A Southern Baptist pastor for almost 35 years, I currently serve as Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Angleton, Texas, and post my weekly sermons on this site, as well as a brief overview for Sunday School teachers of the weekly Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson.
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Top Posts & Pages
- Teacher's Overview of Lifeway's "Explore the Bible" lesson: John 21:15-23 "Do You Love Me?"
- Teacher's Overview: Lifeway's "Explore the Bible" lesson of Jeremiah 1:4-19, "Prepares"
- 30 Years In Paradise
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- “When You Follow Jesus” (Mark 10:29-30 sermon)
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "The Message of the Cross" (I Cor. 1:18-24 sermon)
- "Following Jesus" (Matthew 4:18-22 sermon)
- "Becoming An Acts 1:8 Church" (Acts 1:8 sermon)
- "Your Spiritual Armor" (Ephesians 6:10-20 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
- History
- Home & Family Life
- I Peter sermons
- India Mission Trip 2011
- John 3:16 sermon series
- Luke 10:38-42 Mary & Martha series
- Matthew sermons
- Ministry
- missions
- Music
- Philippians sermons
- POTS (dysautonomia) articles
- 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: knowing God
“Where’s Your Glory?” (Jeremiah 9:23-24 sermon)
It’s football season, and many college football fans virtually live and die on the success of their football teams. Fans wear their team’s colors on game day, and get excited when they win, and bask in the glory of that … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged athletes injury, boast, college football, conversation, Ernest Hemingway suicide, glory, glory of heaven, God's glory, gospel, Houston hospitals, Isaiah 55:6-9, Jeremiah 9:12, Jeremiah 9:23, Jeremiah 9:23 sermon, Jeremiah 9:23-24, John 17:3, know God, knowing God, Knowing God J.I. Packer, Luke 12 rich man, materialism, Pete Rose batting average, physical ability, pride and joy, relationships, retail therapy, riches, salvation, shopping high, strength, Washington Irving Westminster Abbey, wisdom
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“Confidence On That Day” (II Timothy 1:12 sermon)
Author Dane Ortlund wrote: “When my two-year-old Benjamin begins to wade into the gentle slope of the zero-entry swimming pool near our home, he instinctively grabs hold of my hand. He holds on tight as the water gradually gets deeper. … Continue reading
Posted in Doctrine/Theology, Sermons
Tagged assurance, assurance in death, Colonel Edmund Starling, confidence in death, confidence in God., Confidence in Harry Truman, daily Bible reading, Dane Ortlund, David McCullough, eternal life, every eye shall see Him, every eye will see Him, facing death, faith, Harry Truman, heavenly 401k, I know whom I have believed, I Peter 2:2, II Thessalonians 1:7-10, II Timothy 1:12 sermon, John 10:27-28, John 8:31, John F. Kennedy funeral media coverage, knowing God, Matthew 7:22, on that day, paratheke, peace in death, return of Christ, Revelation 1:7, Robert Caro, safe investment, that day, trust, trusting God, Woodrow Wilson, Years of Lyndon Johnson
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“The Goodness of God in the Midst of Affliction” (Psalm 119:65-72 sermon)
In February 2012, I stood to lead prayer meeting at the church in Louisiana I had pastored for 12 years, but the longer I stood the sicker I became. I had to leave during the prayer time and have my … Continue reading
Posted in Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged "Fall Apart" song, affliction, attributes of God, becoming like Christ, Christlikeness, cleansing, cocoon of a butterfly, confession, conformed to His image, dysautonomia, Ephesians 6, faith, faith testing, glory, God attributes, God goodnesss, God is good, God is good all the time, god is good and does good, God's purpose, good, grace, identification, II Corinthians 12:9, it is good for me that I was afflicted, John 17:3, knowing God, lessons, life, life purpose, Matthew 13 parable of the sower, maturity, minister, ministry, My grace is sufficient, pastor, pastor Shawn Thomas, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, POTS, prayers, priorities, Psalm 119 acrostic, Psalm 119:65-72, Psalm 119:67, purification, purpose for suffering, purpose for trials, purposes for affliction, Romans 8:28-29, Ronnie Rogers Trinity Baptist Norman, salvation, Shawn E. Thomas, sin, spiritual maturity, spiritual warfare, suffering, sword of the Spirit, test, teth, theodicy, theology, theology 101, thorn in the flesh, tob good, trials, word of God, You are good, You do good
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“Where’s Your Glory?” (Jeremiah 9:23-24 sermon)
Sunday morning came to our church in Southwest Louisiana, and the crowd was exuberant. Purple and gold clothing was everywhere. People were cheerful and talking in the hallways. A festive air just covered the whole place. LSU had won their … Continue reading
Posted in Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged church, conversation, crown, daily quiet time, Death, devotional time, discipleship, Ernest Hemingway, eternal life, eternity, exercise, glory, heaven, Houston medical center, Isaiah 55, J.I. Packer, Jeremiah 9:12, Jeremiah 9:23-24, John 17:3, knowing God, Knowing God book, LSU football, materialism, NFL injuries, Pete Rose, Philippians 3:10, prayer time, quiet time, relationships, riches, suicide, temporal values, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Washington Irving, Westminster Abbey, worship
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Keeping His Commandments
“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” (John 14:21) It is … Continue reading
“Eternal Life” (John 3:16 sermon)
Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of the Chinese Qin Dynasty — and he wanted to be the last. He wanted to live forever. In Imperial China at that time, they believed in certain “elixirs of life” which might … Continue reading
“Pressing On To Know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3 sermon)
Not long ago I read of a well-known actress who said that when she wasn’t acting, she really had no purpose in life. She said she just about went crazy because she nothing to do, and she said, “Thank God … Continue reading