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 25:31-46, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson "Active Faith" for May 17, 2026
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 24:36-51, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, "Alert" for May 10, 2026
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "Seeking Him First" (Matthew 6:33 sermon)
- "This Is My Story: The Philippian Jailer" (Acts 16:25-34 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 20:1-16, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Grace," for 4/19, 2026
- "The Word That Sustains In Difficult Days" (Habakkuk 2:1-3 sermon)
- "Inviting Jesus Into Your Home" (Luke 10:38-42 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: discipleship
“The Mary Who Anointed The Lord”
“It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.” (John 11:2) What is it that are you known for? Sometimes we are known by others for being … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged commitment, discipleship, John 1:12, Matthew 26:6-13, worship
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“Reaching, Teaching, Caring: Following the Footsteps of Jesus” (Matthew 4:23 sermon)
The yellow footprints you see are scattered all over our Marine Corps Recruit Depots in San Diego and in Parris Island. In the early stages of a Marine recruit’s time at the training base, these footprints show the young Recruits … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Matthew sermons, Ministry, Uncategorized
Tagged "reaching, caring, Church ministry, CT Stuff, discipleship, evangelism, Jesus example, Matthew 4:23 sermon, ministry, ministry model, mission statement, Only one life, Reaching Teaching Caring, Sunday School, teaching, vision statement, worship
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Sickness For The Glory Of God?
“This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” (John 11:4) The Bible repeatedly teaches us that God is to be glorified in everything … Continue reading
“Following Jesus” (Matthew 4:18-22 sermon)
Our passage for today describes how Jesus saw Peter & Andrew, and James & John, with their boats and nets and relatives, that He said to them, “Follow Me.” And they got up, left everything, and followed Him. What would … Continue reading
Posted in Matthew sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged discipleship, evangelism, follow Me, following Jesus, Jesus, Matthew 4:18-22, salvation
21 Comments
“The Scriptures: Life & Light” (Matthew 4:12-17 sermon)
My wife Cheryl & I will have been married for 35 years on May 28th. (She has already informed me that we are not going to be here that Sunday — so I am informing you! 🙂 As you can … Continue reading
Posted in Matthew sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged Bible, Bible literacy, Bible Reading, conversion, daily Bible reading, Dikkon Eberhart, discipleship, eternal life, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Matthew 4:12-17 sermon, Netflix, obedience, salvation, scripture, scripture application, scripture memory, The Time Mom Met Hitler book, word of God
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A Daily Recommitment
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 6:38) This was Jesus’ guiding principle for His whole life on earth: He did not come here — … Continue reading
“The Worst Trade Ever” (Matthew 4:10 sermon)
With baseball season starting this week, I was reading an article on the worst trades in baseball history. There were a number of contenders, but I have to agree with the one they identified as the worst: On December 26, … Continue reading
Posted in Matthew sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged Babe Ruth trade, Boehmians, Deuteronomy 6:13, Dikkon Eberhart, discipleship, free love, God is your soul mate, immorality, John 17:24, John Calvin idol factory, love, Matthew 4:10 sermon, Psalm 147:1, Psalm 149, relationship, reward, Shawn Johnson, soul mate, suicide, temptation, The Time Mom Met Hitler Frost Came To Dinner and I Heard The Greatest Story Ever Told, worship
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The “Hard Part”
“He said to her, ‘Go, call your husband and come here.’” (John 4:16) Having gotten the attention of the woman at the well with His promise of eternal life, Jesus gets to the “hard part”: “Go, call your husband and … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged confrontation, discipleship, evangelism, John 4:16, repentance, sin, witnessing
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“Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough” (Matthew 4:2 sermon)
On May of 1776, in the throes of the conflict of the birth of our country, General George Washington sent this order to his army: “The Continental Congress having ordered, Friday the 17th. Instant to be observed as a day … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Matthew sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged apostles, Apostolic Constitutions, discipleship, Early Church, Esther, evangelism, fasting, fasting challenge, George Washington, intercession, intercessory prayer, Jesus, John 4, Matthew 4:2 sermon, Matthew 6, Moses, Nehemiah, prayer, prayer and fasting, rules for fasting, salvation, Samaritan woman, Shepherd of Hermas, Tertullian
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“He Must Increase But I Must Decrease”
“He must increase but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) This statement was true for John the Baptist in a very literal way, in which it will not be for us: John’s ministry and popularity would decrease, as more and more … Continue reading
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