Category Archives: Discipleship

“An Effective Witness” (I Peter 3:15 sermon)

Posted on 2019/10/21 by Shawn Thomas

A couple of weeks ago, a group from our church went to Houston see the play “The Hiding Place,” about how Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsy were taken by the Nazis into a concentration camp during World War … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, I Peter sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged "The Weight of Glory", 30-second elevator speech, always being ready, assurance, attitude, attitude and witnessing, Betsy Ten Boom, C.S. Lewis, Corrie Ten Boom, CPR, Effective Witness, Ephesians 2 without hope, evangelism, every person you meet, Gail White testimony, gentleness, God's provision, God's purpose, gospel, gospel outline, gospel presentation, hope, I Peter 3:15, I Peter 3:15 sermon, lifestyle, lifestyle evangelism, lifestyle witness, Man's Need, Man's Response, not out to win arguments out to win people, prepared to witness, ready, reverence, Roman Road of salvation, salvation, testimony, The Hiding Place, the hope within you, witness, witness stand for Jesus, witnessing | Leave a comment

“God’s Rules For Christian Conduct” (I Peter 3:8-12 sermon)

Posted on 2019/10/07 by Shawn Thomas

When George Washington was a little boy, he copied out a document with the title: “110 Rules of Civility,” which was a common school assignment in his day. Because we have Washington’s copy in his own hand, it has become … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, I Peter sermons, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged "Going Deeper With God", answered prayer, attitudes, blessing, brotherly love, C.S. Lewis, Christian home life, church, church family, church family life, church relationships, confession, daily quiet time, deeds, demons, devil, domestic life, George Washington's Rules of Civility, gospel, Greg Frizzell, harmony, hindered prayer, holiness, holy life, home, horizontal relationships, humility, I Peter 3:8-12, I Peter sermon, II Corinthians 2:11, imperative, imperative of holiness, kind-hearted, love, marriage, MasterLife, philadelphia, plan of salvation, prayer, Psalm 34, relationships, relationships church, repentance, revenge, Rules For Christian Conduct, salvation, sanctification, Satan, Satan's schemes, schemes of the enemy, Screwtape, screwtape letters, sin, sumpathos, sympathetic, temptation, thoughts, words, Wormwood | Leave a comment

“In His Steps: When We Suffer” (I Peter 2:19-23 sermon)

Posted on 2019/09/03 by Shawn Thomas

Cheryl & I love to read and watch the old Agatha Christie detective stories, so last year we each read her autodbiography. In it Mrs. Christie tells of a teacher at her girls school growing up. She said she couldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, I Peter sermons, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Agatha Christie biography, an eye for an eye, become like Christ, Christian life suffering, Christians and persecution, Christians and suffering, Christlikeness, commit to God, despair, discipleship, do not be overcome by evil, do not take your own revenge, entrust to God, faith, following Christ, foolish suffering, fret not, godly suffering, holiness, holy, I Peter 2:19-23, I Peter 2:20, I Peter sermon, I will repay says the Lord, in His steps, In His steps suffering, J.R.R. Tolkien, Joe McKeever, Lord of the Rings, love your enemies, Matthew 26:50, Matthew 5 sermon on the mount, meekness Psalm, never take your own revenge, payback, persecuted for Jesus, persecution, Proverbs 20:22, Psalm 37, revenge, ring of power, Romans 12:17, Romans 12:19, salvation, suffer, suffering, suffering for Jesus, trust, trust God, trust in the Lord and do good, turn the other cheek, why did God do this?, you can't fight the enemy with his own ring without turning into an enemy | Leave a comment

“In His Steps” (I Peter 2:21 sermon)

Posted on 2019/08/26 by Shawn Thomas

There were many different college football teams represented here today: we had Longhorn fans, and Aggie fans; Houston and Baylor — even a few Sooner fans — and many others. There are a lot of college football teams to follow … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, I Peter sermons, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Abraham Lincoln suffering, Carl Sandburg Abraham Lincoln, chastening fell upon Him, children, Christ suffered, Christian motivation, church, college football, discipleship, enemies, example, follow, follow Me, following Jesus, go to church, hardship, humbling, hupogrammo, I Peter 2:21, I Peter 2:21 sermon, imitation, in His steps, Isaiah 53, Jesus example, Jesus suffering, life, marriage beliefs, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Matthew 4 follow Me, ministry, motivation, no condemnation, pattern, persecution, personal response, respond, Romans 8:1, RSVP, sacrifice, salvation gift, submit to authority, suffering, trace, wrath of God | 2 Comments

“You’re Not From Around Here” (I Peter 2:11-12 sermon)

Posted on 2019/08/12 by Shawn Thomas

Our daughter Libby grew up in Oklahoma and Louisiana, but since she has been married and in the ministry, she has lived in some different parts of the country, where they talk differently, and do things differently. She and Josh … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, I Peter sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged "Show me now", abstain, abstinence, body temple, care, children's choir, Christian "hate speech", Christian behavior, Christian life, Christian living, discipleship, Eliza Doolittle, enemies, evangelism, family, grace, holier than thou, holiness, homosexuality, hypocrites, I Corinthians 6:12, I Corinthians 6:19-20, I John 2:3-4, I Peter 2:11-12, I Peter sermon, imitation, joy, legalism, libertine, libertines, libertinism, lifestyle evangelism, lifestyle witness, living in a fishbowl, love, lust, marriage, My Fair Lady, persecution of Christians, repent, repentance, responsibility, salvation, sanctification, Show me!, witness, worldly lusts, You're not from around here | Leave a comment

“God’s Purpose For Your Life” (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)

Posted on 2019/07/22 by Shawn Thomas

One of the most common questions people ask in life is, “What am I here for?” If you think we have just “evolved” from nothing, then there IS no good answer for that. A genuine atheist will tell you that … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, I Peter sermons, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Aslan, atheist meaning of life, C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia, choir, church building, coral reef, Ephesians 2 dead in sin, evangelism, Exodus 30, gift of God eternal life, Hebrews 13:15, I Peter 2:4-5, I Peter 2:4-5 sermon, incense, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lion Witch Wardrobe, living stones, Matthew 1:6, Matthew 24, meaning of life, new building, Peter rock, prayer, prayer as incense, Psalm 141:2, Psalm 5:3, purpose, Queen Jada, Revelation 5:8, Revelation 8:3, Romans 6:23, salvation, sinners prayer, spiritual sacrifices, spiritual temple, stone statues, Temple, temple of God, the church, the church is not the building, Thomas Lord Fairfax, wages of sin is death, worship God at the lake, Writing by Stephen King | 2 Comments

“The Growing Christian Life” (I Peter 1:22 sermon)

Posted on 2019/06/24 by Shawn Thomas

I have noticed that a lot of time and effort is spent around here by people trying to make things grow. They are trying to grow grass in their yard; or tomatoes or flowers in their garden, or fruit trees … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, I Peter sermons, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged adoption, adoption challenges, adoption gospel, agape love, anger, Aristides behold how they love one another, baby growth, behold how they love one another, born again, conversion, decisions, discipleship, evangelism, fellowship, gospel, gospel and truth, grow in love, growing Christian life, growth, Hadrian Aristides, how to grow, I John 4:8, I Peter, I Peter 1:22, I Peter 1:22 sermon, I Timothy 1:5, John 13:34-35, love, love the goal, mature Christian, mind will emotions, obedience to the truth, obey, obey the gospel, outreach, philadelphia love, purify, reprogramming, salvation, sanctification, soul, spiritual growth, truth, witness of love | Leave a comment

“Pilgrim’s Progress” (I Peter 1:1-2 sermon)

Posted on 2019/04/08 by Shawn Thomas

The Bible is the #1 best-selling, most-read book of all time. But right behind it, is The Pilgrim’s Progress, widely considered the second most-read book in history. It was written by Puritan John Bunyan, in the form of an allegory: … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Doctrine/Theology, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged aliens, ambassador, baptism of Jesus, Bible, Chris Boniol, David McCullough Mornings on Horseback, doctrine, evangelism, gardener, George W. Bush Muslims, God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, Great Commission, Gregory of Nazianzus, Hebrews 11:13, I Peter 1:1-2, I Peter 2:11, I Peter sermon, II Corinthians 5:20, Islam and the Trinity, John Bunyan, modalism, not of this world, pilgrim, Pilgrim's Progress, pilgrims, place kicker, planted, Puritans, purpose, scripture, sown, The Pilgrim's Progress, Theodore Roosevelt Sr., this world is not your home, Trinity, Triune God, vocation, when I say God I mean Father Son and Holy Spirit, witness | 3 Comments

“Pursuing Holiness” (Hebrews 12:14 sermon)

Posted on 2019/03/24 by Shawn Thomas

The old Puritans of England in the 1500-1600’s have gotten what J.I. Packer calls “a bad rap.” Usually if someone calls a person a “Puritan”, or says that something is “Puritanical”, they mean it as an insult: that the person … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged applying scripture, Arthur Bennett, beatific vision, cathedral of Milan, conviction, daily quiet time, desire for holiness, forgiveness, Hebrews 12:14, holiness, holy, holy holy holy, I John 1:9, I John 2:3, I John 3:2, I John 3:3, If I do not walk holily, II Corinthians 5:17, II Timothy 3:16, Innocents Abroad, Isaiah 6, J.I. Packer, Javert, Les Miserables, Mark Twain, Matthew 5:8, morning devotions, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 17:15, Puritans, pursuit of holiness, repentance, sanctification, Seeing God, sin, sinners prayer, Stars song Les Miserables, U-turn, Valley of Vision book, Victor Hugo | 1 Comment

“Your Daily Time With God” (Mark 1:35 sermon)

Posted on 2019/03/18 by Shawn Thomas

Back in the 1950’s, A.W. Tozer decried many of the weaknesses he saw developing in American Christianity. One thing he preached about was the desire of American Christians for “shortcuts” to spiritual growth: “In my creature impatience I am often … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged A.W. Tozer, appointment with God, Bible Reading, daily quiet time, devotional time, devotions, Ephesians 6, God the Son, I Peter 2:24, In the morning O LORD You will hear my voice, Jesus, Jesus example, love, Mark 1:35, MasterLife, Model Prayer outline, morning devotions, morning prayer, persistence, Person of God, place, praise, pray without ceasing, prayer, prayer time, preschool mom, procedure, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 119:64, Psalm 5:3, relationship, shut the door, social media, spiritual armor, Stephen King On Writing, Suzanna Wesley prayer apron, time, time with God, Trinity, Triune God | 1 Comment