Lifeway “Explore the Bible” Jonah 1:15-2:10 “No Escape”

Posted on 2022/09/25 by Shawn Thomas

(A brief overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Jonah 1:15-2:10 for Sunday, October 2, 2022, with the title, “No Escape.” A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO: The Teacher’s Book actually has a pretty good introduction to this lesson, but let me give you some more specifics on it. Joe Louis, the famous boxer, faced Billy Conn in June of 1946. Conn was 25 pounds lighter than Louis, and had faced him before, so his strategy was going to be to dodge and run, and not trade punches with Louis. Sportswriters asked Louis how he would deal with Conn, and Louis famously said, “He can run, but he can’t hide.” And he was right — Louis knocked him out in the 8th round of that fight!

That wouldn’t be a bad title for this lesson: “You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide.” That is definitely true of our relationship with God. And that’s definitely something the lesson this week teaches us. Jonah could run, but he could’t hide from God — and neither can we!  

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Teachers’ Overview of Lifeway “Explore the Bible” lesson: Amos 9:5-15, “Hope in God”

Posted on 2022/09/18 by Shawn Thomas

A brief overview, for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Amos 9:5-15, for Sunday, September 25, 2022 with the title: “Hope in God.”

A video version of this overview is available at:

INTRO: One way you could begin the lesson this week, would be to share the true story one of my former church members sent me a week or two ago; he said he was in the hospital for something, and the hospital chaplain had a prayer time over the public address system for all the patients. He thought that was really neat — until the chaplain prayed: “God, we know You’re doing doing the best You can …”.   When he sent me that, I was like, “Oh my.”  You could talk with your class about, “What was wrong with that prayer?” The answer, of course, God is not some “pitiful” figure who’s up there “just trying to do the best He can”! He’s Almighty God, the Lord of the Universe, and there is NOTHING too difficult for Him.  We need to better realize just Who He is, and what He can do — and that we are accountable to Him, which our lesson for this week talks about.  

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“Where’s Your Glory?” (Jeremiah 9:23-24 sermon)

Posted on 2022/09/12 by Shawn Thomas

It’s football season, and many college football fans virtually live and die on the success of their football teams. Fans wear their team’s colors on game day, and get excited when they win, and bask in the glory of that victory for a day or two — OR get really depressed when they lose. In a very real sense, it can be said that football fans “glory” in their team.

That sense of “glorying” in a football team like that, helps us to understand the heart of the meaning of Jeremiah 9:23 when it says, “let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches, but let him boasts, boast of this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD …”.

The word “boast” that is used throughout this verse is the Hebrew word “halal,” we get our word “Hallelujah” from it. It means “to praise, to glory, to boast” in something — like many people today do their favorite sports team. What you praise or glory in says a lot about what’s really important in your life. And God has a word for us here in these verses about what we SHOULD and should NOT boast or glory in: 

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Teachers’ Overview of Lifeway Explore the Bible: Amos 5:4-15

Posted on 2022/09/11 by Shawn Thomas

A brief overview for Sunday school teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Amos 5:4-15 for Sun. Sept 18, 2022, “Seek God.”

A video version of the overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO: You could ask your class: “What is something you spent a lot of time looking for, and why?” One of the “sad” stories of my childhood, is that I had a favorite little Matchbox car, and I treasured it so much, that I dug a hole in the back yard, and buried it there. But when I went back the next day, I couldn’t find again the place where I had buried it! I looked and looked and dug and searched, but I couldn’t find it! I searched diligently for it because it was my favorite, so I put a lot of time into it — though sadly I never found it.

We all have stories like that; If you have one, share it yourself, and encourage your class to share theirs too. Why they spent a lot of time seeking something, and why it was so important to them.

And then you could say: today our lesson from Amos is on Seeking GOD. HE is the most important One we can ever seek — and we need to more into seeking HIM, than into seeking anyone or anything else.  

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Teachers’ Overview of Lifeway Explore the Bible: Amos 4:1-13, “Turn to God

Posted on 2022/09/04 by Shawn Thomas

(A brief overview for Sunday school teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Amos 4:1-13, for Sunday, September 11, 2022, with the title, “Turn To God.”

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

INTRO: I might ask my class: Did you ever discipline a child, or an employee, to get them to stop a certain behavior?  If we think about it, most of us have:

I remember when we were at our first church in OKC, our oldest two sons were little, and we lived by a very busy street. We told them there was a line in the front yard (at a certain tree) that they were not to cross, because it took them too close to the street, where they could be hit and killed. If they crossed that line, they would get a spanking. And we made sure we observed that rule every time. It was not that we just “enjoyed” spanking them; we were trying to get them to obey us in this crucial thing. Their lives may have depended upon it! So there was a purpose in the pain were inflicting on them.  

You/your group will have stories like this that you can share. Most of us don’t just “get a kick” out of disciplining our kids, or employees, or whomever — but we do it because there is some behavior we are aiming for them to change. 

THEN I would say: this is what we see GOD doing in our passage for today.  We will see here that God sent a series of calamities upon Israel, but He was doing for a specific purpose: to get them to return to Him. (If you don’t use this in the introduction, you might use it in Pt. III below …)

OR you might open class by talking about “warnings.” 

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“What God Wants From Us” (Micah 6:8 sermon)

Posted on 2022/08/29 by Shawn Thomas

Both the public schools, and our Angleton Christian School have resumed classes now. And I’m sure as classes began, most teachers shared with their students their expectations, right from the beginning: here’s how we need you to act, in your conduct; here’s what is required of you, assignment-wise, to get a certain grade. And that’s good; it’s good to know what the expectations are, going in.

And we might say the same thing is true in our relationship with God. What does God want from us? What does He expect of me? What does He care about — and NOT care about! Maybe you’re here at First Baptist Angleton for the first time — or maybe even any church for the first time — or for the first time in a long time. Or maybe you have come today because you’re seeking God in a special way at this time in your life. As you seek to come to Him, what does He want from you? It’s good to know, right?  

Well, that’s what our passage for today shows us. Verse 6 says, “With what shall I come to the Lord?” In other words, what does God want from me? Verse 8 answers the question: “He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you.” And He shows us here what He wants, both in our vertical relationship towards Him, and in our horizontal relationships with other people. So let’s look at what God’s word says He wants from us today:

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Teachers Overview of Explore the Bible Amos 2:4-16, “Listen To God”

Posted on 2022/08/28 by Shawn Thomas

(A brief overview for Sunday school teachers and Bible Study leaders of the Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson of Amos 2:4-16, for Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022, “Listen to God.” The video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO: I might spend a little time introducing: THE MINOR PROPHETS, the 12 books that finish out the Old Testament. 

I’d emphasize they are not “minor” in importance; only minor in SIZE. 

But they have a powerful message.

Unfortunately, because they are small in length, and tucked away at the end of the OT, they often don’t get their due.

ONE EXERCISE you could do at/near the beginning of this lesson:  have a handout sheet with the 12 minor prophets listed, and see what your members can write down about each of these 12: do they know what that book is about; do they have a verse memorized in it, etc? OR instead of doing it individually, you could all chip in together calling out what they know, while you write it on the Dry Erase board or whatever you have.  I think what we ‘d find is that many of us just don’t know these 12 “minor prophets” very well — maybe Jonah or another 1 or 2 — but God has a lot for us in these books. 

We are going to be looking at FOUR of these “minor prophets” this quarter: Amos, Jonah, Hosea, and Micah. Starting with Amos today.

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“The Spirit In Us” (Romans 8:9-17sermon)

Posted on 2022/08/22 by Shawn Thomas

In Acts Chapter 19, the Apostle Paul is on his way to Ephesus, and he comes across some disciples. He asked them: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They said to him: “No, we have not even heard whether there IS a Holy Spirit.” Paul said to them: “Into what then were you baptized?” (Because Jesus commanded us to be baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.) You can kind of “read between the lines” and hear the shock and surprise in Paul’s voice: “You haven’t heard about the Holy Spirit? Into what then were you BAPTIZED if you haven’t heard of the Holy Spirit!” 

Sadly, you could be in a number of churches today and not hear anything about the Holy Spirit for a long time. But it shouldn’t be that way. The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith: that God exists eternally in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God with us; He is Jesus in us. He is vital to the Christian life, as we shall see, and every genuine Christian has the Holy Spirit inside of them. 

Romans 8 is one of the greatest chapters in all the word of God, and it was our privilege to read it this week. One of the things we saw in it as we read, is that it repeatedly refers to the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives as believers. Let’s review briefly what Romans 8 tells us about the work of the Holy Spirit in us as God’s people: 

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Teachers’ Overview of Lifeway’s Explore the Bible lesson: II Kings 22:8-20

Posted on 2022/08/21 by Shawn Thomas

A brief overview of Lifeway’s Explore the Bible lesson of II Kings 22:8-20 for Sun., Aug. 28, 2022 “God Moves.” A video version of the overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO:  Have you ever been cleaning up, or digging through something — and come across an unusual find?

When I was a boy I traded my fleet of model ships for another friend’s baseball card collection. Years later I was digging through the attic and found those baseball cards: Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Tom Seaver — and Nolan Ryan’s rookie card! What a great find — and they have just been shoved away in the attic! 

But today we are going to look at an even greater “find” — when the word of God was “found” in the Temple of God in II Kings 22!

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“Gratitude: Your First Step Towards God” (Romans 1:21 sermon)

Posted on 2022/08/15 by Shawn Thomas

When John F. Kennedy was president, he was at a dinner one evening when an assistant defense secretary’s wife told him that every night when her husband comes home, she says to him: “How can they say those things about you? Aren’t they all awful!” — referring to the news of the day. Kennedy said to her, “You don’t say that to your husband when he comes home, do you?  That’s not what you should do. Find one GOOD thing they say, say, ‘Isn’t that great?’” He said: I know I don’t want to rehash all that negative stuff when I get home; let me hear something positive that I can be grateful for. (Dallek, Camelot’s Court, p. 124)

That’s a good word not only for a husband or a wife, in their relationship, but for ALL of us, ALL the time. It’s so easy with all that’s going on in our lives, and in our world today, to focus on the negative things around us, and if we do, we just get dragged down by it. But a better course is to focus on we we have to thankful for. Being grateful will make a huge difference not only in our daily attitude, but also in the whole direction of our lives. And as Romans 1 shows us, if we are NOT grateful, it will take us down the worst of roads, and to the worst of destinations.

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