Andy Talks

In today’s Advent reflection, we look at Psalm 122 — a psalm of ascent that reminds us of God’s faithfulness and the power of His promises. As we hear the call to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” we’re led to remember the deeper covenant story running through Scripture: God made promises to Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets, and every one of those promises finds its fulfillment in Jesus, the true Son of David and the Savior of the world. If God has kept His promises across thousands of years, then we can trust He’ll keep the ones He’s made to us right now — His presence, His forgiveness, His strength, His peace. So as we head into the weekend and sit with our Advent readings, we hold fast to the God who never breaks His word, standing on His promises and trusting that the same faithful God of Scripture is walking with us today.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

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=Psalm%20122&version=NRSVUE

Click 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/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

In this passage, we’re reminded that while we wait for Christ’s return and for God to fulfill His promises, we’re called to live with peace, holiness, and trust. Peter’s comment that some of Paul’s writings are “hard to understand” comforts us — even one of the apostles wrestled with Scripture — and it shows how seriously the early church already regarded Paul’s letters. Peter’s core message is that what feels like God’s delay is actually His mercy: every day Christ hasn’t returned is another day for salvation, growth, and grace to take root in our lives. As we wait, we’re invited to ask ourselves whether we’re truly at peace with God’s timing, His answers, or even His silence. And if we find that peace difficult, our prayer can simply be, “Lord, we believe — help our unbelief.” We’re encouraged to trust His patience, trust His plan, and allow His deep, sustaining peace to guide us as we continue growing together in grace.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

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=2%20Peter%203%3A%2011-18&version=NRSVUE

Click 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/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

We see today how Matthew 24 can sound scary at first — one of those “Left Behind” passages many of us grew up hearing with fear — but you remind us that Advent invites us to hear it with hope, not dread. Jesus’ return isn’t about God coming to get us; it’s about God coming to heal us, restore what’s broken, end suffering, and make all things new. You point us to Isaiah’s vision of swords turned into plowshares and help us imagine a world with no more cancer, hunger, or heartbreak — the world Christ is coming to bring. And while we wait, you encourage us to live with expectation, not discouragement, because at any moment hope can break through, and by God’s grace we can even be agents of that hope for others through kindness, service, and love.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

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%2024%3A%2036-39&version=NRSVUE

Click 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/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

This morning, walk through Romans 13:11-14 and are reminded that Advent is a season of waking up — shaking off spiritual sleepiness and remembering what really matters. Paul tells us the night is fading and the day is near, so we’re called to lay aside the things that weigh down our souls — the habits, attitudes, and distractions that make us sluggish and unfocused — and instead “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” In a season when it’s easy to get wrapped up in busyness, perfection, and consumerism, you encourage us to wake up to God’s grace, live intentionally, and let Christ’s light push back whatever darkness has crept into our hearts. Today is a good day, you say, to let go of what doesn’t matter and live fully awake to the goodness of God.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

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=Romans%2013%3A%2011-14&version=NRSVUE

Click 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/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

In our Traditional message from the first Sunday of Advent, we look at Matthew 24, 36 44 we look at the hope that comes from Jesus' second coming. We heard this passage with fear, but that is not the intent.  He is not coming to get us, He is coming to save us!

We open Advent by reflecting on Isaiah 2:4–5, that beautiful vision of God’s future where swords become plowshares and nations learn war no more, reminding us that when God’s reign is fully realized, even the tools of violence will be transformed into tools of life. But instead of treating it as a distant hope, you bring it right into our everyday lives—into family tensions, holiday conversations, and the little conflicts we navigate with our words, tone, and reactions. You challenge us to examine the “weapons” we carry, not swords but sarcasm, sharp comments, and the things we say to win rather than love, and you invite us to turn those weapons into instruments of peace. Even though we can’t solve global conflict in a day, we can choose to cultivate peace in our homes, workplaces, and relationships, walking in the light of the Lord and living out the vision Isaiah paints.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

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%202%3A%204-5&version=NRSVUE

Click 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/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

In our Traditional sermon for November 23, 2025, Christ the King Sunday, we look at what it means to say that Christ is King?  His kingship is not like the earthly, human kings, but His kingship is found in His wounds. He inhabits our praise, but He also inhabits our suffering and hurts.  Jesus, alone, is King! 

In this parable from Luke 19, Jesus tells a story that at first feels like a simple “use your gifts” lesson, but it runs deeper when you sit with it. The nobleman goes away, leaves money with his servants, and comes back to see what they’ve done with it — and while two step out in courage and invest faithfully, one is driven entirely by fear and hides what he’s been given. The real tension in the story isn’t that the nobleman is harsh, but that the people reject his kingship — a reminder that rejecting Jesus’ lordship leads us into broken places, not because He’s cruel, but because we’re choosing our own way. The heart of it comes down to this: fear will always talk us out of obedience, out of faithfulness, out of stepping into what God has called us to do. But when we trust God and move forward with courage — even in uncertainty — God grows what He’s placed in our hands. So as we head into the weekend, this parable invites us to let go of fear, lean into faith, and be bold with what God has entrusted to us.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

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=Luke%2019%3A%2028-40&version=NRSVUE

Click 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/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

In this parable from Luke 19, Jesus tells a story that at first feels like a simple “use your gifts” lesson, but it runs deeper when you sit with it. The nobleman goes away, leaves money with his servants, and comes back to see what they’ve done with it — and while two step out in courage and invest faithfully, one is driven entirely by fear and hides what he’s been given. The real tension in the story isn’t that the nobleman is harsh, but that the people reject his kingship — a reminder that rejecting Jesus’ lordship leads us into broken places, not because He’s cruel, but because we’re choosing our own way. The heart of it comes down to this: fear will always talk us out of obedience, out of faithfulness, out of stepping into what God has called us to do. But when we trust God and move forward with courage — even in uncertainty — God grows what He’s placed in our hands. So as we head into the weekend, this parable invites us to let go of fear, lean into faith, and be bold with what God has entrusted to us.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

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=Luke%2019%3A%2011-27&version=NRSVUE

Click 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/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

In Luke 19:1–10, the familiar story of Zacchaeus reminds us just how wide and surprising the grace of Jesus really is. Zacchaeus was not only short in stature but a chief tax collector—someone people literally and figuratively looked down on. Yet while the crowd grumbled that Jesus would dare share a meal with a sinner, Zacchaeus responded to Jesus’ welcome with repentance and generosity, declaring that grace was already transforming his life. When Jesus says, “Today salvation has come to this house… for the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost,” He makes it clear that no one is beyond belonging, mercy, or restoration—not Zacchaeus, not us, and not the people we’re tempted to write off. This story invites us to receive grace with humility and to extend it with open arms, seeing others the way Jesus sees them and remembering that all of us are beloved children of Abraham.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

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=Luke%2019%3A%201-10&version=NRSVUE

Click 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/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/