shawnethomas

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 9:3-16, “Calling” for 8/04/24.

Posted on 2024/07/27 by Shawn Thomas

An overview for teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s Explore the Bible lesson of Acts 9:3-16 for Sunday, August 4th, 2024, with text highlights, suggested outline, illustrations, discussion questions, and life applications for your group. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO: In 1997, Rosaria Champagne Butterfield was a liberal, lesbian college professor who was researching the Bible to write an article against the religious right. After she published the article, she got a lot of mail, pro and con, but one stuck out to her, from a local pastor, Ken Smith, who asked her some sincere questions about her presuppositions about the Bible. He invited her to have dinner with him and his wife, and they began a long process of loving her, ministering to her, answering questions — and to make a long story short, two years later she gave her life to Jesus as her Lord & Savior, and she is now the wife of a Presbyterian Pastor in North Carolina! She wrote an amazing book about the process of her conversion — I consider it one of the best books I’ve read, because it is so insightful regarding the thought processes of a person God’s working in, and how He spoke to her and changed her. The title of her book? The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert”! Rosaria Butterfield, liberal lesbian college professor, was definitely an “unlikely convert”!

??? Can you share the story of another “unlikely convert” that you know, or heard/read about, who came to the Lord?

(There are so many famous ones, including Chuck Colson, C.S. Lewis, Anthony Flew (atheist debater who famously became a believer in God and possibly a Christian and wrote the book, There Is A God — and others of your own experience.)

Then say something like: today we are going to look at the story of one of the most unlikely men who was ever saved: Saul of Tarsus, who had actually been persecuting Christians, but whom God dramatically saved and changed.

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Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged Acts, Acts 9, Acts 9:3-16, Acts Bible Study, Ananias, Anthony Flew, Apostle Paul, Baptist, C.S. Lewis, calling, child conversion, child salvation, Chuck Colson, Damascus map, Damascus Road, Damascus Road Experience, disciipleship, dramatic conversion stories, evangelism, Explore the Bible, gospel, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lesson outline, Lifeway, Martin Luther conversion story, missons, obedience, Paul, Rosaria Butterfield, Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, salvation, salvation experience, Saul, Saul of Tarsus, Saul to Paul, sharing your testimony, skeuos, Southern Baptist, Sunday school lesson, Sunday School teacher, teacher help, testimonies, testimony, testimony outline, the Road to Damascus, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, There is a God, vessel, witness | 1 Comment

“What Real Faith Looks Like: No Partiality” (James 2:1-4 sermon)

Posted on 2024/07/22 by Shawn Thomas

At one point during the U.S. Civil War, Northern General Ulysses S.Grant gave President Abraham Lincoln and the Secretary of War a list of 8 major generals and 33 brigadier generals whose service he said “the Government ‘could dispense with to advantage.’” President Lincoln looked at the list and told him: “Why, I find that lots of officers on this list are very close friends of yours. Do you want them all dropped?’ General Grant responded: “That’s very true Mr. President. But my personal friends are not always good generals, and I think it is but just to adhere to my recommendations.’” (Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years, p. 629)

Ulysses S. Grant was a very unusual general, and a very extraordinary man. His desire was to show no partiality in something as important as the U.S. Civil War that was going on. The kind of impartiality he demonstrated is very rare. But it should be more common — especially among the people of God, James tells us here. Our passage for today shows us that “What Real Faith Looks Like” is that it demonstrates “No Partiality”!

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Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Sermons | Tagged Are you somebody?, beauty, Bible, Billy Graham, black, Book of James, business, business ethics, Christian life, Christianity, church, faith, favoritism, God, gospel, Hadrians Wall, In Christ Alone, James, James 2, James 2:1-4, Jesus, judgment, Katharine Graham's Washington, Lindy Boggs, money, partial, partiality, poor, prejudice, Proverbs 20:10, race, racial prejudice, reverse discrimination, rich, rich young ruler, Robert Caro, Robert E. Lee, Roman society, Rome, salvation, salvation by faith, sermon, sin, sin of partiality, Steve Jobs, The Country Church, the ground is level at the foot of the cross, The Power Broker, Ulysses S. Grant, Walter Isaacson, Washington Irving, white, worship | Leave a comment

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 8:26-39, “Baptizing”

Posted on 2024/07/20 by Shawn Thomas

An overview for Sunday school teachers and Bible study leaders of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 8:26-39, for Sunday, July 28, with the title, “Baptizing.” A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO: ??? What was the most exciting/interesting/special baptism you have seen???

— Beach baptisms are fun; we did several at a nearby river at one of our previous churches; some churches here by the Gulf of Mexico have baptized down at Surfside Beach.

— We just attended our two grand daughters’ baptisms in North Carolina in May. Our older grand daughter had actually led the younger one to the Lord after she was saved, so that was neat for us. I said I wasn’t missing that baptism for anything!

— I once heard a pastor tell of how a young boy was baptized, but he exited the baptistry to the opposite side – the women’s side. He didn’t know what to do, so he decided to just wait there, and swim underwater to the other side as the service progressed, so no one could see him while he got over to the men’s side. He didn’t realize, however, that the baptistry of their church had a glass front, so when he looked over, the whole church could see him swimming across!

— AND I actually had the privilege of baptizing my own WIFE, who was the pastor’s wife at our first church in Oklahoma City. As I shared once before, she had made a profession of faith when she was 6 and was baptized, but really came to know Christ when she was 16. This had always bothered her, so one Sunday she came down to the front — as a pastor’s wife — and said she needed to be baptized. And we did!

You/your group can share some baptism stories — yours/others — that were special to you. Then talk about how today’s lesson is from Acts 8, where Philip baptizes the Ethiopian treasurer.

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Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged Acts 4:12, Acts 8, Acts 8:26-39, all gods the same, Ardas, baptizing, believers baptism, Bible study, Charles Spurgeon, church in Acts, cross, doctrine of baptism, Early Church, Ethiopia, Ethiopian eunuch, evangelism, Explore the Bible, Gaza Road, gospel, gospel outline, Harmeet Dhillon, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus one way, John 14:6, lesson help, lesson overview, Lifeway, missions, obedience, Pentecost, Philip, repentance and faith, response to the gospel, RNC, salvation, Samaritan Pentecost, same god different name, Sunday School, Sunday school lesson, teacher help, the church, the cross, the gospel, what is the gospel | 2 Comments

“Don’t Waste A Good Crisis” (Hurricane Beryl message, July 2024, Psalm 46)

Posted on 2024/07/15 by Shawn Thomas

Just before the dark days of the Second World War, English Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste”!

His statement has been adopted and re-quoted by many politicians in recent years: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” If there’s a mass murder, they use it to further their gun control program. If there’s crime committed against a homosexual, they use it to further hate crime legislation, and so on. “Never let a good crisis go to waste,” they say. In other words, their philosophy is that you can always use a situation to advance your political position.

Now, while we may not agree with that politically, there is a legitimate application that we can make to that spiritually. We all WILL experience various crises in our lives — Jesus said “in this world you will have tribulation” — and when we do, we really should not “waste” those experiences. What do I mean “waste”? I mean that God always has some purpose for what we go through; there is something good He wants to accomplish; some lesson for us to learn through it. So whenever we go through something hard, we need to make sure that we don’t waste that: “Never waste a good crisis.” Make sure you learn, and do, what God wants you to through it.

And … WE have been through a crisis this week, haven’t we? Do you think any one of us will ever say again: “Oh it’s just a CAT 1” hurricane?! That “CAT 1” hit us pretty hard here: No power/water for many of us; no air conditioning in this South Texas heat!; many are like our neighbor across the street, with a tree crashed onto the roof of their house. We have a pastor friend in Freeport who is recuperating from foot surgery in his home; his wife is battling cancer — and they had a tree branch crash through their ceiling — it literally rained through into their house the other day! It’s been a crisis week for many of us: no electricity, no water, no refrigerator/freezer, no food, no work, no tv, no comfort, no rest.

Yet in all of that, God has a purpose. He has things for us to learn; He has things for us to do. “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” I do believe that is true spiritually. So what are some things we can learn through this “Hurricane Beryl Crisis”? I want us to focus on three things this morning:

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Posted in Sermons | Tagged Bible, blessings, CAT 1, Corrie Ten Boom, COVID, COVID crisis, crises, crisis, crisis ministry, don't waste a good crisis, electricity, faith, give thanks, God, God is our refuge, gratitude, hurricane Beryl, In Christ Alone, Jesus, Lyndon Johnson, material blessings, ministry, My hope is built on nothing less, never let a god crisis go to waste, politics, prayer, Psalm 116:1, Psalm 46, Psalm 46:1, Robert Caro, salvation, Samaritans Purse disaster relief, saving faith, service, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, take for granted, thankful, The Solid Rock, trust, water, well, Winston Churchill | Leave a comment

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 6:1-15, “Serving” for July 21, 2024.

Posted on 2024/07/13 by Shawn Thomas

An overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” Sunday School lesson, for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders. Includes a sample introduction to the lesson, text overview and highlights, illustrations, discussion questions for your class, and spiritual life applications. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO:

??? Can you share a time when someone served you/ministered to you in a specific way that was meaningful to you???

(Here in Angleton, Texas and the surrounding area, we got a direct hit from hurricane Beryl, and we had so many limbs down at our house, blocking our driveway. I only have an electric chainsaw, and our power was out, so I was trying to cut some pretty big branches with a little pole saw. I got most of big limb’s branches cut off, and went inside to rest for a minute — but when I went back out, someone had cut the big main part of it into pieces for me and set it on the curb! I was SO thankful!

You/your group can share your experiences about someone serving you in a meaningful way, then talk about how meeting needs is so important — especially in the church, where we are to demonstrate God’s love for each other and for the world — and that our passage for today shows how the early church was led to minister to some people in their church who had needs.

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Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged Acts 6:1-15, church, church growth, complaint, deacon, deacon ministry, deacon qualificatioins, deacons, diakoneo, diakonos, evangelism, Explore the Bible, Greek, grumbling, Hebrews, Hellenistic, hurricane Beryl, Jews, Lifeway, ministry, ministry to widows, Sanhedrin, service, serving, serving food, Stephen, Sunday School, the twelve, widows, wisdom, witness | 6 Comments

“No Spirit of Fear” (II Timothy 1:7 sermon/Hurricane Beryl, July 7, 2024)

Posted on 2024/07/07 by Shawn Thomas

In March 2020 about a dozen or so of our church members went on a mission trip to Mazatlan, Mexico, to minister with what is now James Trail ministry, with Dan & Meredith Shuman. It was a good trip, but as we started to get ready to come back we were hearing about this “virus” that was going around, causing a lot of concern. And when we came back, the whole world had changed, and honestly there was a lot of fear and panic.

Even from another country I was hearing about all the fear that was going around, and on the flight home I felt led to change my message from what I was going to preach, to II Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

I said at the time that I couldn’t think of a scripture that many of us needed more than that one — and as many of us have been glued to the tv and internet weathercasts over the past couple of days, I felt convicted that we might need again to set aside the message from James that we had planned for today, and look anew at this passage from II Timothy. The specifics of our situation are a little different — but the principle, and our need to trust God in this time, is the same. So let’s look at what this verse has to teach us as we wait for the storm to come:

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Posted in Sermons | Tagged A Leopard Tamed, assurance, be not afraid, Bible, Christianity, confidence, COVID, COVID sermon, Death, discipline, Eleanor Vandevort, faith, fear, fear not, fruit of the Spirit, God, how to be saved, hurricane, hurricane Beryl, hurricane prep, II Timothy 1:7, In Christ Alone, Jesus, Kim Eaves, London Plague, love, Martin Luther plague, ministry, missionary, no fear, no fear in death, no guilt in life no fear in death, panic, power, Puritans, salvation, sermon, sound mind, Sudan, testimony, The Black Death | Leave a comment

Teacher’s Overview of Acts 5:29-42, Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson “Worthy,” for July 14, 2024

Posted on 2024/07/06 by Shawn Thomas

(A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO: ??? Did you/someone you know ever disobey a law/command/guideline, to do something you believed God wanted you to do?
(— A friend of mine and I shared the gospel one time in a college report to the class when the professor had warned us not to. She was pretty ticked off at us, and spoke against us in class.
— I went to India to share the gospel when there was a restriction in place against doing missionary work there …

You/your group can share any experiences you may have had, then transition to the fact that in our text for today, we see how Peter & the apostles in the early church obeyed God rather than men, especially in sharing the Gospel where they lived.

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Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged abortion, Acts, Acts 5, Acts 5:29-42, apostles, balance, Bible, Bible study, C.S. Lewis, chronological snobbery, civil disobedience, cost of discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, discipleship, Ephesians 1:13, evangelism, Explore the Bible, faith, Gamaliel, Geaux Therefore, God of our Fathers, gospel, hate crime, history, Holy Spirit, homosexuality, Jesus is Lord, Jewish Encyclopedia, lessons of history, Lifeway, Lordship, ministry, NOBTS, obedience, persecution, perseverance, Peter, Pharisee, Prince and Savior, repentance, Rex Butler, Romans 10:9, Romans 13:1, Ron DeSantis, salvation, Savior and Lord, sharing, Stephen Boissoin, submission, Sunday School, time will tell, transgender, we must obey God rather than men, Winston Churchill lessons of history, witness, workplace | 1 Comment

“What Real Faith Looks Like: True Religion” (James 1:26-27 sermon)

Posted on 2024/07/01 by Shawn Thomas

What does a “religious” person look like? What do you envision when you think of someone who is “religious”? Someone carrying a big Bible, or wearing a cross around their neck? Maybe somebody speaking from a pulpit, or singing a solo? What do you think of, when you think of a “religious” person?

Somebody might say, “Well now pastor, it’s not about ‘religion,’ it’s about a relationship.” And that’s true. The Bible doesn’t teach that we’re saved by doing a set of “religious deeds,” but through faith in Jesus’ death on the cross for us. We’ve got to have that personal relationship with Him to be saved — not just a set of “religious deeds.” But even understanding that, the Bible DOES use the word “religion” in a positive way. In fact, it does here in our text for today, James 1:26-27, where it says:

“If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

So the Bible doesn’t use the word “religion” solely in a negative way here. In fact, it says here that there is both a positive and a negative kind of religion. It says there is a “worthless” sort of religion, but also a “pure” kind of religion. So “religion” in itself is not bad, James says — IF you have the right KIND of religion. How do you know if you have the right kind of religion? That’s what we are going to look at this morning: what the Bible says here about the nature of true and false religion.

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Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Sermons | Tagged Acts 4:12, Africa, African Queen, assurance, Bible, Bleak House, Book of James, Book of Mormon, bridle tongue, C.S. Lewis, Charles DIckens, Christianity, consumer religion, Dan & Meredith Shuman, doer of the word, false religion, Fight Club, God, hearers of the word, holier than thou, holiness, home, I Timothy 5, James, James 1, James 1:26-27, James 3, James sermons, James Trail Ministry, Jared Wilson, Jesus, Jesus only way, John 14:6, Katharine Hepburn, life, lifestyle, Luke 18, Mahatma Gandhi, Matthew 7:13-14, ministry, missions, missions starts at home, Mormon, Mormonism, Mrs. Jellyby, narrow gate, nursing home visitation, orphans, Pharisee and the publican, pornography, purity, real faith, real salvation, religion, religion starts at home, religious, Rock of Ages song, salvation, sanctification, scripture, self-righteous, test of salvation, True Religion, What Real Faith Looks Like, widows, words | 1 Comment

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 4:36-5:11, “Accountable,” for July 7, 2024

Posted on 2024/06/29 by Shawn Thomas

An overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 4:35-5:11 for Sunday, July 7, 2024, with the title, “Accountable.” A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO: ??? What is a name you would NOT give your child, because that name has a bad connotation for us today???

(EX: Adolph, because of Hitler; Judas, because of the traitorous apostle; Benedict, because of Benedict Arnold, and so on.)

Then = This morning we are going look at a passage which features two characters whose names have gone down in Bible infamy: Ananias & Sapphira. This lesson is actually not as negative as one might think; there is also a great positive example of sacrificial giving in this passage, as well as the famous negative example of hypocritical religion — and of God’s judgment on those who practice it.

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Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews | Tagged Accountable, Acts 4, Acts 4:36-5:11, Acts 5, Ananias, Ananias and Sapphira, appearance, awe, Barnabas, Bible study, Bible study helps, Charles Spurgeon, China, Christianity, church, Cyprus, encourager, example, Explore the Bible, fear, George Eliot, giving, giving story, God, God judge, heart, hypocrisy, Jerry Rankin, Jesus, John Wanamaker, Joseph, judge not, judgment, Lifeway, Middlemarch, motivation, ox, Psalm 139, Psalm 90, responsibility, sacrifice, sacrificial giving, Sapphira, secret sins, Sunday School, Sunday school lesson, tithe, worship | 4 Comments

“What Real Faith Looks Like: Doers of the Word” (James 1:22-25 sermon)

Posted on 2024/06/24 by Shawn Thomas

In late 1942, the United States landed troops in North Africa to begin the liberation of Europe from Hitler’s Nazi Germany. In the early days after the invasion, the U.S. Army initially was not making much progress in their march across North Africa. General Dwight Eisenhower was frustrated with what many of his commanders were doing — or NOT doing! He wrote: “There’s a lot of big talk and desk hammering around this place — but very few doers!” (Rick Atkinson, An Army at Dawn, p. 59)

I wonder if that is how the Lord must feel sometimes as He watches us, His people, here on earth? Does He see a lot of “big talk,” “but very few DOERS”? I think the fact that God placed this passage here shows that this is indeed what He too often sees from His people: a bunch of “big talk,” but “very few doers” of His word!

Last week we saw in James 1:19-21 that real faith should affect every relationship in our lives: that we are to be “quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger” towards our spouse, children, work associates, and neighbors. But, try as we may, we will fail at those things — and so we need to “receive the word implanted, which is able to save (our) souls.” Our only hope of heaven is to trust in Jesus’ righteousness, not our own.

But now James follows this up with a cautionary word here in :22-25. He says, “But prove yourselves DOERS of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” We need to make sure we don’t “lull ourselves into a false sense of complacency” by thinking that we’re right with the Lord, when we aren’t really doing what He commanded us to do. Let’s look at how James 1:22-25 says that “What Real Faith Looks Like” means being “doers of the word”:

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Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Sermons | Tagged An Army At Dawn, application, better cheese, Bible, big talk, Book of James, change, change your life, Christianity, church, doers of the word, Dwight Eisenhower, Edward Dolnich, faith, few doers, God, hearer or doer, hearers only, hearing the word, Isaac Newton, James, James 1, James 1:22-25, Jesus, life change, Luke 3, Mark 6:20, Matthew 7:24-27, mirror, mirror of the word, New Testament, perfect attendance church, practical application, Psalm 119:11, repentance, Rick Atkinson, Robert Boyle, sanctification, scripture, The Clockwork Universe, what shall we do, word of God | Leave a comment

shawnethomas

“What Real Faith Looks Like: No Partiality” (James 2:1-4 sermon)

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 8:26-39, “Baptizing”

“Don’t Waste A Good Crisis” (Hurricane Beryl message, July 2024, Psalm 46)

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 6:1-15, “Serving” for July 21, 2024.

“No Spirit of Fear” (II Timothy 1:7 sermon/Hurricane Beryl, July 7, 2024)

“What Real Faith Looks Like: True Religion” (James 1:26-27 sermon)

Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 4:36-5:11, “Accountable,” for July 7, 2024

“What Real Faith Looks Like: Doers of the Word” (James 1:22-25 sermon)

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