Andy Talks

Today, in Proverbs 10, we see Solomon begin to give his wisdom.  Solomon was the wise king, David’s son, who built the great temple.  Solomon ruled with great wisdom.  Following this path does not mean that life will always work out perfectly, but following this wisdom just makes sense. Today’s reading can basically be summed up in this.  Tell the truth. Watch what you say. Our words have great po...

In Proverbs 9, we see that two voices call out to us today: wisdom and folly. Both promise us something beautiful, life and learning and joy. But in the end, wisdom will grow us, keep us, and give us life.  Folly, temptation it promises us something good and sweet, but in the end, it will destroy us. Today, each of these voices will call to us. Which voice will we respond to? Join us for our daily...

In Proverbs 8 today, we hear wisdom speak. This is an interesting passage because it comes from the perspective of wisdom. Wisdom tells us today about how to gain it, where it came from, and what a gift it is. Wisdom is seeing things through the light of eternity. We need to learn to humble ourselves, not react, but to see things through God’s lens. We are driven by this cultural moment to react t...

In our Traditional sermon from January 7, 2024, Andy shares with us about the Wise Men from Matthew 2: 1-12. We see the journey they took; how it was often hard. Following after Jesus is not always easy. But when He is the north star that we follow, we find the life we seek.      

Going into the weekend, we are going to look at Proverbs 5-7.  Chapters 5 and 7 can be looked at together, giving us practical advice on resisting temptation.  Temptation is always, always, always a lie, and we need the voices of our mentors and guides to speak truth into our lives in times of temptation. Then, Chapter 6 gives us a good word on work. We are all called to work. It is good for our s...

Proverbs tells us to keep our eyes focused on wisdom, to keep our eyes focused on what is ahead.  Yesterday, in Proverbs 3, we learned to trust in God, and He will make our paths straight.  Today, we are reminded to keep our eyes focused on Him and not allow the distractions to pull our focus.  But here’s the thing.  For most of us, our distractions may not be terrible temptations but the stuff of...

Today, we read what may be the most well-known passage in Proverbs, chapter 3:5-6.  Don’t trust in your own understanding.  Lean on God. Trust in Him. Acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.  Think of all the time that we spend fretting and fussing, trying to figure it all out. We are told today that if we trust in our own understanding, we will find ourselves in a mess. But when we...

Today, we see that wisdom flows from God. It is a gift from God; it is a gift from the Holy Spirit. In James, we are told that if we lack wisdom, we should ask. And God will give to all who ask. It does not come from knowledge or from living; it comes from God. Today, see wisdom. Ask for wisdom.  Ask boldly, and God will give. God will give us the grace to live out a worldview that comes from His...

In this new year, we will look daily at a chapter in Proverbs. There is much we can gain from this great book of wisdom. Today, we see that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all knowledge or wisdom. We talk today about what it means to fear the Lord. It is not what we may think that it is. We see when we understand what this means how very important this is.  This truth really is the beginn...

In our Combined worship service from December 24, 2023, Andy shares with us from Luke 1: 26-38.  Jesus is love.  But Mary had a part to play in God's plan of us knowing that. There are folks out there who need to know that God is love. We have a job to do in telling others this truth!

In our Christmas Eve message, Andy shares with us from Luke 2: 1-20.  The Gospel is Good News!  For unto us a child is born!  That is Good News!  That is the Gospel. God responds to all our human brokenness and needs with Love!

Today’s passage is one that we have heard read a million times. We know it. We’ve heard it.  We’ve experienced it.  This story reminds us of our parents and grandparents, it reminds us of our home, of Christmases of old. Remember those times. Remember those stories. Remember God’s goodness in the original story, but also in the retelling, over and over again, of this story. And today, take time to...

We look at Matthew’s telling of the Christmas story.  We see how, from the very beginning, Matthew is tying everything into the Old Testament.  Jesus is not a new thing, but He is the very fulfillment of what God was doing from the start.  He was the plan all along. He wasn’t God’s last option. He was what God was doing before the foundation of the world. We read all the Bible looking for Jesus. H...

Over the next three days, we will look at the Christmas story as found in the Gospels. Today, we look at John’s.  This is my personal favorite.  Now, when we read John’s Gospel, we don’t see the normal things we are used to seeing in a Christmas story. We don’t see sheep or Wise Men or Mary, or anything. We see a Christmas story that is cosmic, the very God of creation coming to undo the cosmic ef...

Throughout the season of Advent, we’ll have a weekday reflection based on suggested scriptures from a great resource entitled The Common Rule. You can find a calendar of the daily readings here - https://www.thecommonrule.org/advent-readings Today, We read how their hearts burned when Jesus opened the scriptures to them. Fire is a common thing in scripture; sometimes, it is seen as bad (James and...

Throughout the season of Advent, we’ll have a weekday reflection based on suggested scriptures from a great resource entitled The Common Rule. You can find a calendar of the daily readings here - https://www.thecommonrule.org/advent-readings Psalm 130 is a psalm of ascent. It is a psalm that is given to be sung as worshipers walk up to Mt. Zion, to the temple. Yet, it starts off not with a note of...

Throughout the season of Advent, we’ll have a weekday reflection based on suggested scriptures from a great resource entitled The Common Rule. You can find a calendar of the daily readings here - https://www.thecommonrule.org/advent-readings Jesus tells us to keep awake.  Keep awake, keep watch. We are called to be active in these things.  Keep watch, looking for His soon return. Keep watch, looki...

In our Blue Christmas Service, Andy shares from Psalm 130 and Lamentations 3: 22-26.  Lament is a Christian virtue. We wait upon the Lord. We hope in the Lord. But there are times when all we can do is lament our pain, our loss, our hurt. And know that our Lord is with us, in the midst of all of our hurt. 

Throughout the season of Advent, we’ll have a weekday reflection based on suggested scriptures from a great resource entitled The Common Rule. You can find a calendar of the daily readings here - https://www.thecommonrule.org/advent-readings We see a beautiful picture today of what things will be like one day.  All things will be restored. Because of the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, all...

Throughout the season of Advent, we’ll have a weekday reflection based on suggested scriptures from a great resource entitled The Common Rule. You can find a calendar of the daily readings here - https://www.thecommonrule.org/advent-readings Today, we are told to wait on the Lord.  We have confidence, not in ourselves, but we have confidence in the Lord. We wait upon Him, and we know that we will...

Throughout the season of Advent, we’ll have a weekday reflection based on suggested scriptures from a great resource entitled The Common Rule. You can find a calendar of the daily readings here - https://www.thecommonrule.org/advent-readings CS Lewis once said, “All that we call human history--money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery--[is] the long terrible story of m...

Throughout the season of Advent, we’ll have a weekday reflection based on suggested scriptures from a great resource entitled The Common Rule. You can find a calendar of the daily readings here - https://www.thecommonrule.org/advent-readings Paul gives us repeated passages from the Old Testament today and tells us this. God has been at work, in all this, to bring the Good News to all the world. Th...

Throughout the season of Advent, we’ll have a weekday reflection based on suggested scriptures from a great resource entitled The Common Rule. You can find a calendar of the daily readings here - https://www.thecommonrule.org/advent-readings Today, we see Jesus’ sermon to His hometown folks.  He reads from Isaiah and shares that the Lord has anointed Him to bring good news to the poor.  This is fu...

Today, we look at Mark 1: 1-8. What does a Christian look like?  We see in our Confirmation Sunday, as these young persons confess and confirm their hope, what a Christian looks like.  Where Jesus is, there is peace.  Peace is found in the person of Jesus Christ.    

Throughout the season of Advent, we’ll have a weekday reflection based on suggested scriptures from a great resource entitled The Common Rule. You can find a calendar of the daily readings here - https://www.thecommonrule.org/advent-readings In our reading today, we are reminded that Jesus preached peace to those who are near and those who are far. And through the cross, he has ended the division,...