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 17:1-13, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Glory," for 3/22/26
- Teacher's Preview of Matthew 16:13-26, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson: "Following Jesus" for 3/15/26
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "The Message of the Cross" (I Cor. 1:18-24 sermon)
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "The Lord Our Provider" (Philippians 4:15-23 sermon)
- "What God Wants From Us" (Micah 6:8 sermon)
- "Seeking Him First" (Matthew 6:33 sermon)
- "Working Out Your Salvation" (Philippians 2:12-13 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: Jesus
Stand By And See
“But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.’” … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged cross, Exodus 14:13, faith, Jesus, salvation, trust, works
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Our Confident Access
“in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.” (Ephesians 3:12) One Sunday a young boy in our church in Tulsa was talking our daughter Libby at church. He told her that he had wanted to tell … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Uncategorized
Tagged access, Christ, confidence, Ephesians 3:12, faith, Hebrews 4:14, Hebrews 4:16, Jesus, prayer
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“Immanuel: God With Us” (Matthew 1:23 sermon)
One of my favorite parts of the Christmas program last weekend was when B.J. and Amy and Greg sang that beautiful song of the annunciation, which is right out of Luke 1:28, where the angel appeared to Mary and said: … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons
Tagged "Sovereignty of God", assurance of salvation, Christ, Christmas, church, Colossians 2:9, Current Events, deity of Jesus, depravity of man, ecclesiology, Ephesians 1:13, Every Day With Jesus, faith, Genesis 6:5, God with us, God's plan, Hebrews 1:3, Holy Spirit, Hymn In The Garden, I Corinthians 6:19, II Corinthians 13:9, illustrations, Immanuel, Isaiah, Isaiah 7:14, Jesus, Jesus and marriage, John 14:8-9, John 1:12, King Ahaz, man, Martin Luther, Mary, Matthew 1:23, once saved always saved, perseverance of the saints, Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church Elf production, Romans 8:15, salvation, sealed in the Holy Spirit, smallpox vaccine, The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever, trust
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“The Greatest Mission Trip” (Philippians 2:5-13 sermon)
After our morning service today, we have the opportunity to stay for soup and sandwiches, sponsored by our student ministry, to support the Hamburg, Germany mission trip that they will be going on this summer. I’m excited that a dozen … Continue reading
Posted in Ministry, Sermons
Tagged Bill Borden, Borden of Yale, Burke United Christian Ministries, Christology, church on mission, deity of Jesus, Dr. Jim Smith, Elf at the CoMMA, Everyone wants a revolution no one wants to do the dishes, glory, God the Son, greatest mission trip, humility, Incarnation, India missions, Isaiah 6, Jesus, John 17:5, Lesslie Newbigin, lifeguard, little things, local mission, Lottie Moon offering, Luke 19:10, Matthew 20:28, mission trip, missionaries, missions, Philippians 2:5-13, ransom, sacrifice, salvation, service, Son of God, The Greatest Mission Trip, Thou didst leave Thy throne song, Tish Warren The Liturgy of the Ordinary, Trinity
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God’s Will In One Word
“He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him.” (Ephesians 1:9) What is God’s will for me? Ephesians 1:3-14 contains a list of “every spiritual blessing” that God gave … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Christology, Ephesians 1:9, God's will, Jesus, Jesus Christ
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“The Golden Rule” (Matthew 7:12 sermon)
When our kids were little, I started listening to a CD with the greatest hits of the British comic operas of Gilbert & Sullivan. These operas were written in the late 1800’s, and they poke fun at all kinds of … Continue reading
Posted in Matthew sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged business, business ethics, Christian ethics, Christianity, context, discipleship, do unto others, driving, ethics, Exodus 22:21, Exodus 23:4, forgiveness, Gilbert & Sullivan, Gilbert & Sullivan golden rule, gospel, Great Commandment, Jesus, Matthew 7:12, perspective, relationships, Romans 12:1, salvation, Swiss Army knife, teaching, Ten Commandments, The Golden Rule, therefore, treat others the way you want to be treaated, understanding
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Breakfast With Jesus
“Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’” (John 21:12) What an amazing morning the disciples had, after that long night of catching nothing, getting to eat breakfast with Jesus! The passage says that Jesus “took the bread and gave … Continue reading
The Personal Confession
“Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:28) Following his initial doubts about the resurrection of Jesus, when Thomas saw the living Christ, he then made this great confession: “My Lord and my God!”
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged confession, Deity of Christ, faith, Jesus, John 20:28, Lordship
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