Andy Talks

We see Mary anointing Jesus and Judas, and Judas tells Jesus that it is a waste. The money that was spent could have been used in more practical ways to help the poor. Now, of course, we know that Judas was lying, so we should not pay too much attention to him. But, to younger Andy, he did have a point. Should we use resources in that way? Do we really need stained glass windows? Robes? Crosses? I...

We see that the religious leaders, to keep Rome out of their business, intend to kill Jesus. It’s better in their minds for Jesus, just one man, to die than for Rome to come and destroy everything. One man dies so that many can be saved. John tells us that the high priest did not know he was telling the truth. One man was going to die, and that death would save many just not in the way that he was...

We see one of the most powerful moments in all the Bible, at least to me, when Jesus wept. Here’s the thing that always gets me about this passage. Jesus was late on purpose. He showed up late to Lazarus’ grave, on purpose so that He could raise Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus would only be dead for a moment. But Jesus, even knowing all this, when confronted with the reality of death, wept. We do n...

In our October 6, 2024 sermon, Andy shared with us from John 10:10. As a church, we are on the verge of something supernatural—something huge. Our world needs what St. Matthew's offers. God has something big in store, and He will give us all that we need to accomplish that task. We are moving from scarcity to abundance. 

After leaving Judea, Jesus decided to return after His friend Lazarus died. We will talk more about what happens next in the coming days, but this passage today shows us that Jesus is late on purpose. As they get ready to leave, the disciples are worried about what may happen. That is when Thomas says they should go with Jesus and die with Him. Thomas shows bravery and courage. So why do we rememb...

Jesus continues His back and forth with the religious leaders. Today, He tells them that if they will not believe His words, they should look at His works. Friends, that is exactly where we are today at this moment. The world does not believe our words. They simply do not. We have to be able to point to our works. They do not believe us when we talk about Jesus. We have to love like Jesus, serve l...

We see Jesus share with us today two things that made me ponder. First, He has sheep in other flocks. What did this mean to the people who heard Him? What does this mean to us today? And we also see this beautiful reminder.  No one took His life; He laid it down willingly. Why? Because He loves His sheep. He loves us. Life comes from laying down your life as a Christian, as a spouse, as a parent,...

Today’s reading includes one of my favorite passages, John 10:10, which tells us that we have abundant life in Jesus. I’ll actually be preaching on this passage this coming Sunday at St. Matthew’s. But I wanted to take a little time and talk about the sheep. They learn the voice of the shepherd, and they follow. Not only do they follow the voice of the shepherd, they learn to run from any voice th...

The man born blind really catches it today. He is questioned twice by the religious leaders about how it is that he can see. His parents are questioned. Everyone is out to get him, it seems. He stands by what he knows to be true. He once was blind, but now he can see. Jesus healed him. After he is driven from the synagogue, Jesus finds him. Jesus loves this man. He cares for him. Jesus sees him, a...

In our INTERSECTION message from September 29, Andy shares with us from Amos 5: 21-24. There are some things that only the church can do. We are called, as the church, to live our God's love.

We see a man born blind who is healed by Jesus. The disciples ask Jesus an interesting question. Who sinned to cause that man to be born blind? Was it him, or was it his parents? Jesus answers their question this way - neither. Neither sinned, but his blindness will show the greatness of God. God was not out to get this man; God loved him. The same is true today for us. God is not out to get you t...

There are so many interesting things in our text today, from the insults that the religious leader hurls at Jesus to maybe the most Messianic thing Jesus ever said. But as I was reading, I was taken aback by the truth that Jesus shares with us. The devil is a liar. Every word from his mouth is a lie. That means this great truth - temptation is a lie. Always, always, always. When we understand what...

Jesus tells the ones following Him that if He sets them free, then they are no longer slaves to sin, but they are free. They push back, saying that they are the children of Abraham and have never been slaves (ironically missing part of Jewish history). Jesus tells us that we will all be slaves to something, to sin or to righteousness. When He has set us free, we give over our control, and in that...

Another day, more conflict with the religious leaders.  Today, they get exasperated with Jesus because they are not approaching Him with faith. They ask him, “Who are you?” Jesus tells them that when they lift Him up, they will know who he is. This is talking about the cross, yes, but it’s more than that. When we lift up Jesus through testimony and point out what Jesus is doing, people are drawn t...

We see Jesus continuing to have conflict with the religious leaders. They just could not hear what Jesus was saying. Everything He said seemed to just bounce off of them. They didn’t get it. The reason is because they just did not have faith. As smart as they were, they did not believe. It is the belief that makes it all possible. It is that faith that only comes when we surrender to God; that is...

In our Traditional sermon from September 22, 2024, our Children's Sabbath, Andy shares with us from Matthew 25: 31-46.  Jesus tells us to love the least of this. When we live out this compassion, especially in the hardest to love, it changes them, and it changes us. 

Today, we unpack what is happening in this story. There are so many interesting things. What did Jesus write in the dirt? How did they “catch” her? We notice how they walked away, from the youngest to the oldest. But in the end, we focus on Jesus' words: “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”  What can we learn from this passage? Shameless plug, here’s a li...

Today, we look at this well-known and well-loved passage. But before we get into what is happening here, I want to take a moment to talk about the Bible. What are manuscripts? Could there have been errors in translation? How can we know that our English Bibles are accurate? How can we trust them? We’ll take a few minutes today to go a little deeper into this and learn why we know that we can trust...

Jesus tells all who come to Him that they will receive living waters. This water will flow forth from their hearts through the Holy Spirit. This leads to all manner of discussion about whether He is the Messiah or not. The thing the religious leaders say to prove He isn't is this. He’s from Galilee, not Bethlehem. They knew that! There is only one problem. They were wrong. They did not know t...

We see two groups today thinking through who Jesus is. First, we see the crowd, who may initially be a little skeptical but realize who Jesus is. They see His works and believe. Second, we see the religious leaders. They see the same works as Jesus, but they do not believe. With faith, sometimes we must take that leap and obey, even if we don’t feel it or are unsure. Sometimes, we have to jump to...

We had some real computer issues in worship today. Andy shares with us from Psalm 150 about why worship matters to us as Christians!

Jesus continues his ongoing conflict with the religious leaders. They are mad at Him, as always. Jesus tells them that they are always missing the point of the law and that there is an easy test to see if a teacher is of God. Whose glory do they seek? Their own? Or God’s glory? That’s an excellent test for us and leads to a great way for us to judge our actions. Do the actions we take help us love...

Jesus' life was hard. Yesterday, we saw the disciples believe, even though it was. Today, we see that His own brothers do not believe. Can you imagine how hard it would be to have your own family not believing or supporting you? Yet, Jesus kept faithful to His mission. He would not be moved from that mission, even when people who He loved did not believe. He kept focused on that mission. Don’...

Jesus's teachings throughout John 6 are very challenging. He talks about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. He is laying out some very hard words for everyone to hear. Because of this, many disciples walk away. We spent some time unpacking who these people were today. Then we look at Peter’s answer to Jesus: where else could we go?  Only Jesus has life, y’all. Only Jesus. Shameless plug...

Jesus tells us today that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we have no part of Him. This is a hard word for His original hearers. We hear, and we know He is talking about communion. They did not. Faith sometimes is about hearing something we don’t understand and still believing, even though it is hard. We then talk about the importance of communion. Of all the things Jesus said we shoul...