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 Preview of Matthew 10:16-20, 26-34, Lifeway Explore the Bible lesson for 2/01/26, "Loyalty Tested"
- “Building Your Life On The Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon)
- Teacher's Overview of Matthew 9:10-19, 23-26, Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson "Mercy Extended" for 1/25/26
- "God's Purpose For Your Life" (I Peter 2:4-5 sermon)
- "How To Run The Christian Race" (Hebrews 12:1-2 sermon)
- "True Religion" (Philippians 3:2-3)
- "The Lord Our Provider" (Philippians 4:15-23 sermon)
- "Seeking Him First" (Matthew 6:33 sermon)
- "The World, The Flesh, and the Devil" (James 3:15 sermon)
- "The Greatest Verse in the Bible?" (John 3:16 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: worship
“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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“Neglecting God” (Zephaniah 1:1-6 sermon)
You never know what your kids are going to do with the things they hear you say. We had not been at our church in Tulsa Oklahoma very long when we pulled up to a convenience store, and Cheryl saw … Continue reading
Posted in Discipleship, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged "The Twelve", Choose whom you will serve, church attendance, compromise, daily Bible reading, decisions, devotional time, evangelism, family, family time, Gibeonites, gratitude, Great Commandment, greatest sin, heaven, idolatry, James 4:17, John 17:3, Joshua 24, Luke 17 ten lepers, marriage, marriage commitment, Minor Prophets, neglecting God, neglecting your family, Old Testament prophets, pray without ceasing, quiet time, relationship with God, Romans 15:13, salvation, seeking God, singing, sins of commission, sins of omission, thanking God, Thanksgiving, time with family, time with God, worship, Zephaniah, Zephaniah 1:1-6, Zephaniah 1:6
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“Worshiping God Anyway” (Habakkuk 3:16-19 sermon)
On November 5th of last year, a killer shot 46 people people who had gathered to worship at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, just southeast of San Antonio. The pastor, Frank Pomeroy, and his wife were out … Continue reading
Posted in Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged abortion, Acts 16, commitment, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Facebook, faith, gospel, Habakkuk 3, Habakkuk 3:16-19, heaven, hinds feet, hinds feet meaning, II Corinthians 4:16, Job, joy, joy in God, judgment, pain, pain holy angel, Paul and Silas, prosperity gospel, Psalm 147:10-11, Psalm 2:2, Romans 8, salvation, Sutherland Springs shooting, word faith, word faith teaching, worship
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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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“The Misplaced Passion of Spectator Religion” (Jonah 4 sermon)
On this Father’s Day, many of us are remembering our dads — whether they are still with us, or like my dad, have gone on to be with the Lord. I can remember my father sitting in his recliner, watching … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Amos, Apostle Paul, armchair religion, Charles DIckens, Christianity, church, clergy laity divide, comfort, compassion, convenience, critic, cruise ship or battleship?, disciples, discipleship, Ephesians 4:11-12, evaluate, Fathers Day, gifts, grieve, Holy Spirit, I Corinthians 12:7, Jonah, Jonah 4, La-z-boy Christianity, Marquis St. Evremonde, Matthew 26:58, Matthew 5:4, mercy, ministry, mission, mourn, Nineveh, passion, religion, Romans 10:1, salvation, service, spectator, spectator Christianity, spectator religion, spiritual gifts, Tale of Two Cities, worship, worship services
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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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“No Strange Fire: Honoring God in Worship” (Leviticus 10:1-3 sermon)
When I was pastoring in Louisiana, Governor Bobby Jindal came to our church one Sunday to share his testimony. It was a big day; we had one combined service, and every seat was filled, with standing room only. There were … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons, Uncategorized, worship
Tagged Abba Father, Acts 5, Ananias & Sapphira, Apostle John, awesome God, balance, Bible, caesar banquet shamed, cat in church, celebrities in the church, clothing, creativity, dress, dress and worship, entertainment, entertainment and worship, familiarity, fear of God, focus in worship, giving, glory of God, God's word, Governor Bobby Jindal, Hebrews 13:28–29, house of prayer, hypocrisy, Leviticus 10:1-3 sermon, Lord's Supper, Malachi 3:10, Nadab & Abihu, obedience, prayer, preaching, regulative principle, relationship with God, respect, Revelation 1:13, Revelation 1:17, reverence, salvation, scripture, singing, songs, strange fire, testimonies, testimony, Unseen presence, worship, worship planning
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When “Worship” Misses The Mark
“He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’” (Exodus 32:4) … Continue reading
Posted in Devotions/Bible Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged Bible, church, church standards, creativity, Exodus 32:4, idolatry, regulative principle, worship
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“Meeting With God” (Exodus 29:42-45 sermon)
Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met? I was talking to Barbara Riddle the other day, after Billy Graham had passed away, and she was telling me that some years ago Ruth Graham was at the same hospital … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged adultery, assurance of salvation, Bible Reading, Billy Graham, Christianity, consecration, Exodus 29:42-45, fellowship, forgiveness, God, good deeds, heaven, holiness, homosexualiity, I John 1:5-6, I John 2:3, I Samuel 3:9, Jesus, John MacArthur Laverne & Shirley, Joy Behar and Mike Pence mental illness, language, mercy, note-taking, pornography, prayer, religion, revelation, salvation, Universal Studios, worship
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The Search For Delight (Psalm 37:4 sermon)
“Hedonism” is the belief that pleasure is the most important thing in the world, and that you should live your life, for pleasure. Most Christians would say that hedonism is wrong — but a few years ago pastor John Piper … Continue reading
Posted in Sermon Illustrations, Sermons
Tagged Alexander Von Humboldt, Amazon jungle, Bible Reading, Brave Companions David McCullough, C.S. Lewis, Christian hedonism, commitment, daily quiet time, delight, delight yourself, Delight yourself in the Lord, desires, devotion time, devotions, Divine Country, Ecclesiastes, effort, family, football, fulfillment, garden of Eden, heaven, hedonism, Hop on Pop, Job, John Piper, joy, Made To Crave, marriage, occupation, personal worship, pleasure, prayer, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 17:17, Psalm 37:4, Psalm 42, Psalm 4:7, quiet time, reading, river of delights, scripture memory, sin, Song This Blood, soul mate, vocation, worship
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