the wilderness, It's not about you, Job 38-39, John 21 you follow Me, John Adams, Joseph J. Ellis American Sphinx, log out of your own eye, love, love of God, Luke 10:38-42 sermon, Maladies of Martha, Mark 4:38, Mark 5 Gerasene demoniac, marriage, Martha, mercy of God, morning prayer time, negative example, others' shortcomings, others' sins, our will, prayer, priorities, relationships, Rick Warren Purpose Driven Life it's not about you, salvation, sanctification, schedule, self-centeredness, selfish, selfishness, sin, spiritual growth, telling God what to do, Thomas Jefferson, Thy will be done, time, time with God, what's in it for me? | Leave a comment

“Find Me At The Feet Of Jesus” (Luke 10:38-42 sermon)

Posted on 2020/08/10 by Shawn Thomas

In the 1700’s, Thomas Scott was a young man who felt a call to go into the ministry, but he didn’t know much about it. He became acquainted with John Newton, the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace,” who was … Continue reading →

Posted in Luke 10:38-42 Mary & Martha series, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Acts 22:3, Bible Reading, Bible reading plan, busy-ness, Christopher Hogwood, daily devotions, daily quiet time, feet of Jesus, George Frideric Handel, giving thanks, gospel, greatest priority, Handel, help my unbelief, Hudson Taylor, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, humility, Isaiah 59:2, Isaiah 66:1-2, journaling, listen to God's word, Luke 10:38-42 sermon, Mark 9, Mary and Martha, Michael Kelly Christoph Gluck, model prayer, morning prayer time, most important priority, one thing, prayer, prayer time, priority, Psalm 147, Psalm 27:4, salvation, sin, singing, Thanksgiving, witnessing, worship | 2 Comments

“Martha & Jesus: A Christian Allegory” (Luke 10:38-42 sermon)

Posted on 2020/08/03 by Shawn Thomas

One of the most famous allegories in history is John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. An “allegory” is where some character or symbol represents something else. In Pilgrim’s Progress (which is perhaps a rather “thin” allegory) the main character of Bunyan’s novel … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Luke 10:38-42 Mary & Martha series, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged allegory, analogy, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Jackson baby christening, asking Jesus in your heart, attitudes, Augustine conversion, Augustine spiritual growth, baptism, busy-ness, Christian allegory, consecration, conviction of Holy Spirit, daily devotions, daily quiet time, devotions, discipleship, Holy Spirit, home remodeling, infant baptism, Jesus in your life, Lazarus John 11, Luke 10:38-42, Martha and Jesus, Mary and Martha, personal salvation, Peter Brown Augustine, Pilgrim's Progress, priorities, process of sanctification, relationships, Saint Augustine, salvation, sanctification, schedule, sinners prayer, worship | 2 Comments

“Save Me By Your Grace” (Psalm 6:4 sermon/Lord’s Supper)

Posted on 2020/07/27 by Shawn Thomas

After the Second World War, General Douglas MacArthur and his wife and their little son Arthur went to live in Japan, where MacArthur was administering the Island after the war. As things settled down, slowly the American occupying troops were … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Doctrine/Theology, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged all have sinned, Arthur MacArthur, blood of Jesus, body and the blood, cheap grace, Cleopatra A Life Stacy Schiff, confess sin, COVID vaccine, COVID-19, definition of grace, depravity of man, evangelism, faith, free grace, General Douglas MacArthur, grace, greed, I Peter 2:24, invitation, Japan, John 1:12, Julius Caesar pardon, Just and the Justifier, Lord's Supper, Luke 6:46, nature of man, ordinance, personal application, praise of the glory of His grace, Psalm 6:4 sermon, Romans 3:23, salvation, salvation prayer, save me by Your grace, saved by grace, sin, sin nature, World War II | Leave a comment

“The Lord Tests The Righteous” (Psalm 11:5 sermon)

Posted on 2020/07/20 by Shawn Thomas

During the Civil War, they got a new orderly, a young man to carry messages to and from President Abraham Lincoln. Not long after he started, someone offered him $100 (which was a lot of money back in the 1860’s!) … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Current Events, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Abigail Adams, Affliction is a good man's shining time, Carl Sandburg Abraham Lincoln, character, compromise, COVID-19, COVID-19 time of testing, foundations destroyed, Genesis 42:15, God is on the throne, God of the Bible, God sovereignty, gold refined, heart, I AM, I AM THAT I AM, I Chronicles 29:17, it's a test, Job, Job 23:10, John Newton, Matthew 13 parable of the sower, Navy SEAL, Navy SEAL hell week, perseverance, perseverance of the saints, priorities, Psalm 11:5 sermon, Psalm 1:1, ring the bell, Say "This is a test!", sin, test, test heart, test of salvation, testing, The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord tests the righteous, William H. McRaven, Yahweh, YHWH | 5 Comments

“Dying, Yet Being Renewed” (II Corinthians 4:16 sermon)

Posted on 2020/07/13 by Shawn Thomas

Writing at age 75, mystery writer Agatha Christie observed: “With every year that passes, something has to be crossed off (my) list of pleasures. Long walks are off, and alas, bathing in the sea; fillet steaks and apples and raw … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged abortion, adoption, Agatha Christie, age, aging, aging process, Bible, body, body soul spirit, breath of life, Colossians 3:10, consecration, consequences of sin, COVID-19, daily Bible reading, daily quiet time, Death, decay, devotions, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, dying, Ephesians 3:16, Ephesians 4:18, eso, exo, exoskeleton, Facebook Live prayer meeting, Genesis 17, God, growing old, Holy Spirit, human life, human nature, I Thessalonians 5:23, II Corinthians 4:16, II Corinthians 4:16 sermon, II Corinthians 5:17, Ingrid Newkirk PETA founder, inner, inner man, Isaiah 59:2, Jesus Christ, joy, joy in the Lord, Live Stream worship, living soul, Luke 12:33 moth, new creation, new creature, new man, new self, outer man, pain is a holy angel, patience with others, patience with self, process of sanctification, regeneration, renewing mind, Romans 12:1-2, Romans 8:28, salvation, sanctification, sin, soul, spirit, word of God, Zoom | Leave a comment