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: faithful
“The Church With An Open Door” (Revelation 3:7-13 sermon)
When Cheryl & I first began dating, she had been on “Cloud 9” for weeks. She had told everyone at her job at Jack’s Service Company in Oklahoma City about this great guy she was now with. They all said they … Continue reading
Posted in Revelation sermon series, Sermons
Tagged Acts 16 Macedonia, atheism, Caesar is Lord, church at Philadelphia, church open door, Church With An Open Door, closed doors open doors, evangelism, faithful, faithfulness, gospel, Jeremiah 1, Jesus, Jesus is Lord, Jesus to the churches, Lord of the open door, ministry, mission, Open Door, opportunity, peer pressure, people of the open door, persecution, philadelphia, pressure, rainbow, Revelation 3:7-13, Revelation 3:7-13 sermon
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“The Church That Looked Better Than It Really Was” (Revelation 3:1-6 sermon)
In 2010, Cheryl & our youngest son Michael & I visited England, and one the top things on my list to see was the Metropolitan Tabernacle Church in London: once the “megachurch” of the 1800s, where Charles Spurgeon, perhaps the … Continue reading
Posted in Revelation sermon series
Tagged appearance, church, Church at Sardis, clean room, deeds, faithful, FBC Angleton, finish, First Baptist Church Angleton, Florence Nightengale, God omniscience, happiness, happy in heaven, heaven, Henry Stanley, Henry Stanley happy Denzil, hypocrites, Jesus Christ, Jesus is the reward, Jesus knows, Jesus reward, Jim Gasso, Letters to the churches in Revelation, Matthew 23:27, Metropolitan Tabernacle London, Ministry Safe training, not found deeds completed, outward appearance, parenting, Psalm 16:11, quit before finish, reputation, reputation greater than reality, revelation, Revelation 3:1-6, reward, Sardis, Spurgeon's Tabernacle, works
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“The Church That Was Tested” (Revelation 2:8-11 sermon)
Some of you know that in 2012 I went through an illness that put me out of the ministry for two years. I lost my job, my income, we had to sell our home, and many of our possessions. I … Continue reading
Posted in Revelation sermon series
Tagged abortion, be faithful, Bible, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Churches of Revelation 2-3, doctrine, don't give up, faithful, faithfulness, false religion, hate crimes, homosexuality, it was good for me that I was afflicted, Jesus only way, Jesus Satan brothers, Jonathan Edwards, Letter to Smyrna, Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain, Mormon Church, Nik Ripken, perseverance, POTS, poverty, Psalm 119, Reproductive Freedom Church, revelation, Revelation 2:8-11, Revelation sermon, Revelation Smyrna, RFC, Rich Man and Lazarus, ten days, testing, testing limits, tests, The African Queen, tribulation
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By Faith He Lived
Hebrews 11:9 says of Abraham: “by faith he LIVED as an alien in the land of promise.” It is one thing to step out initially in faith (as it says in :8 that Abraham did); it is another to LIVE … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Abraham, faith, faithful, Hebrews 11:9, living by faith
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The Priest: Merciful & Faithful
Hebrews 2:17 says that Jesus became like us in every way, “so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest.” Here we find 2 essential qualities of our perfect High Priest: He is “merciful” and “faithful.” BOTH of … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged faithful, Hebrews 2:17, I Peter 2:9, merciful, priest
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