Andy Talks

This morning we look at Jesus’ first sermon in Luke 4, and wow—it did not go over well. At first, the hometown crowd was impressed, but when Jesus challenged their assumptions and reminded them that God’s grace extends to outsiders too, things turned ugly fast. It’s a powerful reminder that Jesus’ ministry, from the start, was Spirit-filled, bold, and deeply focused on the least and the lost. And...

This morning, we look at the temptation of Jesus in Luke 4:1–13, where Jesus faces three key temptations—comfort, power, and safety—right after His baptism and just before starting His public ministry. Each temptation challenges His mission and identity, but Jesus resists by leaning on Scripture, staying rooted in truth, and trusting the Father. The big takeaway is this: even Jesus was tempted, so...

Today we looked at the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23–38, and while it might seem like one of those parts of Scripture to skip, it actually tells us something really powerful. I talked about the differences between Luke’s and Matthew’s genealogies—how Matthew traces Jesus’ line back to Abraham to show He’s the fulfillment of Jewish promises, while Luke goes all the way back to Adam to show that J...

Today we look at the baptism of Jesus from Luke 3:21–22 and why baptism is such a big deal for us as Christians. No matter our denomination—Methodist, Baptist, Catholic—we may see it differently, but we all agree it's important. In my tradition as a United Methodist, baptism is a sign of God’s covenant with us, and I especially love how we include infants as part of that covenant family. I ta...

We see John the Baptist’s public ministry today, and he comes out with a strong stance - Who warned you to repent!  Not the way that I typically start off my sermons.  But John’s purpose was this: calling people to repentance.  We need to take a moment, though, and talk about what conviction and repentance are.  Conviction is when we feel bad about our sins. Repentance is when we do something abou...

Today we see Jesus as a 12-year-old boy staying behind in the temple, astonishing the teachers with his wisdom while Mary and Joseph anxiously search for him. This passage highlights the importance of steady, faithful religious practices in shaping spiritual character, as seen in Mary and Joseph’s consistent observance of Jewish customs. It reminds us that formation in faith doesn't come from...

We see two people today, Simeon and Anna, who are overcome when they see Jesus as a baby. These are people who have been waiting, most of their adult lives, to see Him. They knew the Lord was sending a Messiah, and they longed to see Him. They longed to experience Him. They longed to know Him.  How about us? Today, in our regular lives, do we long to see Jesus?  Do we long to know Jesus?  Do we lo...

We look at a passage today that I know you’ve heard preached a thousand times. We’ll look at the Christmas story as told to us by Luke. This is the one that we are probably all most familiar with.  There is so much that we can unpack today, from what the shepherds were doing to the reason for the census. In Christmas, God came near. Through Christmas, God became flesh and dwelt among us. He incarn...

We see the birth of John the Baptist today. First, we see that when he is born, people expect him to be named after his father. When Elizabeth says no, he is to be called John, but no one believes. It was only after his father agreed that he was able to speak again. But once Zechariah was able to speak, he began to prophecy and tell people what his son, John, would do. He would point others to Jes...

Today, we read Mary’s great song of praise to God, the Magnificat. After being faithful, after being encouraged, Mary now sings this song of praise. There is much for which she praises God.  She praises Him for His blessings to her.  She will be called blessed by all generations. She praises Him for His remembering of His promises to Abraham and their ancestors. And finally, she praises Him for tu...

Another great story from the first chapter of Luke. Today, we see Mary go to Elizabeth. We have this wonderful image of the unborn John the Baptist leaping in the womb in the presence of the unborn Jesus. The Spirit falls on Elizabeth, and she pronounces blessings. Blessings on Jesus and on Mary, as well as on Mary’s faith. Mary had made the right choice, had done what God required and asked. She...

We have one of my favorite examples of faith today, Mary.  I heard Rich Mullins say once in an interview, “It’s not that Catholics think too much of Mary, it’s that we Protestants don’t think enough of Mary.”  Mary is a perfect example of faith. God comes and upends her world. And what does she say?  Let it be unto me, according to thy word. She trusts in God, even when it is not the path she had...

Today in Luke, we see the foretelling of the birth of John the Baptist. He was the last of his kind.  His parents were of the line of priests, but he was going to be the last of the Old Testament prophets. He was the one who would be the last of the old covenant and who would point to the keeper of the new covenant, Jesus Christ.  As his parents were living their lives, God showed up, invaded thei...

Luke’s Gospel begins by telling us why he is doing this.  We see that many gospels (which means “good news”) have already been written by this time.  So, why aren’t they included in the Bible?  Are they trying to hide something out there?  Is the truth really out there, and no one wants to tell us?  No, that’s not it.  There are four marks that every book in the Bible shares, and no book that has...

In our Road Trip Series, we look at Deborah, this great female judge and leader of the people. Her story, and all the book of Judges, shows how God will use unexpected people, like "them" and like us.

We take a break between finishing Judges this week and moving to Luke next week. I always find the Psalms to be a great passage to use as a break between two different books.  Today, we’ll look at Psalm 17. This is a passage that I’ll be preaching from later this year, so I’ve started spending time with it. This is a Psalm of deliverance, a Psalm in which David cries out to God to save him.  God l...

As Judges ends, we see perhaps the worst story in all the Bible. I have often been told that in ancient days, Rabbis would not allow youths to read the Song of Solomon until they were “of age” because of the themes. I believe the story of the Levite’s concubine is much the same.  It’s a story of sexual assault, of evil, of abuse, of just the very worst of humanity.  Reinhold Niebuhr once wrote tha...

These last few chapters of Judges can be understood as a commentary on what has happened to the people.  We see this refrain, over and over throughout the book, the people did what was right in their own eyes.  We see in these two chapters how the people are seeking to bend their faith and their religion to their own desires. They are doing things like asking God to bless an idol!  And having a Le...

We see Samson's death today, a story that many of us are familiar with. But when you read it, you see something perhaps unexpected. Samson asks for strength so that he can be an instrument of revenge. That is not something that we are supposed to be about as Christians, is it?  We are supposed to forgive and not seek vengeance. So, even though Samson doesn’t have the best of intentions, God w...

Today, we are going to take quite the ride. What is the connection between Samson’s hair and baptism? Samson’s hair is symbolic of the connection he has with God; it is the symbol of the covenant that his parents made with God and that he (by and large) kept.  So, the hair was not the “thing,” but it was the outward sign of “thing.”  In the same way, our wedding rings are that visible symbol and r...

In our Traditional message from June 15, 2025, Andy shares with us from Matthew 2: 13-23.  Joseph had plans for his life, good plans, but God came and upended all of these. Even though Joseph may not have understood it completely at first, he remained faithful. That's our call. Not perfection. Faithfulness.

When I look at Sampson, I think to myself, I would never use him. He is out of control. He is reckless. He even, at one point, names what he is doing as mischief. But what do we find? God uses him. God uses him as an instrument. God uses him to help the Israelites. Even though Sampson is not someone I would use, God does. God doesn't always make sense, and we need to remember that. God isn&ap...

We see more of Sampson’s story today, and we encounter a theme that will remain constant throughout his life. Sampson lives recklessly. He lives out of control. The Lord is able to use him, yes, and even the most out-of-control life can be used by God. But Sampson lives totally out of control. He breaks the law, he makes his parents unclean, he is prideful, he is cocky, he lives in a way that is d...

Today, we see the birth of Sampson. The angel who comes to his family tells them that Sampson is to be a nazirite.  He is to be set apart, no unclean food, no wine, no haircuts. He is to be different from all his neighbors. To be holy is to be set apart. As Christians, especially those of us from the Wesleyan family, holiness is our purpose. But we are to always remember that holiness is not so mu...

We have seen a lot of stories thus far of well-known judges. Gideon’s story took chapters. But today, we see the story of three individual judges that takes about seven verses.  We don’t know much about them. We don’t know their stories. We don’t know what they did right or what they did wrong. All we know is that they were faithful. That’s all we can be.  We can’t compare ourselves to others, to...