Andy Talks

After we left off with Haman being destroyed, we now see that the tables have turned. The people who believed that they would destroy the Jewish people now find themselves being destroyed. God has turned the tables. God has made all things right. Esther teaches us to have courage, yes. But it also teaches us to trust that God will, in His way and time, make all things right. God will always make a...

In our Traditional Message, Andy shares with us from John 8:12 and 9:5. As we continue our series "I Am," looking at the I Am statements of Jesus, we talk about what it means to say that Jesus is the Light of the World. How is He light in our lives and in the world? 

Today, we see how Haman’s story comes to an end. He is impaled on the very pole he had built for Mordecai. This comes to completion when Esther does the right thing.  She has courage. This got me thinking about all the times in my life when I did not have courage. When I did not do the right thing. When I blinked.  What matters is not the past when we may not have gotten it right, but what matters...

We see the way that Mordecai approaches the world with humility and trust. Haman comes with pride. He assumes that he is the honored one. He assumes he is the greatest, the righteous, the one who will be lavished with praise. He is so prideful, that he doesn’t see that in his pride are the seeds of his own destruction. But Mordecai shows humility. And more than humility, he shows trust. He knows t...

Today, we see Esther follow through with Mordecai’s request. She goes to the King to ask him to spare her people. But she does something unexpected. Instead of asking then, she throws a banquet. And then, at that banquet, she asks the King and Haman to come to another banquet. Why?  There’s really no good answer in scripture, and I get a couple of the reasons I read in commentaries. But to me, ult...

Every book of the bible has a verse that most people know it for. For Ecclesiastes, for instance, we all know the passage about time, “a time to kill, etc.”  For Esther, if you know any verses from it, you know a passage from today, “for such a time as this.”  We’ll look at what this passage means, but we’ll also look at it within its context. When we understand the greater story being told, the m...

We see Haman get a great position of great honor, yet Mordecai will not defer to Haman as Haman thinks is right. Haman is offended, and his pride is hurt. Because of this hurt pride, Haman decides not just to kill Mordecai but to destroy all the Jews. Because of his wounded pride Haman is willing to destroy so many. What relationships are destroyed, and what harm is caused because of our pride? Pr...

In our Traditional message from January 19, 2025, Andy shares with us from John 6: 35-41.  In the first of our series about the "I Am statements of Jesus, we see that He is the Bread. We unpack what it means to feast on the goodness of Jesus. 

We see the story of Esther continuing to play out. Mordecai hears about a plot to assassinate the king, and he tells Esther, who in turn tells the king.  He then has these two men impaled upon poles. This may not seem like a lot happening, but see that Mordecai is involved and doing good. He tells Esther, who then tells an irrational king.  These steps don’t seem like that much, but in time, they...

The King begins his search for a new bride today. I jokingly say that this feels a lot like our modern concept of The Batchelor. All we need are the cameras and TVs. But each woman is lavished so much, perfumes, oils, so many things. When it comes to meeting the king, they can do or take whatever they would like. Esther doesn’t do any such thing; she simply goes with what they suggest and trusts i...

Not every story in the Bible is given so that we know what to do sometimes; they are given to us so that we know what not to do. We see King Xerxes today, and we see how powerful he is. He is throwing grand and great festivals. He is showing his power and wealth for all to see. The last thing that he wants to show off is his wife. And she refuses to be treated as such, so he banishes her. We are c...

Remember where we started the book of Ruth? Naomi had lost everything. She lost her husband, her children, her people, everything. This book begins with having nothing. But then, we see God’s loving kindness modeled over and over again. Ruth to Naomi. Ruth to Boaz. Boaz to Ruth. And in the end, God to Naomi. God’s kindness to Naomi affects all of Israel and affects each of us to this very day. Sha...

In our Traditional message from January 12, 2025, Andy shares from Luke 2: 15-22. On this Baptism of the Lord Sunday, we talk about the promises we make to God in our baptism, but more importantly, we talk about the promise God makes to us.

Today, another has the chance to redeem Namoi’s property and, with that, gain Ruth as a wife. The man, first in line, does not do that. It’s interesting the scripture never names him. There’s even a funny Hebrew idiom that he is called. I’m not saying that he commits a sin, but he does not do what he could have. We focus a lot on sins of “commission” when we do things we should not do. We should a...

Chapter three of Ruth is full of some interesting things. Threshing floors, odd routines, things just sound out of step to us.  What is happening? We see Ruth showing to Boaz that her time of grief is now over, and she would desire marriage. But not just any marriage, but marriage to him. As an older person, this is quite an unexpected gift of kindness. Once again, we see in Ruth the power of kind...

We begin to see the power of kindness today. Boaz shows kindness to Ruth. Why? Well, first, he’s a good man. Second, he tells her that he and others have heard of the kindness that she has shown to her mother-in-law.  Ruth has left her people and has taken refuge under the wings of the God of Israel. We see kindness begin to weave its way into so many tales of redemption. Kindness is always reward...

In our Traditional message from Ephiphany, Andy shares with us from Matthew 2: 1-12. We see the story of the Wise Men, but more than this, we see the first impression of who Jesus is. We see the wideness of God's mercy. 

Ruth goes out to glean from the fields of harvest. Gleaning is a command that God gives His people regarding the harvest. They are not to take everything from the field. They are to leave room at the margins for the poor. It is one of God’s ways to force His people to remember (and see) the poor. And Ruth just so happens to find herself at Boaz’s field. God is work, causing us to remember the poor...

Naomi tells the people, do not call her by her name but now call her “Mara.”  This is the Hebrew word for bitter.  In the Bible, your name isn’t just what they call you; it’s who you are. Namio is telling the people she has changed. She is bitter.  We will all suffer. We will all have bad times. But don’t let grief change your name. Don’t let it change who you are. Stay rooted in what is good, not...

We’ll start today looking at the book of Ruth. This is a wonderful book, one of my very favorites, because it teaches us the power of redemptive kindness. We need some of that redemptive kindness in the world today, don’t we? We all hope the New Year will be better, but we look a few days in and realize everything is the same as it has always been. We will have hard times this year, as we do each...

In our Christmas Eve sermon, Andy shares with us from Luke 2: 1-20. Mary saw all that had happened that night and treasured it. May we watch what God is doing and treasure it as well.

In our Traditional message from December 22, 2024, Andy shares with us from Luke 1: 39-45. Mary needed safety and welcome. Where did she go? She went home. So can we. Come home. Come home to faith, to church and community, to Jesus. 

Jesus forgives Peter. He asked Peter three times if he loved Jesus. Each time, Peter responds yes, but the word “love” that Peter uses is not the word that Jesus uses.  Jesus eventually responds with the same “love” as Peter. Jesus meets Peter where He is. Jesus knows us; He loves us. He understands us. He also tells Peter not to worry about others and their journey. He is to follow Jesus. Don’t w...

We see Peter going fishing today. This doesn’t just mean he’s going back to an old hobby, but he’s going back to his old life. This whole Jesus stuff is over. He’s tried it, he failed, and he’s going back to what he knows. He’s going fishing. But even when he’s going back to the old, who finds him there?  Jesus.  Even when he wants to walk away, Jesus is there. Jesus didn’t give up on him. And He...

We see John tell us today why we have his Gospel and really all the rest of the Bible. It was given so that we may believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that we may have life through believing in Him. John, and all the Bible, was given to us not merely for information but for transformation. It was not given so that we could know more; it was given so that we could be transformed by the grace and...