Tag Archives: joy

“Dying, Yet Being Renewed” (II Corinthians 4:16 sermon)

Posted on 2020/07/13 by Shawn Thomas

Writing at age 75, mystery writer Agatha Christie observed: “With every year that passes, something has to be crossed off (my) list of pleasures. Long walks are off, and alas, bathing in the sea; fillet steaks and apples and raw … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged abortion, adoption, Agatha Christie, age, aging, aging process, Bible, body, body soul spirit, breath of life, Colossians 3:10, consecration, consequences of sin, COVID-19, daily Bible reading, daily quiet time, Death, decay, devotions, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, dying, Ephesians 3:16, Ephesians 4:18, eso, exo, exoskeleton, Facebook Live prayer meeting, Genesis 17, God, growing old, Holy Spirit, human life, human nature, I Thessalonians 5:23, II Corinthians 4:16, II Corinthians 4:16 sermon, II Corinthians 5:17, Ingrid Newkirk PETA founder, inner, inner man, Isaiah 59:2, Jesus Christ, joy, joy in the Lord, Live Stream worship, living soul, Luke 12:33 moth, new creation, new creature, new man, new self, outer man, pain is a holy angel, patience with others, patience with self, process of sanctification, regeneration, renewing mind, Romans 12:1-2, Romans 8:28, salvation, sanctification, sin, soul, spirit, word of God, Zoom | Leave a comment

“The People of Joy & Gladness” (Luke 1:14 sermon)

Posted on 2020/05/04 by Shawn Thomas

H.L. Mencken was an American writer and commentator in the mid-1900’s, and he is famous, among other things, for his quip that “Puritanism (is) the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” That’s the picture that many people have … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19 crisis assorted messages, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Adam & Eve, angel Gabriel, Bible Reading, church, coronavirus, COVID-19, daily quiet time, daily worship time, devotions, eternity, false gods, forbidden fruit, forgiveness, George Muller, gladness, God sun, H.L. Mencken Puritanism, Habakkuk 3:16-19, heaven, idols, J.I. Packer Puritans, Jesus, John Newton Amazing Grace, joy, joy and gladness, joy in circumstances, Luke 1 sermon, Luke 1:14, Luke 1:19, marriage, Paradise, people of God, presence of God, presence of the Lord, Psalm 118:24, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 31:7, Psalm 4:7, Psalm 84:11, rejoice and be glad, relationships, repentance, salvation, sin, sin and creation, sun, walk with God, walking with God, wife idol, worship, worship forever, Zacharias and Elizabeth, Zacharias sermon | Leave a comment

“The People of Joy” (Philippians 1:1-2 sermon)

Posted on 2020/02/10 by Shawn Thomas

A few weeks ago I mentioned Hudson Taylor, who began a great mission work in China in the 1800’s. While he was there, the work was difficult, and funds were getting low, but he reported to one of his friends … Continue reading →

Posted in Philippians sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged "I Give Up" discipleship class, "The Pursuit of Holiness" discipleship class, Apostle Paul, bondservants, bondservants of Christ, church at Philippi, conditions of the gospel, deacons, Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2:8-9, faith, forgiveness, Galatians 5:13, gladness, God's will, grace, hagioi, hagios, happiness, happiness and holiness, happy, holiness, holy, Holy Spirit, Hudson Taylor, I Corinthians 6:19-20, in Christ Jesus, introduction to Philippians, joy, Lordship, Lordship of Christ, Luke 6:46, Martin Lloyd-Jones Philippians, Matthew 20:27, Matthew 8:9, Matthew Henry happy holy, my will, overseers, people of joy, Philippi, Philippians, Philippians 1 sermon, Philippians 1:1-2, Philippians sermon, Psalm 4:7, saints, salvation, salvation by grace, sin, slaves, slaves of Christ, spiritual blessing Ephesians 1, surrender, temptation, Thomas Brooks happiness holiness, Thy will, Thy will be done | Leave a comment

“You’re Not From Around Here” (I Peter 2:11-12 sermon)

Posted on 2019/08/12 by Shawn Thomas

Our daughter Libby grew up in Oklahoma and Louisiana, but since she has been married and in the ministry, she has lived in some different parts of the country, where they talk differently, and do things differently. She and Josh … Continue reading →

Posted in Discipleship, I Peter sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged "Show me now", abstain, abstinence, body temple, care, children's choir, Christian "hate speech", Christian behavior, Christian life, Christian living, discipleship, Eliza Doolittle, enemies, evangelism, family, grace, holier than thou, holiness, homosexuality, hypocrites, I Corinthians 6:12, I Corinthians 6:19-20, I John 2:3-4, I Peter 2:11-12, I Peter sermon, imitation, joy, legalism, libertine, libertines, libertinism, lifestyle evangelism, lifestyle witness, living in a fishbowl, love, lust, marriage, My Fair Lady, persecution of Christians, repent, repentance, responsibility, salvation, sanctification, Show me!, witness, worldly lusts, You're not from around here | Leave a comment

“Tried By Fire” (I Peter 1:6-7 sermon)

Posted on 2019/05/06 by Shawn Thomas

Theodore Roosevelt was a man of very unique character: he gloried in facing obstacles and overcoming them. He would take his guests out on a 20-mile hike – and much to their dismay, the tougher the course, the better he … Continue reading →

Posted in I Peter sermons, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged Christianity in America, confess Jesus, confession, dark year, difficulties, distress, facing death, faith, faith proof, Garden of Gethsemane, Hawaii, I Peter 1:6-7 sermon, I Peter sermon, illness, John Calvin, John Calvin blocks of wood, joy, joy in trials, maturity, perseverance, professions of faith, real faith, refined by fire, rejoice, reward for trials, rewards, run tee shirts, salvation, saved, saving faith, temptations, Theodore Roosevelt, trials, tried by fire, various trials | Leave a comment

“Worshiping God Anyway” (Habakkuk 3:16-19 sermon)

Posted on 2018/09/04 by Shawn Thomas

On November 5th of last year, a killer shot 46 people people who had gathered to worship at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, just southeast of San Antonio. The pastor, Frank Pomeroy, and his wife were out … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized | Tagged abortion, Acts 16, commitment, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Facebook, faith, gospel, Habakkuk 3, Habakkuk 3:16-19, heaven, hinds feet, hinds feet meaning, II Corinthians 4:16, Job, joy, joy in God, judgment, pain, pain holy angel, Paul and Silas, prosperity gospel, Psalm 147:10-11, Psalm 2:2, Romans 8, salvation, Sutherland Springs shooting, word faith, word faith teaching, worship | 1 Comment

Do You Appreciate God’s Word?

Posted on 2018/04/11 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 119 is an acrositc. It is composed of 22 sections of 8 verses each, the verses of each section beginning with one letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So :1-8 all began with the Hebrew letter Aleph; verses 9-16 in … Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized | Tagged Bible, Bible Reading, Bible study, delight, God's word, Hebrew, joy, meditation on scripture, Psalm 119, Psalm 119:9-16, scripture, scripture memory, the Law of the Lord, witness | Leave a comment

The Search For Delight (Psalm 37:4 sermon)

Posted on 2018/02/26 by Shawn Thomas

“Hedonism” is the belief that pleasure is the most important thing in the world, and that you should live your life, for pleasure. Most Christians would say that hedonism is wrong — but a few years ago pastor John Piper … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermon Illustrations, Sermons | Tagged Alexander Von Humboldt, Amazon jungle, Bible Reading, Brave Companions David McCullough, C.S. Lewis, Christian hedonism, commitment, daily quiet time, delight, delight yourself, Delight yourself in the Lord, desires, devotion time, devotions, Divine Country, Ecclesiastes, effort, family, football, fulfillment, garden of Eden, heaven, hedonism, Hop on Pop, Job, John Piper, joy, Made To Crave, marriage, occupation, personal worship, pleasure, prayer, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 17:17, Psalm 37:4, Psalm 42, Psalm 4:7, quiet time, reading, river of delights, scripture memory, sin, Song This Blood, soul mate, vocation, worship | Leave a comment

“His Marvelous Love In A Besieged City”

Posted on 2017/02/20 by Shawn Thomas

“Blessed be the LORD, for He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.” (Psalm 31:21) Here David praises God for ministering to him, even in an extremely difficult time in his life. He said he was … Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized | Tagged chesed, circumstances, grace, joy, love, lovingkindness, Psalm 31:21, Psalm 4:7, Samuel Rutherford, trials, worship | Leave a comment

“What We Have Seen … We Proclaim”

Posted on 2017/01/03 by Shawn Thomas

“What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also …”. (I John 1:3). We find in this verse something that is right at the heart of the nature of Christianity: what one experiences of God is to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized | Tagged evangelism, genuine faith, I John 1:3, joy, sharing, witness | 1 Comment