Andy Talks

Paul in Athens today shows us what evangelism looks like to a world that doesn’t know Jesus.  He is taken to the center of their town, tells them that he sees they are religious, and then proceeds to share the Gospel. He meets them where they are, uses their poets, and shares the news of Jesus in a way that makes sense to them.  We live in a world that is becoming “post-Christan.”  The fastest-gro...

Today, we see a lived example of what we talked about in Romans 8:28.  All things work for good.  Paul seems to get run out of every town, and trouble seems to follow him, wherever he goes.  Can you imagine that?  Can you imagine what it would have been like to have the town leaders kick you out?  It couldn’t have been fun.  Yet because Paul was run out of one town after another, he was able to pr...

Paul and Silas have the greatest accusation made against them by the Thessalonians. This is said - they are turning the world upside down.  What a goal for us today! To turn the world upside down. To change things, for the better. To live out what we pray, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven! That’s our goal today through Jesus and for Jesus.  To turn the world upside down!  May it be so...

Paul and Silas today are arrested in Phillipi.  Today’s passage is a WONDERFUL example of evangelism or sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, because of Paul and Silas, the jailer in the story, and his whole house become Christian. But this is what we see when we look at the passage. It wasn’t just Paul’s words that pointed him to Jesus, but it was his action.  Paul didn’t just tell him that he l...

In our Traditional message from September 24, 2023, Andy shares with us from Jonah 3:10 - 4:11.  God calls Jonah to where he does not want to go. Ninevah.  God calls us to places, and to people that we do not want to go.  Join us as we learn why it is that God does just that.

Paul completes his journey, and he returns to Antioch. While not being his hometown, this is his place. This is the place and people who sent him out to ministry. This is the place of rest for him, of Sabbath for him. Today, where is your Antioch?  Where is your place of rest? Where is your place of Sabbath?  Where is the place you can go to, or the people you can go to, to rest and to restore who...

Paul and his team met Lydia today. She became the first convert in Europe.  But Paul doesn’t follow his normal practice. There is no synagogue for him to go to. Instead, he goes to the river, looking for a place of prayer. There, he finds Lydia and leads her to the Lord.  Paul is willing to meet the people where they are, physically and spiritually. And point them to Jesus. That’s our job, to meet...

Paul today answers the question he asked yesterday. What can separate us from God’s love?  Nothing.  Nothing in all of creation can separate us.  Even live, even death. Angels. Rulers.  Nothing. We also take a moment and look at Psalm 139, where we see that we cannot flee from God’s presence. No matter where we are, God is there.  You are loved, today, friends.  You truly are. May you know that lo...

Today we hear something that we need to drill down, deep into our souls. God is for us.  Never forget that.  Internalize that, right now. God is for you.  I spent a lot of years in my life believing that God was against me, that God didn’t like me, that God was going to get me.  Today, we are told that if He did not withhold His son, what will He withhold from us?  If God is for us, who can be aga...

We look today at Romans 8:28-30.  When we finish today, we will have solved the long standing debate about free will versus God’s sovereignty.  Spoiler alert: there is a mystery there that we will never understand.  We also spend time with one of my favorite verses, Romans 8:28 - all things work for good.  This doesn’t mean all things are good, but all things work for God. God can bring good out o...

We see today in Romans that sometimes the words of prayer do not come. Sometimes, we don’t know what to pray, how to pray. Sometimes our words fail us. We see today that when our words do not come, we can have confidence, for the Spirit of God, which saves us and points us to Jesus, the Spirit of God intercedes on our behalf. The Spirit of God, sometimes without words, sometimes with groans, inter...

We don't like death.  Or sickness.  Or pain. We hide from these things. We do them in private. But this has been a hard season for our church. And today, we stop, and we lament. For us to heal, we have to sit with our pain and name our pain.  We lament what we have been through and what we have lost.  We lament the pain and the hurt.  But we also have hope.  Morning by morning, new mercies we...

Today, we see the reason behind everything wrong in the world. Paul tells us that all of creation groans as if in child pain.  Creation was subjected to futility because of the fall of Adam and Eve. Their first sin didn’t just corrupt them, but it corrupted all of creation.  Because of the fall, because of their sin, we see that we have the sickness in the world, the disasters in the world, all of...

As we continue in Romans 8, today we look at verses 9-17. We see that we have within us the Spirit of God. Through this Spirit, we cry out, “Abba, Father.”  Abba is best understood as the word “daddy.”  The title Daddy is not biological; it is relational. I talk today about how my daddy is not blood kin to me; I’ve been adopted as God adopts us and makes us His. His Spirit joins with ours, that we...

Guess who's back?  Before we return to Acts, we are going to walk through my favorite chapter of the Bible, Romans 8!  Here we see Paul talk about the reality of our struggle with sin and the hope that we have in Jesus!  There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!  Remember that in Him, we know peace, forgiveness, and love.  In Jesus, we find our very lives!  Join us for our d...

In our Joint service from September 3, 2023, Andy shares with us from Exodus 3: 1-15. We see God call to Moses from the burning bush.  Fire in scripture often points to purification.  God called Moses, purified him, and used him. Our tests and trials purify us, and God wants to use them, and all things, for something beautiful.   

In our INTERSECTION service from August 27, 2023, Andy shares with us from Matthew 16: 13-20.  This passage tells us that the gates of Hell will not triumph against the church.  No matter what happens,  we do not have to fear; the Christ of God will triumph!         

In our Traditional Message from August 20, 2023, Andy shares with us from Matthew 15: 21-28.  We see in this passage a mother in need, and she prays boldly. We should never, ever be afraid of praying boldly to our Father!  

Paul wanted to preach in a certain place. But the Spirit would not allow. Then, he wanted to go to another place. But the Spirit would not allow.  We see why.  Macedonia. God had bigger plans for Paul.  He was calling Paul to a new place, to a new place, and to bigger and even better dreams.  God has big plans for us, we just have to be faithful. And know that God’s plans for us are always better...

Paul is now with Timothy.  Timothy is uncircumcised, and the church has said that it is not required.  Yet, Paul takes Timothy and has him circumcised.  Why?  Why did he have this done?  It wasn’t required, that’s right. But Paul knew that there would be some people who may not be able to hear Timothy’s words if they knew he was uncircumcised.  Timothy did not live just for himself. He lived for o...

Paul and Barnabas separate today. After all they had gone through, after all that has happened, they are driven by a different vision. One for the mission, one for the relationship. Who was right? Which side was right?  What do we hope for and cling to in the midst of disagreement, especially when the disagreement is sharp? There is much we can learn in this passage this morning.  Join us for our...

We see the church in Jerusalem now write to the Gentile believers about what is required for them to become a part of the church.  It is reaffirmed to them that no matter what they’ve been told, they are not required to become circumcised. But there are some requirements for them, and honestly, for all of us. Worship God alone.  Respect life. Be holy. We are saved by Jesus and Jesus alone. But Jes...

These verses today are some of the most important verses in church history. What does it mean to be a Christian?  Must you first become Jewish?  Do you have to follow the Law?  The early church had to settle this - what does it mean to be a Christian?  How do you become a Christian?  After much prayer and conversation, it was decided this - Jesus saves!  We are saved not through the Law or keeping...

Paul finishes his first missionary journey. He works his way back to Antioch, praying with churches and raising up leaders. But then come comes home. He comes back to Antioch, where he was commissioned and sent out. These are his people. He is home.  He can rest. He can kick his shoes off.  He is home. Where is home for you?  Is it a place?  A person?  Where is home?  And how can you provide hospi...

This is one of my favorite stories in Paul’s ministry.  We see a couple of neat things happen here today.  First, Paul and Barnabas perform a miracle, and the people think they are the Greek gods who come down to earth.  Paul stops them and says, no, they are humans, just like the crowd. This is a great example; praise can be one of our greatest temptations.  As Tim Keller said, don’t let the prai...