Every book of the bible has a verse that most people know it for. For Ecclesiastes, for instance, we all know the passage about time, “a time to kill, etc.”  For Esther, if you know any verses from it, you know a passage from today, “for s...

In our Traditional message from January 19, 2025, Andy shares with us from John 6: 35-41.  In the first of our series about the "I Am statements of Jesus, we see that He is the Bread. We unpack what it means to feast on the goodness of Jes...

We see Haman get a great position of great honor, yet Mordecai will not defer to Haman as Haman thinks is right. Haman is offended, and his pride is hurt. Because of this hurt pride, Haman decides not just to kill Mordecai but to destroy all th...

We see the story of Esther continuing to play out. Mordecai hears about a plot to assassinate the king, and he tells Esther, who in turn tells the king.  He then has these two men impaled upon poles. This may not seem like a lot happening,...

The King begins his search for a new bride today. I jokingly say that this feels a lot like our modern concept of The Batchelor. All we need are the cameras and TVs. But each woman is lavished so much, perfumes, oils, so many things. When it co...

Not every story in the Bible is given so that we know what to do sometimes; they are given to us so that we know what not to do. We see King Xerxes today, and we see how powerful he is. He is throwing grand and great festivals. He is showing hi...

Remember where we started the book of Ruth? Naomi had lost everything. She lost her husband, her children, her people, everything. This book begins with having nothing. But then, we see God’s loving kindness modeled over and over again. Ruth to...

Today, another has the chance to redeem Namoi’s property and, with that, gain Ruth as a wife. The man, first in line, does not do that. It’s interesting the scripture never names him. There’s even a funny Hebrew idiom that he is called. I’m not...

In our Traditional message from January 12, 2025, Andy shares from Luke 2: 15-22. On this Baptism of the Lord Sunday, we talk about the promises we make to God in our baptism, but more importantly, we talk about the promise God makes to us.

Chapter three of Ruth is full of some interesting things. Threshing floors, odd routines, things just sound out of step to us.  What is happening? We see Ruth showing to Boaz that her time of grief is now over, and she would desire marriag...

We begin to see the power of kindness today. Boaz shows kindness to Ruth. Why? Well, first, he’s a good man. Second, he tells her that he and others have heard of the kindness that she has shown to her mother-in-law.  Ruth has left her peo...

In our Traditional message from Ephiphany, Andy shares with us from Matthew 2: 1-12. We see the story of the Wise Men, but more than this, we see the first impression of who Jesus is. We see the wideness of God's mercy. 

Ruth goes out to glean from the fields of harvest. Gleaning is a command that God gives His people regarding the harvest. They are not to take everything from the field. They are to leave room at the margins for the poor. It is one of God’s way...

Naomi tells the people, do not call her by her name but now call her “Mara.”  This is the Hebrew word for bitter.  In the Bible, your name isn’t just what they call you; it’s who you are. Namio is telling the people she has changed. S...

We’ll start today looking at the book of Ruth. This is a wonderful book, one of my very favorites, because it teaches us the power of redemptive kindness. We need some of that redemptive kindness in the world today, don’t we? We all hope the Ne...

In our Christmas Eve sermon, Andy shares with us from Luke 2: 1-20. Mary saw all that had happened that night and treasured it. May we watch what God is doing and treasure it as well.

In our Traditional message from December 22, 2024, Andy shares with us from Luke 1: 39-45. Mary needed safety and welcome. Where did she go? She went home. So can we. Come home. Come home to faith, to church and community, to Jesus. 

Jesus forgives Peter. He asked Peter three times if he loved Jesus. Each time, Peter responds yes, but the word “love” that Peter uses is not the word that Jesus uses.  Jesus eventually responds with the same “love” as Peter. Jesus meets P...

We see Peter going fishing today. This doesn’t just mean he’s going back to an old hobby, but he’s going back to his old life. This whole Jesus stuff is over. He’s tried it, he failed, and he’s going back to what he knows. He’s going fishing. B...

We see John tell us today why we have his Gospel and really all the rest of the Bible. It was given so that we may believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that we may have life through believing in Him. John, and all the Bible, was given to us no...

I love Thomas. I always feel the need to defend him because we identify him by his worst moment, “Doubting Thomas.” We don’t think about the brave moments before today’s text or after today’s text. We only think about this moment. As someone wh...

After the resurrection, the disciples gather together behind locked doors. The text tells us that they do this because they are afraid. They lock their doors out of fear. Don’t we do the same? How often in our lives do we engage the world throu...

Today, as Jesus is raised, He speaks with Mary Magdalene. What is interesting to me about this conversation is that she doesn’t recognize Him. They are talking, and she asks Him questions, but she doesn't recognize Him. It isn’t until He calls ...

We see Peter and John, after a footrace, get to the tomb. When they get there, they see wondrous signs, and they know something has happened or something significant has taken place. They just don’t know what. John believes, even though he does...

Today in Rooted, we see Nicodemus move from darkness to light. Jesus was not finished with his story. Just like He is not finished with our story either.