Andy Talks

Tuesday of Holy Week is traditionally remembered as a day of teaching. In Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 23 stands out as one of the most intense and honest teachings Jesus gives during his final week. It is a direct and passionate rebuke of religious hypocrisy, but in the end, we see how deeply He loves even these religious leaders. Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new,...

We begin our time together for Holy Week by looking at the cleansing of the Temple. This is an interesting story, and also one that can be a danger to us. We see Jesus flip tables and make a whip. It is tempting for us to run first to “that” Jesus. If we are going to be honest, very few of us have the spiritual maturity to run to flip tables. I know that I don't. But what is actually happenin...

In our traditional Palm Sunday message, Andy shares with us from Luke 19: 28-40. On this Palm Sunday, we see Jesus enter Jerusalem. The energy is eclectic. But the next step for everyone is always the hardest step.

The first line of today’s Psalm is one that most of us know quite well, and it is one that is always associated with defeat. It is one of the last things that Jeuss says upon the cross - My God, my God, why have you forgiven me.  It starts with despair and pain, but when you keep reading, what do you find? You find victory. This Psalm ends with hope for what the Lord has yet to do. So, Jesus was n...

Today, we’ll start a two-day look at the Psalms. We’ll read Psalms 131-133. These Psalms come near the end of that section of the book. Psalms of ascent are very specific things; these are psalms that were intended to be sung as the pilgrims were climbing Mt. Zion, as they were on the way to the Temple. These are some of the most beautiful Psalms in scripture. The ones we will read today focus on...

We finish up James with one of its most well-known verses. It’s one of those verses I can’t help but say in the old King James - “The prayer of the righteous availeth much.”  The Bible tells us, in several passages, that somehow, our prayers have an effect on God. How does that work?  How do our prayers change God? I have no idea. But it does make us stop and ask the question. Do we pray like our...

James gives us some words that I believe are helpful for every relationship.  Let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.”  Mean what you say and say what you mean. Every relationship, from time to time, will have issues with communication. We spend some time today talking through some helpful tools with communication, and then James reminds us once again about the importance of patience to our...

Today, we see James’ harshest condemnation of the rich. It is easy for us to hear this passage as a condemnation of the church and all that the church has. But in James’s day, the church was poor.  It has nothing. This is actually a condemnation of those outside the church who are persecuting the church. It’s a good reminder for us to think about what is happening in this text. But this text does...

In our Traditional message from April 6, 2025, Andy shares with us from 1 Corinthians 15: 20-22. All are dead through Adam, but through Christ, all can live. We are more than our failures. We can live because of Jesus!

Today is another day where Jaems feels like Proverbs. James talks to us about two things: judging others and making plans for the future. In both of these, his message is this. You are not God. How can you judge?  You are not the lawgiver.  Only God is the lawgiver. Judging is His domain, not ours.  Likewise, how can you say what tomorrow will hold?  Only God can do that.  This perspective gives u...

James reminds me of a New Testament Proverbs. There is so much good stuff there within it.  Today, we see such good advice about lament and pain; we also are told to resist the devil, and he will flee. We are not bound up in our sins. But the main thing that we talk about is this. What does it mean to say we should not be friends with the world? Yet, at the same time, we are called to be holy. How...

James teaches us today that there are two types of wisdom. I struggled with thinking about this at first, as I don’t think of worldly wisdom as “wisdom” at all because I think of wisdom as thinking or seeing from God’s perspective. There are, without a doubt, worldly ways of thinking, and as we see with the fruits of the spirit versus the works of the flesh, what we are producing shows where we ar...

In our Traditional message from March 30, 2023, we look at Jesus's third temptation. This one cuts the heart of all other temptations.  Who are we? Where does our allegiance lie? We also learn this truth - temptation is always a lie.

Today, we look at one of the passages where James really goes from preaching to meddling.  He talks about the tongue. We live in an age of cell phones and social media, and we forget that the person on the other side of our online argument is someone made in the image of God. All are made in the image of God, and Jesus died for everyone. That means that how we speak to and about each other really,...

Today is the section that Martin Luther did not like at all. James today tells us that faith alone does not save us but that we are saved by our works. It was his works that saved Abraham, not faith alone. Doesn’t this contradict Paul?  Didn’t Paul say the exact opposite thing in Galatians?  What does this mean?  We’ll take a few minutes to explain how Paul and James speak from the same hymnal. Th...

James, in chapter two, continues to get all up in our business. He continues to warn us about the dangers of showing partiality.  He says that God will show His spiritual riches to the poor, but we so often dishonor them by how we treat them. This is a constant refrain from James and all across the Bible. Then he calls us to obey the royal law - love your neighbor. We are legalistic about so many...

We return again to Matthew 4: 1-11 as we look at Jesus's temptation.  In our INTERSECTION service from March 23, 2025, Andy shares with us the great choice for Jesus. Would He trust the Father to take care of Him? We face the same choice today. 

Today’s reading is at the heart of James’ book. Today, we see what true religion looks like. It is not enough that we hear the word; we are to do the word. We talked early this week that for James, religion is not just an intellectual agreement to a collection of facts, but faith is a life submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Today, James tells us exactly what that life should look like. Tod...

Today’s reading has two verses that I love so much and that can be very formative in how we think about sin and grace. First, he tells us that we are dragged into sin by our own sinful desires. Our spiritual battle is going to always start with the external. It’s always first a battle without ourselves. And then he tells us this powerful truth: if it is good and it is in our lives, it is a gift fr...

James today hits on something that will be a constant theme for him in this book. Be careful of wealth. For us, it’s easy to think that it is a warning to someone else. And yes, there is always someone better off than each of us. But if we are reading this on our computer or mobile phone, listening to this on a podcast after having woken up in a warm bed with a roof over our head, driving our job,...

As we begin our time together in the book of James, we see some really vital truths. Today, we are told about the importance of trials and the value of wisdom. Our trials produce endurance, and that endurance produces maturity.  Our trials teach us so very much. We learn more from them than we do from anything.  And with wisdom, if we lack, God will give generously to us.  Shameless plug: here’s a...

We begin our time together in James by getting an overview of what it is about. Who wrote it?  What is the point?  James is a great book to read in tandem with Galatians or Ephesians, in the same way it is great to read Job in tandem with Proverbs. It gives us balance. Yes, we are saved by grace through faith so that no one can boast. But our works do matter. Our works are important. They show us...

Over the next three Sundays, we will examine Jesus's temptations more closely, each individually. Today, we examine the temptation to turn stones into bread. What was happening here? What is this temptation actually about?

In our Psalm today, David gives us words to cling to when we find ourselves in hard times. David, in his life, has had moments of great victory and moments of great trial. Today he gives us two words that we can claim in these moments. First, we can name our pain and hurt to God. Speak it, and give it to Him. Second, we can remember the times in the past when He has been there for us. With these g...

We are going to look at a couple of Psalms between our time in Galtians and James. We’ll pay special attention to a couple of Psalms that are important with this Lenten season. Today, we look at David’s beautiful reflection on forgiveness.  This Psalm takes a walk through the journey of sin, confession, and God’s pardon of our sins. It’s a wonderful work that shows us just how important confession...