Andy Talks

Peter steps outside of his comfort zone to minister to the Gentiles.  And we see the Spirit fall. We see lives changed. We see God move. Great things happen. Not because of Peter; it is almost like he is along for the ride. But in that ride, we had to step outside of his comfort zone.  He had to move. Today, we have to as well.  Where in your life is God calling you to step outside of your comfort...

We finish up our Relationship Roadmap series by looking at John 15: 9-17.  We look at what Jesus tells us - He chose us. He is for us.  He loves us. And if He loves us, then we are called to love each other.    

Peter steps outside of his comfort zone to minister to the Gentiles.  And we see the Spirit fall. We see lives changed. We see God move. Great things happen. Not because of Peter; it is almost like he is along for the ride. But in that ride, we had to step outside of his comfort zone.  He had to move. Today, we have to as well.  Where in your life is God calling you to step outside of your comfort...

Today, we see that these Gentiles believe in Jesus. They believe in the work of Jesus. They believe in what He has done. They believe in His Lordship. And they are saved. They don’t have to convert to Judaism. They don’t have to “do” anything. They just have to believe in Jesus. Jesus saves.  Nothing else, no one else. Jesus saves. This fulfilled Genesis 12:3 - through Abraham, all the families of...

As many of our churches discern where they belong in our connection, the clergy are doing much the same.  After much prayer and discernment, I am called to and will remain United Methodist.     Please take a few minutes to listen to why and understand more. It comes down to 1) theology, 2) evangelism, 3) my heart and my call.     You can read more about my decision here:  https://revandy.org/?p=14...

Peter preaches today to the assembled Gentiles. But he does something different. This sermon is different from other sermons preached in Acts. He doesn’t appeal to the prophets or the Old Testament. He only makes a passing comment. Why? To these Gentiles, the Old Testament means nothing. Do what does he appeal to?  What does he use?  Two things. His testimony, what he saw and witnessed. He talked...

Peter has a vision.  A sheet is lowered from heaven with all manner of unclean animals on it. A voice says, “Rise, kill, and eat.” Peter says, I can’t! I’ve never eaten anything unclean. But the Lord says, don’t call anything unclean I have made clean.  At the same time, three Gentiles are going to find Peter because they have been commanded by Cornelius, who has been commanded by God, to bring Pe...

We shift back today to Peter.  In the coming chapters, we will move between Paul and Peter a lot. Today, we see Peter perform healings, but notice who gives the healings.  Jesus.  Peter doesn’t claim this power for himself but comes from Jesus. This principle guides Peter.  Jesus is Lord.  That is it for him. Jesus is Lord of the Jews and of the Gentiles.  Jesus is Lord of all creation.  Because o...

In our INTERSECTION message from June 23, 2023, Andy shares with us from Romans 12: 9-21.  Paul talks about heaping burning coals upon the heads of our enemies.  We look deeper at what the Bible says about coals, the Gospel, and holiness. What exactly is Paul calling us to in this text?        

Paul goes to Jerusalem, and believe it or not, they don’t want anything to do with him!  They were afraid. They were scared. They didn’t know what to do with this apparent new convert.  They weren’t going to let him in. Until guess who shows up?  Barnabas. Barnabas vouched for Saul, and they trusted Saul now.  Because of Barnabas, we have Saul.  Barnabas isn’t flashy.  He doesn’t do anything cool....

We see Saul post conversion today. And what do we see?  We see that he is different. The people of Damascus couldn’t believe that it was the same man.  How could it be?  He came to destroy the people following Jesus, and now he is there, proclaiming Jesus.  He is different!  And what is it that makes that difference? It’s actually, who is it?  It’s Jesus. Jesus makes the difference for Paul, and J...

Today, we see the conversion of Saul. But when we look at the text, we see that Saul is not the only person who had to take a huge leap of faith. God has a plan for Saul, and we see Him lay that out.  Saul had to take a leap of faith, yes, but in many ways, he didn’t really have a choice. But Ananias had to take a huge leap.  He had to extend grace to someone who he really didn’t want to.  Paul ha...

We see Phillip share the Good News today with the Ethiopian eunuch.  At the end of this story, the eunuch asks this question, - what is to stop me from being baptized?  Nothing. So, he was baptized. Today, what is to stop us from being faithful to our calling, our calling to be obedient to the Spirit?  To immerse ourselves in Scripture? And to share the Good News wherever we are?  Nothing?  Nothin...

Because of persecution, Philip flees and goes to Samaria. First, we see that God can use even hard things, like persecution, to spread the Good News. While there, he is preaching, and many are baptized. But it isn’t until later that they receive the Holy Spirit. This reminds us that as scared as even baptism is, it is not the act, in and of itself, where sacredness comes from, but the Holy Spirit...

In our July 16 message, Andy shares with us from Ephesians 6: 5-9.  This passage starts off talking about slavery, so we take a few moments to unpack to interpret scripture, particularly hard passages. After that, we look at what Paul is telling us about the other key relationships in our lives, especially our need for friendships.     

Today we see Stephen stoned to death. But as he is dying, he looks up to heaven and sees something odd. He sees Jesus STANDING at the right hand of God.  Not sitting, where we confess, He is in the Creeds—but standing.  Why?  I believe that just as we stand in key moments to cheer for those we support, Jesus is standing, telling Stephen, “Don’t give up!”  What a beautiful reminder today that no ma...

Stephen’s sermon takes a turn today.  We see him remind the people why they have these things, the Law, circumcision, the Temple. They don’t exist for themselves; they exist to point to God, to, in truth, point to Jesus. And the people missed that. They loved the stuff more than they loved the one the stuff pointed to.  We’ve got so much, so many things that are here to point us to Jesus. Do we al...

We see Stephen recount the stories of the Old Testament today. We get a crash course in Genesis 12- Exodus 3.  And you know what we see?  God is the hero of the story. Not Abraham or Isaac or any of the others. God.  God is with them. God saves. God is present. He gives them His covenant, and that covenant has a sign.  Circumcision.   In the same way, He gives us a covenant of grace. And that cove...

Stephen is being faithful and great things are happening. There are signs and wonders everywhere.  This causes conflict, as people are against this new move.  They are too wedded to their routines and rituals to see what God is doing. If we aren’t careful, we can be much the same. We can be too stuck in our rut, unable to move to see what God is doing. Sometimes in life, we have to get out of our...

There are many problems that the early church faced. Today we see a challenge for the Apostles.  And this challenge required them to do three things.  First, prayerfully discern what they were called to do. Second, do that thing. Third, release the things that were not their calling and trust them to God. This is a great lesson and example for us today.  How can we live into this in our lives?   J...

An excerpt from my sermon about where the church finds itself in the midst of discernment.  The way the devil wins is when our love turns to hate.

In our Relationship Roadmap series, we look today at what Paul has to say about what it means to be a parent. To love our children and not provoke them. How do we love?  How do we discipline?  It all starts with being rooted in Christ.  And at the end of the message, I share a few words to St. Matthew's about how we live together during pain, hurt, anger, and discernment.     

We meet another great character in Scripture today, Gamaliel.  He tells the council that if they continue to prosecute the Apostles, they may be fighting against God.  That is what happened. These men saw and experienced something that changed their lives and made them leave everything, everything behind. That is what Jesus does. It’s true for us today, as well.  You ask me how I know He lives?  H...

Today we see that after all that has happened, the Apostles are arrested. An angel saves them, but we see a pattern beginning to emerge here. They are faithful.  God moves. Something good happens.  They are persecuted.  Being faithful is always right. Being faithful always points others to Him, always.  We can trust in that. We know that.  But that doesn’t make it easy.  Know this, though, even wh...

One the ways I’ve heard it described that you can know if your church is being faithful is to ask this question: “If my church were to close, would my community miss it?” We see today in this earliest of churches that they are changing so many lives for Jesus in their community. Jerusalem and the surrounding communities are better because of the life and ministry of the early church. What a goal f...