Category Archives: Discipleship

“Deepening Your Spiritual Life Through the Psalms”

Posted on 2025/07/07 by Shawn Thomas

(Shared at Trinity Baptist Church, Norman, Sunday night, July 6, 2025) Many of you know that while I was serving at the First Baptist Church of Angleton, Texas, last August, my wife Cheryl experienced a devastating stroke which left her … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Home & Family Life, Psalms studies and messages, Sermons | Tagged Bible, C.S. Lewis, cathedral of Milan, Christian meditatiion, discipleship, Donald Whitney, God, God designed the human machine to run on Himself, God's glory, God's word, how to praise, how to pray, Jesus, Mark Twain, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, meditation and Psalms, Mere Christianity, model prayer, praise Psalms, prayer, Psalms, Psalms and God, Psalms and prayer, Psalms and singing, Psalms overview, scripture memory, Shawn Thomas, spiritual growth, Tim Keller on Psalms, types of Psalms | 2 Comments

“How To Seek The Lord” (Isaiah 55:6-7 sermon)

Posted on 2025/01/13 by Shawn Thomas

In 1622, the ship, “Our Lady of Atocha,” sailed from the Spanish colonies in the New World back towards Spain. The Atocha was laden down with so much gold from the mines in the Americas that it had taken two … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Sermons | Tagged Atocha, Bible, Bonhoeffer, Book of Isaiah, call on the name of the Lord, cheap grace, daily prayer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, faith, God, gospel, grace, Isaiah, Isaiah 55, Isaiah 55:6-7, Jesus, Matthew 6:33, Mel Fisher, Our Lady of Atocha, prayer, repentance, revival, salvation, seek God, seek the Lord while He may be found, seek ye first, seeking, sermon, sin, The Cost of Discipleship, treasure | 2 Comments

“The Fruits of Righteousness” (James 3:13-18 sermon)

Posted on 2024/11/11 by Shawn Thomas

I am not much of a “tree expert” at all. I know some people can just look at a tree and say, “Oh that’s a such-and-such tree …” but I have never been able to do that. I could probably … Continue reading →

Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Discipleship | Tagged assurance of salvation, attitudes, bad fruit, Bible, blessed are the peacemakers, Christianity, Eusebius Church History, examine yourself, faith, fruit, God, good fruit, Holy Spirit, hypocrisy, hypocrite, II Corinthians 13:5, Irenaeus, James 3, James 3 sermon, James 3:13-18, jealousy, Jesus, Leo Tolstoy, Matthew 7:16, mercy, natural earthly demonic, peace, peaceable, peacemaker, Philippians 2, salvation, selfishness, test yourself, the world the flesh and the devil, trees, War and Peace, works, you will know them by their fruits | Leave a comment

“For You Are With Me” (Psalm 23:4)

Posted on 2024/10/28 by Shawn Thomas

(Testimony shared 10/27/24; the Sunday Cheryl & I first returned to church after her stroke) August 31, 2024 is a day that Cheryl & I will never forget. It’s the day when after a week of Cheryl having unusual physical … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Home & Family Life, Sermons | Tagged Bible, care, Cheryl Thomas, Christianity, church, circumstances, dysautonomia, Encompass Pearland, faith, First Baptist Church Angleton, forgiveness, God, God's purpose, God's will, God's word, James 4, Jesus, life, ministry, pastor, prayer, Romans 8:28, Romans 8:29, salvation, scripture memory, Servando Gonzales, servant of God, Shawn Thomas, sin, stress, stroke | 3 Comments

“When Tragedy Strikes”

Posted on 2024/10/06 by Shawn Thomas

About five weeks ago, tragedy struck in our home. My wife of 42 years, Cheryl, suffered a massive stroke that left her paralyzed on her left side. Leaving the ER in Angleton, she was sent to Jenny Sealy Hospital in … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Home & Family Life | Tagged Baptist, Bible, Cheryl Thomas, Christian life, Christianity, church, church membership, discipleship, First Baptist Church Angleton, First Baptist Church Harrah, God, God's word lamp, gospel, hope, Isaiah 58:11, Jesus, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 118, Psalm 23, Psalms, salvation, scripture memory, Shawn Thomas, stroke, stroke victim, tragedy, trials | 6 Comments

“Putting God First” Matthew 6:33 (2024 New Year Message)

Posted on 2024/01/08 by Shawn Thomas

President Lyndon Johnson’s wife Lady Bird once gave a speech to wives of congressmen. She told them she had once asked Lyndon what he felt were the three most significant priorities in his career, and he named what he felt … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Sermons | Tagged calendar, chief end of man, commitment, daily Bible reading, daily devotions, decision-making, decisions, discipleship, Exodus 20:2, first, first commandment, garden of Eden, Gibeonites, giving, glorify God and enjoy Him, Hebrews 10:25, Jesus Lord, Jesus operating system, Jonathan Edwards heaven, Joshua 9, Katherine Graham's Washington, Lady Bird Johnson, Lord's Day, Lordship, Lyndon Johnson, Mark 1:35, Matthew 6:33, morning priority, New Year, no Bible no newspaper, prayer time, priorities, Proverbs 3:9, Psalm 5:3, putting God first, rich young ruler, Sabbath, salvatiion, schedule, sin, spiritual warning light, Sunday worship, Ten Commandments, tenth, tithe, Westminster Confession, worship | Leave a comment

“Expecting The Unexpected” (James 4:13-17 sermon)

Posted on 2023/10/09 by Shawn Thomas

How many of you expected to be here at Angleton Christian School for worship this morning? I didn’t! Some of you saw my post on Facebook yesterday morning: I listed all the activities, all the things we had going today … Continue reading →

Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Discipleship, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged balance, cancer, change, crisis sermon, do not know what a day may bring, emergencies, fear, Gaza, gospel, heaven, II Timothy 1:7, illness, Israel, Israel Gaza, James 4, Jesus, Lord willing, Luke 12 rich man, plans, salvation, second coming, spirit of fear, unexpected, World War III | 1 Comment

“Christ’s Model of Obedience” (John 14:31 sermon)

Posted on 2023/08/28 by Shawn Thomas

One of the most glorious moments in the American Revolution was George Washington’s daring raid on Trenton, N.J., in December of 1776, when he led his men across the swollen Delaware River in freezing weather to launch a surprise attack … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Sermons | Tagged action of obedience, Battle of Trenton, Bible application, Bible Reading, Bible study, blessed if you do them, children and obedience, Christ, David McCullough 1776, doing, George MacDonald, George MacDonald obedience, George Washington, gospel, Here I stand, II Corinthians 5:21, II Samuel 6 ark, Jesus, Jesus example of obedience, Jesus obedience, John 13:17, John 14:31, Martin Luther Reformation, obedience, obedience quote, obedient, obey, parents and obedience, partial obedience is disobedience, pastors and obedience, personal obedience, salvation, sola scriptura, Sunday School teachers, Washington crossing Delaware | Leave a comment

“Coming To Worship Jesus” (Luke 21:38 sermon)

Posted on 2023/08/21 by Shawn Thomas

Charles Spurgeon once told a story about how Caesar Augustus was invited to a feast in his honor; but the attendance was so poor, and the feast was so mediocre, that he arose in the midst of it and lamented: … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Sermons | Tagged beauty of holiness, C.S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon Caesar Augustus, church, church attendance, clergymen, consider Him, day of preparation, discipleship, family, Hebrews 10:25, holiness, humility, II Samuel 24:24, Isaiah 66:2, Jesus, Jesus glory, Jesus return, John 19:42, Luke 21:28, pastors, Philippians 2, preparation, preparation for worship, pride, Psalm 96:9, Sabbath, sacrifice, sacrifice that cost me nothing, salvation, sleep, Sunday, Sunday morning worship is a Saturday night decision, Sunday sabbath, Sunday worship, worship, worship Jesus, worship sacrifice | Leave a comment

“Will Your Work Perish, or Last?” (John 6:27 sermon)

Posted on 2023/08/14 by Shawn Thomas

Every so often the U.S. economy will have a recession, or a depression — or even what they call a “Crash,” like what happened in 1929. One of the worst in our history was in 1873, when banks and businesses … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Sermons | Tagged 168 hours a week, 5 loves and 2 fish, baptism, Billy Graham, bread, call to ministry, Christian vocation, crash, depression, don't waste your life, Dwight Eisenhower, economic crisis, economy, endure, eternal, eternal investment, eternal life, eternal security, feeding the 5000, fellowship hall, fish, giving, I Corinthians 3:12-15, invest time, Jesus foundation, Jim Eliot, John 6:27, John Piper, ministry, missions, money, perish, priorities, recession, salvation, saved, saved yet so as through fire, service, sinners prayer, soul, stewardship, temporary, that man is no fool, This Is My Story, time, tithe, vocation, work, works | 2 Comments