Andy Talks

In this Tuesday reflection on 1 John 3:11–24, the passage's command to love one another is grounded in the defining act of love itself — Christ laying down his life — and extended outward: love not just in word, but in truth and action, and not just toward fellow believers, but toward neighbors and enemies too, because the whole of Scripture leaves no room for a narrow definition of who deserves our love. The commandment John lands on is beautifully simple: believe in Jesus and love one another. We make faith far more complicated than it needs to be. But the heart of the reflection is verses 19 and 20 — a passage the preacher has carried since early faith: whenever our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. So many of us are weighed down by guilt, regret, and internal condemnation that quietly becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. John's answer isn't to minimize the weight of that — it's to say that God, who knows every single thing about us, loves us sti

In this Monday reflection on 1 John 2:29–3:10, a passage full of beloved verses — the Father's lavish love in calling us his children, the funeral liturgy promise that when he is revealed we will be like him, and the declaration that the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil — John also presents an apparent tension: if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, yet those born of God cannot sin. The resolution isn't that Christians achieve sinless perfection, but that the children of God are never content in sin — we give the Spirit room to convict us, we confess, we receive forgiveness, and we keep moving forward. The honest pastoral word is that we often struggle with the same sins repeatedly, and that's frustrating. But God's grace is not limited by our failures. Using the image of a rope being cut and knotted back together each time we are forgiven, the reflection pictures grace as the very thing that draws us progressively closer to God — so that even in our stumbling, he

In this Friday reflection on 1 John 2:18–28, John's warning about "the antichrist" gets reframed in a way that's far more practically useful than the endless game of identifying one singular villain — whether that's Mikhail Gorbachev's birthmark in the '80s or whoever's being cast in that role today. John's real concern is the plural: many antichrists, defined simply as anyone who denies the Father and the Son. The more honest question for us is how we ourselves deny Christ — not in our stated beliefs, but in our actions, our words, and the company we keep on social media and beyond. The reflection lands on a pointed diagnostic: look at the voices you allow to speak into your life, and ask what they're producing in you. If the fruit is anger, contempt, and division, those voices are pulling you away from Jesus regardless of how righteous they sound. John's closing word is simple: abide in him — and be very careful what you let shape your soul.Join us for

In this Thursday reflection on 1 John 2:7–17, John's "old-but-new" commandment turns out to be exactly what we talked about yesterday: love. And love, John argues, is the most reliable marker of whether we're actually walking in the light — because you can't claim to be in the light while hating your brother or sister. Actions don't save us, but they do reveal us, the way fruit reveals what kind of tree you're dealing with. Drawing on Matthew 25, Tertullian, and the witness of the early church, the reflection makes the case that love for one another — across doctrinal lines, across differences, within the whole household of faith — is the thing that should make the watching world stop and take notice. Then John flips the contrast: don't love the things of the world — wealth, status, the approval of others, the endless desire for more — because all of it is passing away. What's eternal is love: love of Jesus, love of neighbor, love that is God's own perfect lov

In this Wednesday reflection on 1 John 2:1–6, the phrase "the love of God has reached perfection" becomes a springboard for a pastoral tour through one of Methodism's most distinctive — and most misunderstood — doctrines: Christian perfection. The passage holds the same honest tension as the previous chapter: we are going to sin, Christ has atoned for it, and we have an advocate. But the deeper question is what perfection actually means. The reflection pushes back against the common assumption that holiness is a legalistic checklist of moral performance — don't play cards, don't see movies, don't listen to secular music — and argues instead that Christian perfection, in the Wesleyan sense, is never about perfect action but about God's perfect love being restored in us through sanctifying grace. The goal of salvation, as Wesley understood it, is the recovery of the image of God — which enables us to keep the greatest commandment: love God fully and love your neighbor as yours

In this Tuesday reflection on 1 John 1:5–10, the light-and-darkness imagery that runs through John's Gospel flows directly into the letter — God is light, and walking in fellowship with him means being called continually out of the dark. The key distinction John makes is not between sinning and not sinning — we all sin, and to claim otherwise is to make God a liar — but between remaining in darkness and walking in the light, where the blood of Jesus keeps cleansing us as we go. The pastoral heart of the reflection centers on verse 9: if we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Crucially, confession doesn't trigger God's forgiveness — God's forgiveness isn't transactional or conditional on our performance. Rather, confession is the moment we speak our failure aloud and hear back the words our souls most need: you are still beloved, you are forgiven. There is no greater gift.Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In

In this Monday reflection opening a new series through First John, the focus falls on the letter's opening declaration: we tell you what we have seen, heard, and touched — which John frames as the foundation of Christian fellowship and the source of complete joy. Drawing on the Southern tradition of testimony and Revelation 12:11, the reflection makes the case that our testimony is one of the most powerful tools we have — and that testimony isn't just the story of our conversion, but the ongoing story of what Jesus is doing in our lives right now. The heart of the passage, and of the message, is this: experiencing Jesus is never meant to stop with us. John wrote so that others could join the fellowship, and our joy becomes complete when the people we love come to know Jesus too. The practical challenge is simple — tell your story this week, to your family, your friends, and when you're feeling brave, to someone who doesn't know Jesus yet.Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 s

In our Traditional message from April 12, Andy shares with us from John 20: 19-31. We see the story of "Doubting" Thomas.  We all have our doubts, and we serve a God who has overcome the grave itself.  He can handle our questions.

In this Friday reflection on Luke 24:1–12, three threads from the resurrection account are woven together into a single pastoral encouragement. The angel's question — "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" — becomes a call to move beyond a faith that is merely routine or historical and into one that is truly alive and built around Jesus. The moment when the women "remembered his words" becomes a word of grace for anyone who feels behind in their faith journey: growth takes time, the Spirit moves at its own pace, and not understanding something the first time isn't failure — it's the normal shape of discipleship. And finally, the fact that it was the women, not the apostles, who first believed and testified is a reminder to stop looking only to those up front and start paying attention to the whole body of Christ — because God has a way of speaking most clearly through the people we least expect.Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he&ap

In this Thursday reflection on Matthew 28:16–20, the Great Commission is unpacked through one central question: what does it actually mean to make disciples? Drawing on Matthew's deeply Jewish framing — including the parallel between the disciples going to "the mountain Jesus directed them to" and the Old Testament pattern of God calling his people to mountains he would show them — the reflection highlights that even face-to-face with the risen Jesus, some still doubted, reminding us that faith is always a challenge. The heart of the message is the distinction between making fans of Jesus and making disciples — people who don't just know who Jesus is, but who build their entire lives around his teachings, for whom the Beatitudes, enemy-love, forgiveness, and peacemaking are non-negotiable. Before the church can make disciples, each of us must ask whether we are one ourselves. And we pursue this mission not in our own strength, but anchored in Jesus's closing promise: I am with you alw

In this Wednesday morning reflection on Matthew 28:11–15, the focus turns to the guards who witnessed the resurrection firsthand and then accepted a bribe from the chief priests to spread a cover story — that the disciples had stolen Jesus's body. Using this often-overlooked post-Easter passage as a jumping-off point, the reflection asks a pointed question: what is your integrity worth? While the guards sold theirs for money, the greater temptation for most of us isn't financial — it's the approval of others, the comfort of going along with the crowd, the pull of cultural Christianity that lets us mouth the words of faith without truly living them. Drawing on Kierkegaard's insight that "the hardest thing is to be a Christian in Christendom," the reflection closes with a simple but weighty call: the Gospel isn't complicated — it's just hard. So follow Jesus today, even when it costs you something.Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'l

In the Gospel of Mark 16:9–20, even with its textual complexity, we see a clear message: Jesus Christ is risen, He appears to His followers, and He sends them out with both a mission and His power. While the passage includes signs that may feel unusual, the heart of it is that there is authority in Jesus’ name over fear, evil, and anything that tries to hold us captive. Because of the resurrection, we don’t have to live bound by fear, guilt, or uncertainty—we are free to live with hope, courage, and joy, trusting that if even death could not defeat Christ, then nothing we face has the final word.Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2016%3A%209-20&version=NRSVUEClick here if you'd like to join our GroupMe and receive this each morning at 7:00 a.m. CST. - https://groupme.com/join_group/107837407/vt

On this Monday after Easter, we begin living in the reality of the resurrection by reflecting on the Gospel of Mark 16:1–8, where the women are the first to discover the empty tomb and carry the good news of Jesus Christ’s resurrection—reminding us that God often uses unexpected people who are simply willing. Like them, we live in a world of both “terror and amazement,” where life can feel overwhelming and beautiful at the same time, and we may sometimes feel inadequate or tempted to write others off. But Easter teaches us not to do either, because the story isn’t over—life, not death, has the final word. Our calling is simple: be faithful and tell the story of what Jesus has done, trusting that God will use it in ways we may not even see.Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2016%3A%201-8&version=NRSV

In our Easter message, Andy shares with us from Matthew 28: 1-10. We see that we sin, death, and the grave are liars. We are not defined by them.  We are free. But that freedom can be scary. What will we do with the hope that we have?

In our Maundy Thursday sermon, Andy looks at 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26. Every time we take communion, we retell our family story. We are forgiven. We are loved. But never forget what it cost. 

On Good Friday, we remember that while the day was not “good” for Jesus Christ, it is good for us because of what was accomplished on the cross. This is where Jesus atoned for our sin—taking on all the brokenness of humanity and making us right with God—while the resurrection to come will defeat the consequence of that sin, which is death. As described in Book of Isaiah 53, He was “pierced for our transgressions” and bore the iniquity of us all, meaning there is nothing left for us to earn or repay. The cross shows us that God’s love is complete and that His wrath has been satisfied, so we can live in the freedom of knowing God is not against us but for us, holding onto hope as we wait for the victory of Easter.Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2053&version=NRSVUEClick here if you'd like to

On Maundy Thursday, we remember both the command and the example given by Jesus Christ in Gospel of John 13: to love one another as He has loved us and to live that love out through humble service. In washing the disciples’ feet—a task reserved for the lowest servant—Jesus shows that true love is not about status or appearance, but about self-giving care for others. This day, marked by communion and the stripping away of the altar, reminds us that we must walk through darkness to reach the light of Easter, and it calls us to examine our own lives: are we willing to serve as Christ served? As followers of Jesus, we are given clear marching orders—to love, to serve, and to trust that this kind of sacrificial love is how God transforms both us and the world.Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2013%3A1-20&am

On Holy Wednesday, often called “Spy Wednesday,” we see a quiet but pivotal moment in Holy Week where Judas Iscariot agrees to betray Jesus Christ, set alongside the beautiful act of a woman anointing Jesus with costly ointment in Gospel of Matthew 26. While the disciples focus on practicality and missed opportunity, Jesus highlights the deeper meaning of her act—an expression of love and preparation for His burial—reminding us not to overlook beauty in our faith. Judas, likely frustrated that Jesus was not becoming the kind of Messiah he expected, chooses betrayal when Jesus doesn’t meet his expectations. The passage challenges us to reflect on our own hearts: will we trust and follow Jesus even when we don’t understand His plans, or will we try to shape Him into what we want Him to be?Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/pa

On Holy Tuesday, Jesus spends much of the day teaching, most notably delivering the “seven woes” in Gospel of Matthew 23, where He strongly rebukes the Pharisees and Sadducees for their hypocrisy. While they had mastered the outward appearance of faith—focusing on rules, status, and religious image—they had neglected the heart of God’s law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Jesus warns against becoming like “whitewashed tombs,” looking righteous on the outside but being spiritually empty within. This challenges us, especially as we approach Easter, to examine our own faith—not just what we do or how we appear, but why we do it—calling us to move beyond religious optics and live with genuine devotion to God.Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2023&version=NRSVUEClick here if you'd like to join

On Holy Monday, reflecting on Gospel of Matthew 21:12–17, we see Jesus cleansing the temple—not out of random anger, but to remove barriers that were making worship difficult and exploitative. The money changers and sellers had turned a place meant for prayer into a system that took advantage of people and hindered their access to God. This moment challenges us not to focus on what “tables” we want to flip, but to examine our own lives: are we, in any way, making it harder for others—or ourselves—to draw near to God? Holy Week invites us to remove those barriers, repent, and create space for deeper connection with Christ.Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2021%3A%2012-17&version=NRSVUEClick here if you'd like to join our GroupMe and receive this each morning at 7:00 a.m. CST. - https://group