Andy Talks

We see Paul talk today about the promise that God makes to Abraham. The fulfillment of that promise was always going to be Jesus. Jesus was always God’s plan; He was the lamb that was slain before the foundations of the earth.  In an age that seems topsy-turvy and like everything is going wrong, we sometimes don’t know who or what we can trust. We can always trust God’s promises. Shameless plug: h...

In our Traditional service from February 23, 2025, we see Jesus's words where He tells us that "I AM the way, the truth, and the life."  He is the way to the Father, and His life calls us to walk in the way that He walked.

Paul asks the Galatians this question - did you start your journey with faith?  Why do you expect to finish it by works?  We often make the mistake of knowing that we are saved by faith but believing that once we are saved or justified, we have to be sanctified through our own efforts. We partially live as if we are saved by faith but sanctified through works. That’s not the way that it is. We are...

We see Paul begin the heart of this teaching in Galatians. If we are saved by works, then Christ died for nothing. The equation is not Jesus plus correct doctrine equals salvation. It is not Jesus, plus the right church equals salvation. It is not Jesus, plus the right gifts of the spirit equals salvation. It is Jesus equals salvation. Just Jesus. He alone saves. That’s the Gospel. Shameless plug:...

We see the conflict that happens between Paul and Peter over what to do with these Gentiles who are becoming Christians. Should they first become Jews?  Do they need to follow the dietary laws? Become circumcised?  Everyone thought this had been handled, but it came up again to the point that Paul had to publicly rebuke Peter.  He reminds him, that he lives by grace, and so should others.  Do we e...

Paul knows he has been called by God. He has a vision. He knows. But yet, what does he do?  He still knows that he needs to make sure that he is being held accountable. He needs to make sure that he is faithful.  He knows he can’t live this life alone. He knows that he needs the church.  So do we. We need the church. We need each other. We can’t do it alone. We need this community.  Shameless plug...

Paul tells us what he has been through today. He violently persecuted the church. He tried to destroy it. Folks didn’t really want to believe it at first, but in time, they gave God the glory for what had happened. Sometimes, people don’t deserve a second chance. Sometimes, they have done nothing to earn it. But amazing things can happen when grace is given. Look what Paul did with a second chance...

We look today at Galatians 1. Paul is making sure the people know two things. First, he is an apostle. He is not there on his own or of his own accord. He is there because he has been sent by God. Second, he is sent by God with a message of the Gospel, this Gospel of grace, open to all who believe. He wants them to know that anyone, even an angel, who teaches a Gospel other than this is wrong. The...

Today, we begin looking at Galatians. This is a wonderful book, one of my favorites. Galatians deals with this question: is Jesus enough? We see the constant debate in this book: did someone have to become a Jew before becoming a Christian?  Did they have to follow the Law? What Jesus enough? Did it require more than faith to be a Christian? This is still a question that we wrestle today. Is Jesus...

Esther comes to an end with the beginning of the Jewish holiday known as Purium. It is still celebrated to this day. One of my professors in seminary, a rabbi, told us that it often felt like a Jewish Halloween, with candy and scary masks representing Hamann. As this day is celebrated, the story is told over and over again. There is something powerful about telling our story. When was the last tim...

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...