Andy Talks

Today’s Rooted was for me. I needed to hear these words - the fear of others lays a snare. How often have we known what God was calling us to do but were afraid of what others would think?  Today, we are told to be careful of that trap. Don’t worry about them; trust in the Lord. We will be secure.  Courage is being afraid and still doing the right thing.  Today, do not be afraid of anything or any...

Today, we discuss gossip, humor, and jealousy. These things that lurk in the shadows can be destructive. Where do we find humor? We live in a cruel age, and where we find humor says a lot about our character. What about jealousy? It may not look as explosive, but it can rot our souls. We are daily presented with opportunities to engage in arguments, fights, and conflicts. But what does it gain us...

Today, we see practical wisdom for hospitality and for dealing with our enemies. First, in Chapter 25, we learn a little bit about how Proverbs, as well as other parts of the Old Testament, were compiled and given to us. What a gift we receive through Holy Scripture! Second, we see some words on how not only to give hospitality but also to receive it. These are words that many of our southern mama...

We are told today, "Do not envy the wicked." But we have to ask ourselves the question, why would we do that in the first place? Why would we be tempted by that? Well, we look at the world today, and it can seem like the wicked prosper, like they are the ones who get ahead. But we know when we consider the work of God that, in the end, that will not be the case; God sees and God judges....

We see three things that mingle together in our reading of Proverbs 23. First, we hear, do not chase wealth. Yes, work hard and be faithful. But do not just your chief resource, your time, your energy on that which doesn’t last. Second, respect the wisdom of your elders. There is much that they can teach us. Primary among that is this: there is always a future. There is always hope. Today is not t...

Today as we read Proverbs 22, it made me think about one of John Wesley’s sermons, “On the Use of Money.”  If you’d like to, you can read this sermon here - https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/wesleys-sermon-use-of-money .  Wesley has much to say that is based on the teachings of Proverbs.  Money can be used for great good, but we must be careful with it, or else it may grab hol...

In our Traditional message from January 21, 2024, Andy preaches from 2 Timothy 3: 16-17.  This is part of our series "Balance" on how we United Methodists do theological reflection; we talk about our primary means of knowledge and truth - Scripture. Scripture is the foundation of everything we do, know, and believe.  It is our source of all truth.  In this message, we talk about the esse...

Today, we look at chapters 19-21. These chapters are full of so much good wisdom for the living of our lives. We see the importance of helping the poor in a foreshadowing of Matthew 25. We are told to deal fairly with each other. Tell the truth. Don’t gossip. And understand that we must do our part and be faithful; it is God who wins the battle, it is God who is the one who brings victory. Let’s d...

Two verses today work well to teach us a lot. First, we are told that a fool loves their own opinion but doesn’t care for wisdom. Then we are told that in life, there are those we thought were friends, but they were just playing a friend. It’s easy for us to hear the later verse and feel vindicated at the folks we thought were friends but were just playing a friend. The greater part of wisdom is n...

Forgiveness may be one of the hardest things for any of us to do. But it is also one of the most essential. Without it, relationships cannot endure. The folks we love the most, we’ve probably had to forgive the most.  Forgive if we can. If we can’t, work on it. And if we can’t work on it. Stay silent. If we can preserve peace, we can preserve relationships.  Join us for our daily reflections with...

Today, in chapter 16, we see these wise words: pride goes before destruction.  One of the greatest tools the devil has to attack us is pride. If we begin to think too much of ourselves, we begin to believe that we can’t fall or fail; it is then that the devil will have us, and it is then that we will get ourselves in real trouble. Stay humble. Understand who we are and whose we are. Stay rooted in...

A story is told about an old boy who tried to have all his gold put in his coffin when he died.  But here’s the thing: the gold we value so much here on earth is simply what they used to fill the potholes in heaven.  Proverbs 15 tells us that a dinner of vegetables with love is better than the house with the fatted ox with hatred. Today, what are spending our time, our energy, and our lives on? Th...

In our Traditional sermon from January 14, 2024, Andy shares with us from Matthew 22: 34-40.  We begin talking about the beauty that is the way we do theological reflection in the United Methodist Church.  Join us over the next few weeks as we talk about Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason.   Today, we talk about our method of reflection and how it helps to create balance in our lives and...

In our Friday and weekend readings, we see Solomon warn us about the dangers of reacting.  We so often, out of anger, out of hurt, out of a million different things, want to act and react out of what we are feeling. Today, we are told of the importance of a peaceful mind. Reacting out of anger never helps anything. When we stay rooted in Christ, we can feel even our anger. But we can act of our pe...

Today, in chapter 11, we see several verses that point to the importance of being generous.  When we give, when we are generous, we find ourselves blessed. It isn’t because it comes back to us, but when we give our wealth, our possessions, they lose their hold on us.  They begin to lose their power over us. We also understand that in our giving, our will and character are bent closer to God’s will...

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!