Andy Talks

We see a passage today that we’ve all heard a million times, so we look at it in the right context; they will beat their swords into plowshares, and they shall not learn of war anymore. We see, though, that this beloved passage is in the midst of God’s restoration and salvation. Then we see that there will come a time when God will restore. The reality is that those things are not now.  We don’t n...

Today , we see Micah condemn the shepherds, the royal prophets, and the kings. For a pastor, such as myself, I always read those words and take them to heart. Am I leading in a way that brings health? That points to Jesus? That helps others know His grace.  That’s a heavy question, one that I ponder deeply. But perhaps you are not a pastor; you’re just a “regular” person. This means nothing to you...

The path we are walking as a church is challenging, but we believe it is the right path. The world needs to see what unity can look like. Just because we don't agree on everything doesn't mean we can't unite on the main thing.

Today, in Micah, we see the prophet condemn the people for their actions, but in verse two, he hits at what is driving their actions. Their hearts.  Their hearts covet things that are not theirs, which leads to their hands stealing, taking, and destroying. It all starts with the heart.  The Psalmist tells us that God grants us the desires of our hearts, but what God is doing is causing our hearts...

Today, we begin our time in Micah. He is a prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah, and he begins today by saying that judgment will come on both the northern kingdom (Israel and Samaria) and the southern kingdom (Judah and Jerusalem). Samaria has worshiped idols, and that sin has even infected Jerusalem. In our lives, we should look at those around us and ask if they are a positive or negative i...

Jonah tells God why he ran today. He knew who God was. He knew what God would do. He understood God’s character. God is a God of compassion and of mercy. He is a God of grace who abounds in mercy.  Jonah hated the Nivevites so much that he did not want God to forgive. That’s why he ran. Today, do we understand just how deeply God loves us for us?  And do we understand that God shows compassion on...

Today, we see two “changes.” First, Jonah changes. He gets out of the belly of the great fish, and he does the very thing that he said he would not do. He goes to Nineveh and he preaches to the very folks he did not want to. He changed. Now, it was only after great suffering that he changed. Second, we see the people of Nevaeh change. They heard the message from Jonah, and they changed. They repen...

We see Jonah in the belly of the fish today, and in this moment, he remembers the Lord. He cries out to the Lord.  He turns to Him and remembers His temple, He remembers His goodness, and He remembers that God saves. Salvation is from the Lord.  Sometimes, we have to wind up in the belly of the whale before we are broken enough to turn to God. Sometimes, we don’t think we need God, that we got it....

We start one of the most well-known and beloved stories in the Bible today, the story of Jonah. Today, we see Jonah run from God. If you know anything about Ninevah, you will understand why Jonah ran.  The Ninevites were truly terrible. They came and conquered by fear. They wanted the people to be afraid of them.  Jonah saw how bad they were, and he didn’t want them to receive the forgiveness he f...

Today in Obadiah, we are talking about the concept of schadenfreude.  This is when someone takes pleasure in the misfortune of others. In our world, things have become so polarized that it seems as though when our “enemies” or those who disagree with us, especially theologically or politically, have a misfortune, it’s tempting to say, “Ha!  You got what was coming to you!”  For many of us, that ma...

Today, I realized when reviewing my notes that I had skipped Hosea!  We just jumped right over it when we started the minor prophets. I thought it would be good today not to necessarily look at all of Hosea but look at my favorite chapter in this book, Chapter 11.  In this chapter, we see how frustrated the Lord is with the sins of the people and how He is ready to give them over and give them up....

Today, we continue looking at the Gospel passages for recent Sundays. Today, we’ll look at the passage for this coming Sunday, John 15: 1-8. This is a well-known passage where Jesus tells us that He is the vine, and we are branches. He is our life; apart from Him, we can do nothing. How do we remain in Him?  Jesus tells us that we must abide in Him.  We have tools that God has given us, such as pr...

For the next two days, I’m going to look at the Gospel passages for last Sunday and next Sunday. I’ll go a couple of Sundays without preaching, so I thought it may be interesting to look at these passages. Yesterday was John 10: 11-18. We see Jesus tell us that He is the good shepherd. What does the Good Shepherd do?  He lays down His life for His sheep. That’s how loved you are. Jesus’ life was n...

Amos 9 once again tells us of the judgment that is coming. But Amos, like almost every one of the prophets, ends this way - grace. God tells the people that He will restore, He will rebuild, He will replant. He loves them. If you read Amos, you will see this love is not because they are perfect and they get it right, we see this love is because God is good.  He loves His people. He will not give u...

God continues His rebuke of the people. We see that they have lost their way. Instead of placing God first, instead of placing their faith and religion first in their lives, have have placed the accumulation of wealth first. They are complaining about their faith because they cannot steal from the poor on the Sabbath because they cannot sell.  They have lost their way.  Because of this, there will...

Amos is rebuked by one of the King’s priests today. He is told, you should not be a prophet here.  Go back to your home and prophecy there. However, Amos responds that he is not a prophet. He doesn’t come from a line of prophets.  He was simply called by God to go and speak, so that is what he did. Today, you don’t have to be a preacher to speak. You just need to go where it is that God has called...

Two of the major parts of our walk with God are the notions of forgiveness and grace and of accountability.  We see both of these parts displayed in Amos 7.  We see God relent from punishing the sins of His people. But then we see God take a plumb line, a tool that shows how vertical or straight something is, and measure His people against it. Are they being faithful?  Are they being true?  Are th...

Today, in our reading, God continues His rebuke of Israel. He points to their pride, how they lay on beds of ivory and show no concern for the needs around them. They have even begun to use His call for justice as a tool to harm others. They are seeking more and more and more. They are focused on more wealth, more stuff, and more ways to inflate their pride instead of what God calls them to, more...

In our Sunday sermon from INTERSECTION from April 14, 2024, Andy shares with us from Luke 24: 28-39. In the life of Jesus, we have seen beauty, we have seen grace, mercy, and redemption.  We know it. But now, now we must show it!  

In our reading today, we see one of those famous verses from the prophets - let justice flow down like water and righteousness like an everflowing stream.  God tells us today through Amos that He does not desire the worship or the festivals, but He desires justice.  He desires for us to live out what we pray on Sundays - thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Worship matters, community mat...

Today, in Amos 5, we see the pain of lament and the hope of grace. The Lord tells the people that judgment is coming.  Because of their sin, their idolatry, and their treatment of the poor, judgment is coming, and it will not be fun. There will be great lament and cries of pain over the powerful and strong judgment of the Lord. But we also see in the same way that there is grace.  If they turn fro...

God today tells the people that He has tried, over and over again, through different methods, to call them back. To correct them from their sin. He uses the “stick and carrot” approach.  He has used the carrot of blessing and the stick of pain, all in hopes of calling His people back home. That’s what He wants, that’s what He desires, for us to return home, for us to be saved, for us to be restore...

In our April 7, 2024 sermon, Andy shares with us from John 20: 19-31. There is much to unpack and understand here. But in the end, we see here that we have a beautiful story, a story of grace, that the world needs to hear. But before the world can know it, we have to see it.

Today, Amos shares with the people what it is that God rebukes them for. They are not worshiping in the manner and in the way that God desires. They are not going to Jerusalem. They are not giving the sacrifice; they are going to the false high places in the northern kingdom. They also do not take care of the poor among them. Today, we struggle with the same things. When we worship, do we realize...

Amos continues to pronounce judgment today.  First, we see an additional nation (Moab) that will be judged. But then God turns His judgment to His people. First, Judah has not kept the covenant in the same way that their ancestors did not. And then Israel, the northern kingdom, has done so much (oppressed the poor, immorality, incorrect worship) that God rebukes. God is not trying to scare us in t...