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)
- "Your Response to Christmas" (Matthew 2:1-12 Sermon)
- "A 'Real Life' Christmas" (Luke 2:1-11 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
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 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: word of God
“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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“The Children of God” (Deut.33:3 sermon)
Not everyone pictures a relationship with a Heavenly Father as being good. I just finished reading a biography of Charles Lindbergh, the first man to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. We aren’t as familiar with him today, but he was … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged affection, assurance, Bible, Bible Reading, Boompa, Charles Lindbergh, cherish, child, corporate worship, Deuteronomy 33:1-3, Deuteronomy 33:3, Ephesians 1:13, family of God, father, God, God is love, God the Father, good good Father, gospel, Great Commandment, He Will Hold Me Fast, held, Henry V, I John 4:8, Jeremiah 31:3, John 10:27-29, John 8:31, Keith & Krysten Getty, kept, love, love God, love letter, love of God, Luke 10 Mary and Martha, Luke 8:21, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, perseverance of the saints, prayer, Psalm 131:2, salvation, Shakespeare, singing, Son, we are in God's hands, weaned child, word of God, worship
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“Testing The Fruit Of Your Salvation” (James 1:21-27 sermon)
For Mothers Day we got some things for Cheryl for the garden. She loves to garden outside — and I love to go out and walk through the garden with her for 5 minutes before I go inside to read! … Continue reading
Posted in Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged age, Bible, Book of James, born again, church, church attendance, conviction, darkness, doer of the word, faith, Faith works, fruit, fruit of salvation, holiness, I John 1:5, II Corinthians 5, James, James 1, James 1:21-27, James 1:21-27 sermon, John 13:17, John 3, light, Matthew 13 parable of the sower, minister, ministry, mirror, mirror of the word, new creation, obedience, orphans, Paraliament, purification, repent, repentance, salvation, sanctification, scripture, service, sin, slavery, widows, William Wilberforce, word of God, works, worship
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Not Up For Negotiation
“Pharaoh callled for Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.’” (Exodus 8:25) That sounded like a logical compromise. Moses and Aaron had told Pharaoh that God had commanded them to go and worship Him … Continue reading
“For The Mouth of the Lord Hath Spoken It” (Isaiah 40:1-8 sermon)
A few weeks ago, we celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation which Martin Luther initiated when he questioned the unbiblical teachings of the church of his day. Emory University in Atlanta actually has a big collection of Lutheran … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Bible, Bible application, Bible Reading, Every Day With Jesus, God's word, inerrancy, Isaiah 40:1-8 sermon, Isaiah 53:6, prophecy, salvation, scripture, scriptures, substitionary atonement, the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, Tom Sawyer, Voltaire 100 years Bible, William Tyndale, word of God
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Written That You May Believe
“But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31) John 20:31 is known as the “thesis” or purpose … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged belief, Bible, evangelism, evangelism methods, faith, Holy Spirit, John 20:31, Luke 16 rich man, Romans 10:17, salvation, scripture, witnessing, word of God
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Jesus’ Word & Salvation
“As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.” (John 8:30) The Bible tells us that when Jesus spoke the words He did in John 8, that “many came to believe in Him.” Sure, there was controversy, as … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Ministry, Uncategorized
Tagged Bible, Ephesians 6:17, evangelism, God's word, Holy Spirit, Jesus, John 8:30, ministry, preaching, Romans 10:17, salvation, scripture, teaching, word, word of God
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“The Scriptures: Life & Light” (Matthew 4:12-17 sermon)
My wife Cheryl & I will have been married for 35 years on May 28th. (She has already informed me that we are not going to be here that Sunday — so I am informing you! 🙂 As you can … Continue reading
Posted in Matthew sermons, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged Bible, Bible literacy, Bible Reading, conversion, daily Bible reading, Dikkon Eberhart, discipleship, eternal life, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Matthew 4:12-17 sermon, Netflix, obedience, salvation, scripture, scripture application, scripture memory, The Time Mom Met Hitler book, word of God
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“Straining Gnats & Swallowing Camels”
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged Bible, justice, Matthew 23:23-24, mercy, obedience, priorities, scripture, tithing, word of God
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