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.
-
Top Posts & Pages
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 8 & 9, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Every Life Valued" for 1/18/26
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 7:15-29, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Authority Acknowledged," for 1/11/26.
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "True Religion" (Philippians 3:2-3)
- "The Gift That Is An Insult" (I Kings 9:10-14)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 6:19-34, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Treasure," for 1/04/2026
- "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)
- "The Discipline of Fasting" (Ezra 8:21 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: grace
A Lesson in Civility and Grace
Following the death of Saul & Jonathan on Mt. Gilboa at the hands of the Philistines, David composes a lament in their honor. The song he wrote in II Samuel 1:17-27 is instructive to us in several ways: — First, … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged civility, enemies, grace, II Samuel 1:17-27
Leave a comment
The Law & The Need For Grace
Psalm 119 is a great paean to the Law of God, extolling many marvels and facets of His word. Verses 1-8 (in which each verse begins with the Hebrew letter Aleph, as Psalm 119 is an acrostic in Hebrew) open … Continue reading
Grace For Those Who Fall Short
Psalm 106:3 says: “How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice righteousness at all times.” If only we did! Unfortunately this rules out every one of us: NONE of us practices righteousness at ALL times! “There is NONE righteous; … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged chesed, grace, lovingkindness, praise, Psalm 106:3, Romans 3:10, salvation, Thanksgiving
2 Comments
When You’ve Messed Up: (Part VI) Don’t Take Grace Lightly!
The message of I Samuel 12 to a people who had sinned is a hopeful one: if they will admit their sin, God will forgive, and they should not give up on their relationship with Him. But it ends with … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged cheap grace, forgiveness, grace, I Samuel 12:24-25, John 8, repentance, sin
Leave a comment
The Throne of Grace
Hebrews 4:16 says, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we might receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Notice that we are not encouraged to draw near to … Continue reading
His Manner of Grace
The prayer of Psalm 119:132 is “Turn to me and be gracious to me – after Your manner with those who love Your name”. The Psalmist asks God to be gracious to him, and bases it on the “manner” of … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Exodus 34:6, God, God's gracious manner, grace, His manner of grace, Psalm 119:132
Leave a comment
“Our Gracious God” (Exodus 34:6-8)
They should have been consumed by fire, every last one of them. With their own eyes the people of Israel had just watched the Red Sea split in two, and had seen God gloriously save them from the Egyptian army in the … Continue reading
“Our Attitudes Toward the Failures of the Faithful” (Genesis 9:18-29)
It is presidential campaign season, and as you probably know, it has already gotten pretty ugly. Candidates always look for some flaw or weakness to exploit in their opponents – and of course they never fail to find something! We … Continue reading
shawnethomas 