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 Preview of Matthew 16:13-26, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson: "Following Jesus" for 3/15/26
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "This Is My Story: The Man Born Blind" (John 9 sermon)
- Teacher's Preview of Matthew 15:1-11+, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson for March 8, 2026, "Real Devotion"
- "The Message of the Cross" (I Cor. 1:18-24 sermon)
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "The Greatest Verse in the Bible?" (John 3:16 sermon)
- "Suffering Servant/Glorious King: The Cost and Benefits of His Atonement" (Isaiah 53:5 sermon)
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "The Disciplines of Disciples" (I Timothy 4:7-10 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: cost of discipleship
Teacher’s Preview of Matthew 16:13-26, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson: “Following Jesus” for 3/15/26
An overview for teachers, including a suggested introduction to the lesson, text highlights and outline, illustrations you can share, discussion questions for your group, and spiritual life applications you can make. A video version of this overview is available on … Continue reading
Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews
Tagged atonement, baptism, Baptist, Baptist Sunday school lesson, Bible, Bible study, Book of Matthew, Caesarea Philippi, Carl Trueman, cheap grace, Christ the Son of the Living God, Christos Kurios, confession of faith, cost of discipleship, cross, deny your self, discipleship, Explore the Bible, expressive individualism, follow Me, following Jesus, gates of hell, God, gospel, Holy Spirit, Jack Phillips baker, Jesus, Jesus death, Jesus is Lord, Jesus Messiah, Kaisar Kurios, Lifeway, lose your soul, Louis Slotkin, Matthew, Matthew 16:13-26, Matthew 1:6, on this rock, persecution, Peter, Peter pope, profession of faith, resisting temptation, sacrifice, salvation, self, Shawn Thomas, Simon Peter, soul, Southern Baptist, substitutionary atonement, Sunday School, take up your cross, temptation, The Glory and the Dream, Who is Jesus, William Manchester, Winston Churchill, www.shawnethomas.com
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Teacher’s Overview of Acts 5:29-42, Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson “Worthy,” for July 14, 2024
(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 … Continue reading
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
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“Leave Us Alone”?
“Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wildereness.” … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Discipleship
Tagged cost of discipleship, discipleship, Exodus 14:12, sacrifice, service
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The Cost of Discipleship
“Then a scribe came and said to Him, ‘Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.’ Jesus said to him, ‘The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to … Continue reading
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