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)
- "The Greatest Verse in the Bible?" (John 3:16 sermon)
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- "A 'Real Life' Christmas" (Luke 2:1-11 sermon)
- "Your Response to Christmas" (Matthew 2:1-12 Sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 4:12-25, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson "Invitation," for 12/14/25
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 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: sinners prayer
“Will Your Work Perish, or Last?” (John 6:27 sermon)
Every so often the U.S. economy will have a recession, or a depression — or even what they call a “Crash,” like what happened in 1929. One of the worst in our history was in 1873, when banks and businesses … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Sermons
Tagged 168 hours a week, 5 loves and 2 fish, baptism, Billy Graham, bread, call to ministry, Christian vocation, crash, depression, don't waste your life, Dwight Eisenhower, economic crisis, economy, endure, eternal, eternal investment, eternal life, eternal security, feeding the 5000, fellowship hall, fish, giving, I Corinthians 3:12-15, invest time, Jesus foundation, Jim Eliot, John 6:27, John Piper, ministry, missions, money, perish, priorities, recession, salvation, saved, saved yet so as through fire, service, sinners prayer, soul, stewardship, temporary, that man is no fool, This Is My Story, time, tithe, vocation, work, works
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Lifeway Explore the Bible: Hosea 14:1-9 “The Restoration Promised”
A brief overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson for Sunday, November 6, 2022, “The Restoration Promised, from Hosea 14:1-9. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at: INTRO: … Continue reading
Posted in Explore the Bible SS lesson overviews
Tagged Bible study, Billy Graham Peace With God, C.S. Lewis Screwtape Letters, cedar of Lebanon, Explore the Bible, Explore the Bible teacher helps Hosea 14:1-9, false gods, false hope, false trust, Hosea 14 lesson outline, Hosea 14:1-9, how to be saved, India gods, iniquity definition, iniquity meaning, Israel, Jesus, Lifeway, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson Hosea 14:1-9, lily, olive tree, prayer of faith, prayer of salvation, repent, repentance and faith, repentance meaning, salvation, Samaria, sinners prayer, Sunday school teacher help, The Restoration Promised Sunday school lesson, witness, witnessing
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“The Model Prayer: Receiving & Giving Forgiveness” (Matthew 6:12 sermon)
In 2012 a book was published with the title: Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers. It became a New York Times Bestseller, and was regarded by many as a “pretty cool” book on prayer; how a lot of our … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Discipleship, Matthew sermons, Sermons, The Model Prayer series (FBCA 2020), Uncategorized
Tagged C.S. Lewis, confessing sin, confession, daily prayer, daily quiet time, devotions, forgive the inexcusable, forgiveness, giving forgiveness, granting forgiveness, Help Thanks Wow, I John 1:9, Jerry Bridges, Jesus, Lord's Prayer, marriage, Matthew 18, Matthew 6:12 sermon, meaning of forgiveness, model prayer, morning prayer, no condemnation, Parable of the Two Debtors, prayer, prayer outline, prayer relationship, preach the gospel to yourself, Psalm 66:18, relationship with God, repentance, Romans 8:1, salvation, sin, sin debt, sinners prayer, song "The Lord's Prayer", Tim Keller
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“Martha & Jesus: A Christian Allegory” (Luke 10:38-42 sermon)
One of the most famous allegories in history is John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. An “allegory” is where some character or symbol represents something else. In Pilgrim’s Progress (which is perhaps a rather “thin” allegory) the main character of Bunyan’s novel … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Luke 10:38-42 Mary & Martha series, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged allegory, analogy, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Jackson baby christening, asking Jesus in your heart, attitudes, Augustine conversion, Augustine spiritual growth, baptism, busy-ness, Christian allegory, consecration, conviction of Holy Spirit, daily devotions, daily quiet time, devotions, discipleship, Holy Spirit, home remodeling, infant baptism, Jesus in your life, Lazarus John 11, Luke 10:38-42, Martha and Jesus, Mary and Martha, personal salvation, Peter Brown Augustine, Pilgrim's Progress, priorities, process of sanctification, relationships, Saint Augustine, salvation, sanctification, schedule, sinners prayer, worship
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“God’s Purpose For Your Life” (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
One of the most common questions people ask in life is, “What am I here for?” If you think we have just “evolved” from nothing, then there IS no good answer for that. A genuine atheist will tell you that … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, I Peter sermons, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged Aslan, atheist meaning of life, C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia, choir, church building, coral reef, Ephesians 2 dead in sin, evangelism, Exodus 30, gift of God eternal life, Hebrews 13:15, I Peter 2:4-5, I Peter 2:4-5 sermon, incense, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lion Witch Wardrobe, living stones, Matthew 1:6, Matthew 24, meaning of life, new building, Peter rock, prayer, prayer as incense, Psalm 141:2, Psalm 5:3, purpose, Queen Jada, Revelation 5:8, Revelation 8:3, Romans 6:23, salvation, sinners prayer, spiritual sacrifices, spiritual temple, stone statues, Temple, temple of God, the church, the church is not the building, Thomas Lord Fairfax, wages of sin is death, worship God at the lake, Writing by Stephen King
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