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 Joshua 6:12-25, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Winning Strategy," for June 28, 2026.
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Numbers 14:11-24, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, "Rebellion & Judgment" for 9/28/25
- Teacher's Overview of Joshua 3:14-4:9, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson "Remembering God's Works" for June 21, 2026.
- "Seeking Him First" (Matthew 6:33 sermon)
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "The Lord Our Provider" (Philippians 4:15-23 sermon)
- "Ambassadors For Christ" (II Corinthians 5:20 sermon)
- Joshua 3:5 Sermon: "Preparing For God To Work"
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: salvation
“What Real Faith Looks Like” (Introduction to the Book of James)
Some time ago I was visiting with a pastor in another state, and he was talking about how there are well over 30 churches in just their small community. He said, “You know how it is here; everyone says they … Continue reading
Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like
Tagged American Christianity, assurance, Bible, Book of James, Christianity, commandments, conviction, conviction of sin, easy believism, epistle of straw, faith, God's Law, gospel, how can I be saved, James, James 3, Jesus, John Ryland, Lord, Lord Lord, Martin Luther, meddling in my private life, salvation, Samuel Rutherford, saving faith, scripture memory, sin, strawy epistle, Tennessee Williams, testimony, tongue, What Real Faith Looks Like, words, works
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Genesis 32:22-32 Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson for 4/14/23, “Wrestled”
(A brief overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Genesis 32:22-32, “Wrestled,” for Sunday, April 14, 2024. Includes a sample lesson introduction, outline, text highlights, illustrations, questions for your class, and … Continue reading
Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews
Tagged baptism, Bible, Bible study, Bill Elliff, Blessed, Christophany, conviction, D Day, Dwight Eisenhower, Explore the Bible, Genesis, Genesis 32, Genesis 32:22-32, God, Habakkuk 2:1, heel snatcher, Israel, Jacob, Jacob wrestling, Jesus, Lifeway, Lord's Supper, Luke 11, Luke 18, name, Peniel, prayer, remembrances, Romans 10:1, Romans 9:1, salvation, sin, Sunday School, Sunday school lesson, supplanter, teacher help, wrestling with God
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“Suffering Servant/Glorious King: Exalted!” (Isaiah 53:12 sermon)
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made the first-ever trans-Atlantic flight, taking off from the United States, and landing in Paris, France. It was a huge event in the history of mankind, and it was celebrated all over the world. After he … Continue reading
Posted in Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King
Tagged atonement, C.S. Lewis, Charles Lindbergh, Christian persecution, church, Civil War Story, daily Gethsemane, Easter, Easter sermon, evangelism, example, Gethsemane, glory, heaven, hoi polloi, imitation, iron man triathlon, Isaiah, Isaiah 53, Jesus, Jesus Paid It All, John F. Kennedy, Jonah sign, kenosis, let it wave high it is our glory, ministry, mission, Old Glory, Philippians 2, propitiation, resurrection, reward, Romans 1:4, salvation, service, sign, suffering, Suffering Servant, witness
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“Suffering Servant/Glorious King: The Justifier” (Isaiah 53:11 sermon)
On January 21, 1977, President Jimmy Carter issued a proclamation granting unconditional pardon to all those who evaded the draft for the Vietnam War. Over 200,000 Americans had been charged with that crime, and they estimate another 300,000 were also … Continue reading
Posted in Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King
Tagged Al Mohler, Christian testimony, fear, forgiveness, Garden of Gethsemane, Gethsemane meaning, guilt, ha rabbim, heaven, hell, hoi polloi, I John 2:2, Isaiah, Isaiah 53, Isaiah sermon, James 2:19, Jesus anguish, Jesus sinless, Jesus suffering, Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Carter pardon, John Milton, judgment, justification, knowledge of Christ, limited atonement, oil press, Osama Bin Laden death, Paradise Lost, Polycarp, righteousness, Romans 3, salvation, scope of justification, sin debt, sins of the whole world, the many, William Tyndale
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Teachers’ Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Genesis 28:10-22, “A Stairway”
An overview for Sunday School teacher and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Genesis 28:10-22, for Sunday, March 24, 2024, with the title, “A Stairway.” A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: … Continue reading
Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews
Tagged A Stairway, Bethan Lloyid-Jones, Bethel, Corrie Ten Boom dream, dream, dream interpretation, El, elohim, Explore the Bible, Falls Creek, Genesis 14, Genesis 28, house of God, Jacob, Jacob's Ladder, Jesus, Jesus only way, John 14:6, Lifeway, Lord, Psalm 67, salvation, stairway, tenth, tithe, tithing, Yahweh, YHWH
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Teacher’s Overview of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson: Genesis 27:18-30, “A Deceiver”
An overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Genesis 27:18-30, “A Deceiver,” for Sunday, March 17, 2024. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRO: ??? … Continue reading
Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews
Tagged 10 Commandments, Acts 2:23, Bathsheba, Bible, Bible study, Deceiver, Eru, Esau, Explore the Bible, Genesis, Genesis 27, Genesis 27:18-30, God bless the broken road, grace, heel snatcher, inquire of the Lord, Isaac, Isaac and Rebekah, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jacob, Jacob and Esau, Jesus, Lifeway, Melkor, pray, prayer, prescriptive vs. descriptive, Rebekah, Romans 11:33, Romans 3:23, salvation, Simarillion, sin, sovereignty vs responsibility, Sunday School teacher, supplanter, twins, Why God?
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“Suffering Servant/Glorious King: Consider Him!” (Isaiah 53:8 sermon)
A few years ago I was reading an interview they did with a man, who was highly regarded as someone who was very intelligent, and they asked him: “Do you believe in heaven and the afterlife?” And this man answered, … Continue reading
Posted in Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King, Sermons
Tagged Bill Tolar, Bill Tolar testimony, C.S. Lewis Screwtape Letters, consider Him, cross, demons, devil, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 53 sermon, Isaiah 53:8, Jesus, Matthew Henry, Messiah, Old Testament prophecy, resurrection, Romans 1:4, salvation, sin, spiritual warfare, substitutionary atonement, Suffering Servant, vindication
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“Suffering Servant/Glorious King: Like A Lamb” (Isaiah 53:7 sermon)
In Acts Chapter 8 the Bible tells the story of how the Treasurer of the country of Ethiopia was in his chariot reading a verse from the scroll of Isaiah, when the deacon Philip walked up to him. Acts tells … Continue reading
Posted in Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King
Tagged Acts 8, atonement, Behold Me, blood on the doorpost, cross, Ethiopian eunuch, Gadhafi, gentleness, Isaiah, Isaiah 53, Isaiah sermon, Jesus, John 10:17, John 3:16, John Milton, lamb, Like a Lamb, meekness, Paradise Lost, Passover, Passover Lamb, Philippians 2, Psalm 37, Robert E. Lee, Rock of Ages, Romans 3:20, sacrifice, salvation, substitution, substitutionary atonement, Suffering Servant, the cross, the lamb of God, volunteer
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“Suffering Servant/Glorious King: For All of Us” (Isaiah 53:6 sermon)
When I got sick in the winter of 2012, and Cheryl & Michael & I moved to Oklahoma, as difficult as that time was, much good came out of it. One of those good things was that I discovered that … Continue reading
Posted in Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King
Tagged Acts 20:21, all, all means all, all of us, all we like sheep, Becky Thatcher, church, consequences, faith, forgiveness, gospel, guilt, He died for me, I John 2:2, I Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 53:6, James Hastings, Jesus, John 3:16, Luke 13:3, Luke 15, Messiah, Messianic prophecy, Mr. Dobbins, older brother, our griefs He bore, personal response, Prodigal Son, Proverbs 14:12, punishment, repentance, repentance and faith, Romans 10:13, salvation, self-righteousness, sheep, sheep ditch video, sin, Sternberg, substitutionary atonement, Suffering Servant, the cross, Tom Sawyer
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“Suffering Servant/Glorious King: The Cost and Benefits of His Atonement” (Isaiah 53:5 sermon)
Several years ago, the wife of a pastor friend of mine in Oklahoma went out to her car at school and found a traffic ticket on it. But when she looked at it closely, she found that the ticket was … Continue reading
Posted in Isaiah 53 sermon series Suffering Servant Glorious King
Tagged Acts India Mission, atonement, blood, chastened, chastisement, cross, crushed, forgiveness, grace, healing, healing Hosea, healing in the atonement, healing symbolic, I Corinthians 15:19, I John 1:9, II Corinthians 12:7, II Timothy 4:20, Isaiah, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 53 sermon, Isaiah 53:5, Jesus, Jesus death, Jonathan Edwards, Joni Earickson Tada, peace, pierced, Romans 5:1, salvation, Sanjay Charan, scourged, scourging, shalom, sin, substitutionary atonement, Yitzhak Rabin death
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shawnethomas 