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
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 2:1-12, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Worship the King," for 12/21/25
- “Immanuel: God With Us” (Matthew 1:23 sermon)
- "The Example of Joseph" (Matthew 1:18-25 sermon)
- "He Will Save His People From Their Sins" (Matthew 1:21 Sermon)
- "The Greatest Verse in the Bible?" (John 3:16 sermon)
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "A 'Real Life' Christmas" (Luke 2:1-11 sermon)
- "Your Response to Christmas" (Matthew 2:1-12 Sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 4:12-25, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson "Invitation," for 12/14/25
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 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
Tag Archives: church membership
“When Tragedy Strikes”
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
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“Discovering First Baptist Angleton”: Session #4 The Nuts & Bolts”
My car’s Owner’s Manual is not my favorite book ever to read — in fact I can’t say I have ever read it all the way through. But I am also really glad that I have it when I need … Continue reading
Posted in Discovering FBCA Membership class lessons
Tagged Acts 1:8 Offering, baptism, Baptist General Convention of Texas, building program church, car owner's manual, church budget and finances, Church Constitution and by-laws, Church Council, church discipline, church financial statement, church membership, church membership class, Church membership commitment, church officers, church polity, Discovering First Baptist Church, God's Vision In Action, Gulf Coast Baptist Association, nuts and bolts of church, Romania mission, salvation, southern baptist cooperative program
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Is Yours A “Refreshing” Church?
“And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.” (II Corinthians 8:13) We should not miss this little sentence, describing what happened to the spirit of Titus … Continue reading
Responsibility & Accountability in the Church
Hebrews 13:17 gives us some specific commands regarding our responsibilities in the church: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy … Continue reading
Make an Altar in Bethel
Genesis 35:1 says: “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.’” God commanded Jacob to move, and … Continue reading
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