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)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 5:13-20, 43-48, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson: "True Righteousness," for 12/28/25.
- "The Greatest Verse in the Bible?" (John 3:16 sermon)
- "Blessed Is She Who Believed" (Luke 1:45 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
- "A 'Real Life' Christmas" (Luke 2:1-11 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: fellowship
“Prayer & The Church We Want To Be” (Acts 1 & 2 sermon)
(Preached at First Baptist, Pauls Valley, OK 2-01-15 a.m.) The pastor at our home church, Trinity Baptist in Norman, Bro. Ronnie Rogers, has just published a new book; one which I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged 10 Questions For Leaders To Ask Each Week, Acts 1 sermon, Acts 2 sermon, Bible, Chuck Lawless, church, contemporary, devoted, ecclesiology, fellowship, one mind, prayer, proskarterountes, Ronnie Rogers, scripture, The Equipping Church, The Equipping Church by Ronnie Rogers, traditional, unity, word of God
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Lay Down Our Lives?
I John 3:16 says: “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for our brethren.” This verse should challenge those of us who claim to be Christian … Continue reading
Gladness & Sincerity — Or Not!
A wiseacre once observed that in politics, sincerity is the most important thing; once you can fake that, you have it made! But the truth is, people can usually tell the difference. It is striking to read in Acts 2:46 … Continue reading
American Evangelism’s “Missing Ingredient”?
Acts Chapter 2:41-47 describes the glorious initial days of the Church, when 3000 were saved in response to Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost. Interestingly enough, although the chapter concludes with a description of how people were being saved … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Acts 2:41-47, evangelism, fellowship, John 13:35
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A Picture of Cooperation
When everyone does their part, it is amazing what can be accomplished. Nehemiah 3 describes how Nehemiah and the people who returned to Jerusalem rebuilt the wall around the city. What is significant about it is that no one person … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged cooperation, division, fellowship, ministry, mission, Nehemiah 3, service
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“The Discipline of Fellowship” (Hebrews 10:23-25 sermon)
Cheryl & I are fond of assigning “chapter titles” to different episodes of our life together, as if they would be chapters in a book. We have labeled some of them: “The Great Mouse Caper”, “The Dark Year”, or “Just … Continue reading
Admiring Wicked Men
Psalm 15 speaks of those who are able to stand in the fellowship of God, and verse 4 includes an interesting quality: “In whose eyes a reprobate is despised”. Here we find one of the symptoms of the compromised Christianity … Continue reading
The Missing Ingredient
There is a vital missing ingredient in the lives of many American Christians today. Colossians 3:16 says: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another …”. Those words “one another” are … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged accountability, Bible, church, Colossians 3:16, fellowship, God's word, individualism, scripture, teaching
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Who Will Go With Me?
In I Samuel 26:6 David asked a bold question of two of his most valiant warriors: “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” If this sounds daring, it was even more so because :5 says that … Continue reading
Fellowship at the Mercy Seat
In Exodus 25:22 God spoke to Moses regarding the mercy set of the Ark of the Covenant: “There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of … Continue reading
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