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 Romans 2:1-13, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "Coming Judgment," for 9/13/26.
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Romans 1:13-25, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson, "True Power," for 9/06/26
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 18:21-35, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, "Forgiveness," for 3/29/26
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "Seeking Him First" (Matthew 6:33 sermon)
- "The Word That Sustains In Difficult Days" (Habakkuk 2:1-3 sermon)
- Reasons For Giving Thanks (Psalm 136 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: scripture
Your Conscience Is Not Your Guide
“For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the One who examines me is the Lord.” (I Corinthians 4:4) There is an old expression: “Let your conscience be your guide.” But Paul … Continue reading
Do We Need To Get “A Vision”?
One of the most frequently quoted verses in the Old Testament, is, sadly, often MIS-quoted. Proverbs 29:18 reads: “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained (or “perish.)” Typically someone quotes this verse and follows up with an admonition … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Proverbs 29:18, scripture, vision, where there is no vision, word of God
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Is God Even Listening To Your Prayer?
God likes to hear your prayers, right? Well, maybe. Proverbs 28:9 is a verse which reveals some light on that. It reads: “He who turns away his ear from listening to the Law, even his prayer is an abomination.” We … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged abomination, disobedience, prayer, Proverbs 28:9, scripture, sin
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“The Discipline of the Word” (I Peter 2:1-3 sermon)
(Preached 4-26-15, Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, Morganton, NC) For years before his death in 2013, Pat Summerall broadcast NFL games and other sporting events on television. Many of you would recognize his voice to this day. Some of you also … Continue reading
“Prayer & The Church We Want To Be” (Acts 1 & 2 sermon)
(Preached at First Baptist, Pauls Valley, OK 2-01-15 a.m.) The pastor at our home church, Trinity Baptist in Norman, Bro. Ronnie Rogers, has just published a new book; one which I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged 10 Questions For Leaders To Ask Each Week, Acts 1 sermon, Acts 2 sermon, Bible, Chuck Lawless, church, contemporary, devoted, ecclesiology, fellowship, one mind, prayer, proskarterountes, Ronnie Rogers, scripture, The Equipping Church, The Equipping Church by Ronnie Rogers, traditional, unity, word of God
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What You Should Covet
Psalm 19:10, culminating the chapter’s description of God’s word, says, “More to be desired are they than gold, yes than much fine gold.” The Hebrew word for “desired” is “hamad”, which means “desire, take pleasure in; covet” — in fact, … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged Bible, covet, desire, God's word, Psalm 19:10, scripture
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His Judgments Are Right
Psalm 19:9 ends: “The judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether.” This verse should give us confidence both in the Word of God, and in the way that God deals with us personally:
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged judgment, Psalm 19:19, scripture, sovereignty
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The Words of the Commandments
The scribe Ezra’s dedication to the word of God is chronicled repeatedly in Ezra Chapter 7. One such reference is found in verse 11, which describes him as “Ezra the priest, the scribe, learned in the words of the commandments … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies
Tagged application, Bible, Bible study, Ezra 7:11, Matthew 22:32, scripture, teaching, words
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shawnethomas 
Your First Word of the Day
I suppose a Monday morning “start of the week” blog is as good a time as any to publish some thoughts I have harbored for some time. Several years ago I began writing daily devotionals at shawnethomas.com, in the hopes … Continue reading →