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)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 4:12-25, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson "Invitation," for 12/14/25
- "Your Response to Christmas" (Matthew 2:1-12 Sermon)
- "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: joy
Do You Appreciate God’s Word?
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
The Search For Delight (Psalm 37:4 sermon)
“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
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“His Marvelous Love In A Besieged City”
“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
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“What We Have Seen … We Proclaim”
“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
The Blessing We All Seek
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’” (Matthew 26:21) There are many applicable … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged fellowship, joy, joy of your Master, Matthew 26:21, obedience, Psalm 16:11, Zephaniah 3:17
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“How To Build A Life Of Joy” (Philippians 1:3-5 sermon)
Samuel Rutherford was a pastor in Anwoth, Scotland in the 1600’s, when the English government changed, and demanded that all ministers use the government prescribed prayer book, and submit to the rites and ordinances of the Anglican church, instead of … Continue reading
Do You Have The Right Enemies?
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12) When one of the presidential candidates was harassed at a campaign stop this week, … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Discipleship, Uncategorized
Tagged Beatitudes, enemies, evangelism, joy, Matthew 5:12, ministry, persecution, witness
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Grace & Trials
“Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great deal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged giving, grace, II Corinthians 8:1-2, joy, liberality, trials
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What You’re Really Thirsty For
Isaiah 55 describes the spiritual thirst that characterizes every person, and points us to what we are really looking for: :1 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters …” In this verse, God is calling out to all … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged Isaiah 55:1-3, joy, Psalm 16:11, satisfaction, thirst
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The Divine Delight
“Behold, My Servant, Whom I uphold; My Chosen One in Whom My soul delights.” (Isaiah 42:1) It is significant that God calls His Servant here “My chosen one IN WHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTS.” The “Servant” which is mentioned several times … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Doctrine/Theology
Tagged Christ, delight, eternal fellowship, father, fellowship, Holy Spirit, Isaiah 42:1, Isaiah 53, Jesus, joy, Messiah, pleasure, servant, Son, Suffering Servant, Trinity
1 Comment
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