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: cross
Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Acts 8:26-39, “Baptizing”
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: … Continue reading
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
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“Suffering Servant/Glorious King: Consider Him!” (Isaiah 53:8 sermon)
A few years ago I was reading an interview they did with a man, who was highly regarded as someone who was very intelligent, and they asked him: “Do you believe in heaven and the afterlife?” And this man answered, … Continue reading
Posted in Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King, Sermons
Tagged Bill Tolar, Bill Tolar testimony, C.S. Lewis Screwtape Letters, consider Him, cross, demons, devil, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 53 sermon, Isaiah 53:8, Jesus, Matthew Henry, Messiah, Old Testament prophecy, resurrection, Romans 1:4, salvation, sin, spiritual warfare, substitutionary atonement, Suffering Servant, vindication
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“Suffering Servant/Glorious King: Like A Lamb” (Isaiah 53:7 sermon)
In Acts Chapter 8 the Bible tells the story of how the Treasurer of the country of Ethiopia was in his chariot reading a verse from the scroll of Isaiah, when the deacon Philip walked up to him. Acts tells … Continue reading
Posted in Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King
Tagged Acts 8, atonement, Behold Me, blood on the doorpost, cross, Ethiopian eunuch, Gadhafi, gentleness, Isaiah, Isaiah 53, Isaiah sermon, Jesus, John 10:17, John 3:16, John Milton, lamb, Like a Lamb, meekness, Paradise Lost, Passover, Passover Lamb, Philippians 2, Psalm 37, Robert E. Lee, Rock of Ages, Romans 3:20, sacrifice, salvation, substitution, substitutionary atonement, Suffering Servant, the cross, the lamb of God, volunteer
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Teacher’s Overview of Genesis 22:1-14 “A Substitute” Lifeway “Explore the Bible” lesson for March 3, 2024
A brief overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders of Lifeway’s Explore the Bible lesson of Genesis 22:1-14 “A Substitute”, for March 3, 2024. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRODUCTION: Gene Kranz, … Continue reading
Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews
Tagged a test, Abraham, atonement, children, Chuck Colson, cross, Explore the Bible, Failure is not an option, faith, Father Maximilian Kolbe, Gene Kranz, Genesis, Genesis 22, Genesis 22:1-14, Hebrews 11, I Samuel 15:22, Isaac, Isaiah 53, Jehovah Jireh, Jesus, Lifeway, Luke 6:46, Mt. Moriah, NASA, obedience, obey, sacrifice, Sarah, substitutionary atonement, test, testing, the cross, the Lord the Provider, trials, Yahweh Jireh
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“Suffering Servant/Glorious King: The Cost and Benefits of His Atonement” (Isaiah 53:5 sermon)
Several years ago, the wife of a pastor friend of mine in Oklahoma went out to her car at school and found a traffic ticket on it. But when she looked at it closely, she found that the ticket was … Continue reading
Posted in Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King
Tagged Acts India Mission, atonement, blood, chastened, chastisement, cross, crushed, forgiveness, grace, healing, healing Hosea, healing in the atonement, healing symbolic, I Corinthians 15:19, I John 1:9, II Corinthians 12:7, II Timothy 4:20, Isaiah, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 53 sermon, Isaiah 53:5, Jesus, Jesus death, Jonathan Edwards, Joni Earickson Tada, peace, pierced, Romans 5:1, salvation, Sanjay Charan, scourged, scourging, shalom, sin, substitutionary atonement, Yitzhak Rabin death
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“Suffering Servant/Glorious King: His Substitutionary Atonement” (Isaiah 53:4 sermon)
In Charles Dickens’ famous novel, A Tale of Two Cities, he writes of two men who, although they looked very similar, and both loved the same young lady, but they were very different in character. Sidney Carton was a man … Continue reading
Posted in Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King, Sermons
Tagged bear sin, Bible, burden of sin, Charles DIckens, cross, faith, forgiveness, God, guilt, Hurricane Katrina, Isaiah, Isaiah 53:4, It Is Well, Jesus, Job, John 9, John Bunyan, judgment, leprosy, Leviticus, Leviticus 16, Mesopotamian King substitute ritual, Messiah, my sin o the bliss, nailed to the cross, Newbery Medal, Pilgrim's Progress, reward, salvation, scapegoat, Sid Fleischman, Sidney Carton, sin, substitutionary atonement, suffering, Suffering Servant, Tale of Two Cities, The Whipping Boy
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“Suffering Servant/Glorious King: Man of Sorrows” (Isaiah 53:2-3 sermon)
Abraham Lincoln was not an attractive man; in fact, people described him as “homely;” he had a number of facial defects. His own cabinet secretary called him a “long-armed ape.” And yet this “unsightly man,” as some called him, is … Continue reading
Posted in Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King, Sermons
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Acts 4:12, appearance, celebrity Christians, Christian rock star, cool Christian, cross, desert, flower crushed, gospel, Isaiah, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 53:2-3, Jesus, Jesus appearance, Jesus lamb, Jesus only way, Jesus suffering, Jesus uniqueness, John 14:6, Lamb of God, man of sorrows, Mark 8:31, marred more than any man, Messiah, Old Testament, Parable of the Sower, perfume, prophecy, Proverbs 20:9, Psalm 139, resurrection plant, Revelation 5, righteousness, Romans 3:10, salvation, sin, style vs substance, substitutionary atonement, Suffering Servant, tender shoot, worthy is the Lamb
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“The Substitutionary Atonement” (I Peter 2:24 sermon)
In 2018, an ISIS terrorist took a young woman hostage in southern France, threatening to kill her. In a bold move, a police officer, Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame, offered to take the place of the young woman. The terrorist let … Continue reading
Posted in Doctrine/Theology, I Peter sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged ask Jesus into your heart, atonement, Becky Thatcher, capital punishment, change, Christ crucified, Christianity, cross, cross of Christ, die to sin, doctrine, Elizabeth Nel, evangelism, Exodus 13 lamb, forgiveness, good works, I Peter 2:24, I Peter 2:24 sermon, Isaiah 53, ISIS, It is finished, It Is Well, Leviticus 14, life change, Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame, Mark Twain, Old Testament, on the cross, paid in full, repentance, sacrifice, salvation, sanctification, sin, substitute, substitutionary atonement, tetelestai, the cross, the word of the cross, theology, Tom Sawyer, transformation, Winston Churchill, witness, witnessing, works
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“The Call To Holiness” (I Peter 1:14-16)
Duncan Campbell was a Scottish minister who lived in the mid-1900’s. He was involved in an amazing revival in the Hebrides Islands in the northwest of Scotland. Years ago he said, “Holiness — a demonstration of godly living — is … Continue reading
Posted in I Peter sermons, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged adultery immorality, Be killing sin or it will be killing you, business, business ethics, C.S. Lewis, cathedral, compromise, cross, cross of Christ, daily repentance, drug use, drunkenness, Duncan Campbell, holiness, holiness of God, holy, Holy God, holy holy holy, holy life, Holy One, Holy Spirit, I am holy, I Peter 1:14-16, I Peter sermon, II Corinthians 5:17, imputed righteousness, Isaiah 6, Ivory soap 99 and 44/100 percent pure, Job, John Owen, justification, Leviticus 11:44, Matthew 5:48, moral life, Pamela Brooks, Paula Mutina agency, pornography, repent, repentance, revival, salvation, sanctification, sexuality, snake, standard of holiness, trisagion, vocation, Yahweh, you shall be holy
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