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
- Romans 7:4-6, 14-25 Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson overview: "Struggle," for 10/11/26
- Romans 8:14-27 Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson overview, "Indwelt," for October 18, 2026
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- Romans 6:1-14, Overview of Lifeway's Explore the Bible lesson, "Freedom," for October 4, 2026.
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "Seeking Him First" (Matthew 6:33 sermon)
- “The Narrow Way To Heaven” (Matthew 7:13-14 sermon)
- "The Word That Sustains In Difficult Days" (Habakkuk 2:1-3 sermon)
- "The Church That Left Their First Love" (Revelation 2:1-7 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
“The People of God” (Joshua sermon)
This week we will be celebrating the 242nd anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of our nation. Most of us are very proud to be Americans, and are grateful to God for the blessings that He has … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged abortion, Alexandria plague, allegiance, Bishop Cyprian, church, compromise, Dionysius, direction, George Muller, Gibeonites, God's side, imitation, Joshua, Joshua 5:13-15, Joshua 9:14, leadership, love, marriage, mercy, people of God, prayer, salvation, service, the world, VBS, worldliness
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“The Children of God” (Deut.33:3 sermon)
Not everyone pictures a relationship with a Heavenly Father as being good. I just finished reading a biography of Charles Lindbergh, the first man to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. We aren’t as familiar with him today, but he was … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged affection, assurance, Bible, Bible Reading, Boompa, Charles Lindbergh, cherish, child, corporate worship, Deuteronomy 33:1-3, Deuteronomy 33:3, Ephesians 1:13, family of God, father, God, God is love, God the Father, good good Father, gospel, Great Commandment, He Will Hold Me Fast, held, Henry V, I John 4:8, Jeremiah 31:3, John 10:27-29, John 8:31, Keith & Krysten Getty, kept, love, love God, love letter, love of God, Luke 10 Mary and Martha, Luke 8:21, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, perseverance of the saints, prayer, Psalm 131:2, salvation, Shakespeare, singing, Son, we are in God's hands, weaned child, word of God, worship
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“The Misplaced Passion of Spectator Religion” (Jonah 4 sermon)
On this Father’s Day, many of us are remembering our dads — whether they are still with us, or like my dad, have gone on to be with the Lord. I can remember my father sitting in his recliner, watching … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Amos, Apostle Paul, armchair religion, Charles DIckens, Christianity, church, clergy laity divide, comfort, compassion, convenience, critic, cruise ship or battleship?, disciples, discipleship, Ephesians 4:11-12, evaluate, Fathers Day, gifts, grieve, Holy Spirit, I Corinthians 12:7, Jonah, Jonah 4, La-z-boy Christianity, Marquis St. Evremonde, Matthew 26:58, Matthew 5:4, mercy, ministry, mission, mourn, Nineveh, passion, religion, Romans 10:1, salvation, service, spectator, spectator Christianity, spectator religion, spiritual gifts, Tale of Two Cities, worship, worship services
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“Little By Little” (Deuteronomy 7:22 sermon)
I have a friend whose dad recently passed away, and now he has to deal with all his dad’s “stuff”: here’s a photo he posted on Facebook of just ONE of the storage buildings of his dad’s stuff. Someone might … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged A.W. Tozer, Alive Again, baptism in the Holy Spirit, brick on brick, C.S. Lewis, Christian life, Christianity, cobweb on the soul, Deuteronomy 7:22, Emily Dickinson, Ephesians 1:13, Eugene Peterson, finances, G.K. Chesterton, George MacDonald, glorification, heaven, holiness, justification, justification sanctification glorification, Les Miserables, little by little, lottery, marriage, marriage counseling, patience, perseverance, Promised Land, Proverbs 24, reading, reading challenge, sanctification, sluggard, Tony Robbins, Victor Hugo, x + 1
12 Comments
“The Biggest Problem You Have” (Luke 5:17-26 sermon)
What is the biggest problem you have? Most of us probably had something just come to mind. Maybe it is a health issue you have; or a relationship that is giving you trouble; or a financial burden; or a problem … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged Burke United Christian Ministries, C.S. Lewis, Death, finances, forgiveness, Haiti, heaven, hell, Hrip, Jesus, John 19:30, Joni Eareckson Tada, Luke 5:17-26 sermon, marriage, Matthew 10:28, paid in full, paralysis, poverty, problem, problems, quadriplegic, Romania, Royal Wedding 2018, salvation, sin, Southwest airlines accident, tetelestai
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Are You Shifting The Blame?
“The people spoke against God and Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” (Numbers 21:5) Numbers 21:4 says … Continue reading
Stubbornness or Perseverance?
Reading Numbers 23 I thought, “Man, Balak just isn’t getting it … he’s already asked Baalam three times to ask God curse Israel and He said He is NOT going to do it!” How stubborn mankind can be — always … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged Baalam, Balak, Numbers 23, perseverance, stubbornness
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“Testing The Fruit Of Your Salvation” (James 1:21-27 sermon)
For Mothers Day we got some things for Cheryl for the garden. She loves to garden outside — and I love to go out and walk through the garden with her for 5 minutes before I go inside to read! … Continue reading
Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged age, Bible, Book of James, born again, church, church attendance, conviction, darkness, doer of the word, faith, Faith works, fruit, fruit of salvation, holiness, I John 1:5, II Corinthians 5, James, James 1, James 1:21-27, James 1:21-27 sermon, John 13:17, John 3, light, Matthew 13 parable of the sower, minister, ministry, mirror, mirror of the word, new creation, obedience, orphans, Paraliament, purification, repent, repentance, salvation, sanctification, scripture, service, sin, slavery, widows, William Wilberforce, word of God, works, worship
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“What Jesus Came To Do For You” (I Peter 3:18 sermon)
For the last several years, the social media platform “Twitter” has been gaining in popularity over “Facebook,” although the two are very different. One of the interesting things to see on Twitter is the biography that each person uses to … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Al Mohler, Augustine, Bill Elliff, Christ, Confessions Augustine, cross, death on the cross, face of God, gospel, health and wealth gospel, His presence, I Corinthians 15:1-3, I Peter 2:24, I Peter 3:18 sermon, Isaiah 59:2, It is finished, Jesus, John 19:30, just for the unjust, love of God, Mark Twain, Mark Vroegop, North Greenville University, prosperity gospel, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:8, Ronnie Rogers, sacrifice, salvation, sin, sinners, steamboat pilot dies, tetelestai, the cross, Twitter
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“Grace That Is Greater Than The Inexcusable” (Mark 14:32-42 sermon)
C.S. Lewis wrote “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” That is a great statement, and very convicting regarding our attitude and practice towards others — but the power of … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Bible Reading, devotional time, excuses, failure, forgiveness, Garden of Gethsemane, grace, humiliation, I Timothy 1:15, Immeasurable grace, inexcusable, infinite grace, Jesus, Jesus answer, Jesus Christ, Job, love of God, lovingkindness, Mariana Trench, Mark 14:32-42, Mark 2:17, mercy, Mt. Everest, no excuses, ocean, prayer, Psalm 103, Psalm 103:11-14, Psalm 27, Psalm 5:3, quiet time, Romans 3:19, Romans 5:20, Ronnie Rogers, salvation, seeking His face, shame, sin
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