Sharper Iron From Kfuo Radio

Rev. AJ Espinosa, adjunct professor of theology at Concordia University in Irvine, CA and host of KFUO Radio’s “Thy Strong Word,” joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12. Paul’s instructions for the Thessalonians cannot be separated from his praise for them. He encourages them to continue in the faith and faithful living that the Lord has given to them by His Word. Paul picks up his second topic for instruction in this text: the matter of brotherly love. Such brotherly love was known and valued in the Roman world around the Thessalonians; however, it was reserved for blood relatives. What made the brotherly love of the Christians scandalous was the centrality of Christ. Those who were otherwise unrelated and even unknown were treated with brotherly love because they bore Christ’s name. That brotherly love extended beyond the local congregation and into the surrounding areas. Such sharing of possessions and giving of money did not intend laziness, however. Paul commends quiet living and

Rev. Michael Schuermann, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Sherman, IL, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8. Having thanked God for the Thessalonians and recounted their faithful response to His Word, Paul now turns to matters of instruction. He encourages the Thessalonians to continue to walk in the ways they are already walking, as they have heard in his previous instruction. This is pleasing to God, not because their actions have earned His favor, but because He has given His favor to them in Christ and made them members of His family. This holiness is His gift and His will, and it manifests itself in the Christian’s life by their chastity. Such chastity is one of self-control, using one’s own body in ways that honor God’s gift of sexuality and engaging in marriage apart from the passion of lust. Furthermore, Paul says that chastity prevents sin against the neighbor, and ultimately, sin against God. To disregard this teaching is disregard not man’s word, but God’s. Still

Rev. Andrew Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Guttenberg, IA and St. Paul Lutheran Church in McGregor, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13. Timothy’s visit to the Thessalonians yielded a good report to bring back to Paul. The Thessalonians were standing strong in the Lord in the midst of affliction. This was good news for Paul, the fruit of the Gospel in the lives of the Thessalonians that rightly brought Paul great joy and comfort. The fact that they desired to see him face-to-face in the same way he desired to see them showed that the Gospel was bearing fruit among them still. The mystical union that each believer has with Christ also brings a union among fellow believers, a union that produces a longing to see each other as we rejoice and confess the truth before the Lord we do not yet see. Paul’s desire to see the Thessalonians face-to-face also includes his desire to continue to instruct them in Christian doctrine. Even as much as their faith has abounded, he know

Rev. Paul Pater, pastor at Shepherd of the Ridge Lutheran Church in North Ridgeville, OH and Hope Lutheran Church in Sheffield Village, OH, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:5. Paul’s stay with the Thessalonians had been brief, probably only a month. Yet the Word of God had worked faith in them and had established a bond of love in Christ between them and Paul. Persecution had torn them apart, and yet, their unity in Christ remained despite the distance that separated them. This unity that they had together in Christ even while they were apart did not leave them content to stay apart, however. Paul only desired all the more to see these fellow Christians face-to-face. His hope, joy, and crown of boasting would be to see them standing together with him as forgiven saints on the Last Day. Nonetheless, Paul’s desire had been hindered by Satan, and he and his companions could not bear to leave the Thessalonians alone any longer, lest they be led astray. Timothy, Paul’s brother and God

Rev. Chris Hull, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Tomball, TX joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16. Paul’s thanksgiving for the Thessalonians continues. When they heard Paul preach, they knew they had not heard the word of man. They had heard the Word of God, the powerful Word filled with the Holy Spirit that works in believers. This same Word of God has been written down for us in Holy Scripture by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so that pastors would preach it faithfully and hearers would hold it sacred and learn it. That Word of God reveals to us the shape of the baptismal life, that is, the life of Christ which He has given us. That is why the Thessalonians joyfully imitated the other Christian churches in their suffering. They received the same hatred from the world that all Christians are bound to receive, and they received it with confidence and comfort in Christ. They could do so because they knew that such persecution had not stopped the Word of God from doing His work

Rev. Mark Barz, senior pastor at Crown of Life Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12. Although Paul, Silas, and Timothy only spent a short time in Thessalonica, their ministry among God’s people there was not in vain. The shameless treatment they received did not prevent God’s powerful gospel from doing His work. Their ministry was not like Roman speakers paid to talk; they came without error, impurity, or deception in order to be faithful to the one true God. In their ministry among the Thessalonians, these men conducted themselves both like a mother who nurtures her very own children and also like a father who encourages his children to go into the world as faithful family members. Such affection between the ministers of the Gospel and the hearers of the Gospel can only be attributed to God, who is the Gospel’s source, subject, and content. Seeing the example given here, pastors and hearers alike are encouraged through the Lord’s gift of confession

Rev. Matt Ulmer, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Bishop, TX joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10. The first letter to the church in Thessalonica is one of the earliest, and very likely the earliest, books of the New Testament. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy wrote to the young church to encourage them to continue to stand firm in Christ even amidst persecution. Following his usual pattern for letters, Paul greets the Thessalonians in the grace and peace that come only from the true God. He speaks of his thanksgiving to God in his prayers for their faith, love, and hope centered in Christ Jesus. In Him, God had chosen the Thessalonians by the Gospel, the word that is powerful by the working of the Holy Spirit. That powerful Word made them imitators of the Lord and His servants, as the word received affliction produced great joy. This provided an example throughout Macedonia, how the word of the Lord produced fruit among the Thessalonians. They had turned from dead idols to the livin

Rev. Sam Wirgau, pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Ossian, IN joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 17:11-19. Samaria was not a place where many Jews of Jesus’ day ventured, but that is exactly the route Jesus took to Jerusalem and His cross. There Jesus encountered ten lepers. These men not only suffered greatly physically from this terrible illness. Even more than that, they were separated from their community and worship life through the ceremonial uncleanness they endured. This served as a picture of the sin that infects all people. That’s why these ten lepers cry out to Jesus for mercy, His grace and compassion that alone can heal and save. Jesus sends them to show themselves to the priest, and as they go, His Word effects healing. One recognizes what has happened and believes. He returns to Jesus as the true Temple, the place where God dwells in human flesh. He returns to Jesus as the true Priest, the one who makes the final sacrifice for sin. He praises God by giving praise and thanks to Je

Rev. John Bussman, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Cullman, AL joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Philippians 4:6-20. The church at Philippi had seen the Apostle Paul go through highs and lows during his ministry. As he writes his letter to them from prison, he proclaims to them the joy that remains theirs in Christ regardless of their circumstances. Because the LORD’s return is near, Christians live differently in the world. We are freed from anxiousness and worry through the comfort that is ours in Christ. Prayer and supplication flows from our lips to our Father’s throne of grace. His peace, given through the death and resurrection of Jesus, is our true guard from all evil. For that reason, our minds are occupied with all the good that He gives, as the Apostle learned and modeled from the Lord. Paul’s joy continues to abound through the gift that the Philippians sent. He had learned to be content in every circumstance, whether full or hungry, whether he had plenty or he had need, for Christ wa

Rev. Harrison Goodman, pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 8:1-10. Before the LORD brings Israel into the Promised Land, Moses invites the people to reflect upon the goodness of the LORD’s commandments. This is no romanticized memory; rather, they recall the dirty details of their wilderness wanderings in which the LORD humbled them. The LORD tested His people, bringing them to acknowledge time and time again that their life was not under their own control. Instead, life comes from the LORD’s promises. His promises protected His people in their suffering, not apart from it. His discipline was for their good as He treated them as His sons. For this reason, they would keep, treasure, guard, and obey the LORD’s commandments. They knew that He was bringing them into an abundantly wonderful land, where they would be filled in every way and so bless the LORD for what He had done. These physical realities are now also given to Christians spiri

Rev. Jeremiah Johnson, pastor at Glory of Christ Lutheran Church in Plymouth, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 9:11-15. Amos ends with two-hundred proof Gospel. Though it comes seemingly out of nowhere, Amos’ final preaching fits the LORD’s pattern of mercy throughout the Old Testament and serves as a reminder of the unmerited nature of grace. Once again, the day of the LORD comes up, but this time the prophet speaks of it as a day of salvation. The LORD promises to raise up the fallen booth of David. The LORD will dwell among His people once more. Though the kingdom seemed ruined, the LORD would keep the promise to set a king on the throne of David forever. This restoration is not for David alone, nor is it for Israel alone. The LORD’s act will impact all the nations, as He calls the Gentiles to trust in His promise. All of creation will benefit as well. Agricultural abundance and reaping the full benefits of labor will hold true as the LORD undoes the curse from Genesis 3. What He does in th

Rev. Ryan Ogrodowicz, associate pastor and headmaster at Grace Lutheran Church and School in Brenham, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 9:7-10. Israel is in a lot of trouble, to put it lightly. The LORD is about to bring them down from the high pedestal they think they occupy. Though the Exodus was His salvation for His people, the LORD reminds them that He is the Creator and Sustainer of all the nations, even their enemies. There is no room for false security and pride on their part. They have revealed themselves as the sinful kingdom, which the LORD will destroy in all of its outward forms. Yet the LORD preserves for Himself a remnant of the house of Jacob for the sake of His promises made to the patriarchs. He will shake His people through a sieve; those who have trusted in Him for salvation will be spared eternally, even if they go through destruction now. The end for those members of His people who have persisted in terrible, unrepentant sin against God and neighbor, however, will be quite

Rev. Matt Wietfeldt, director of admissions and the Christ Academy program at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 9:5-6. The LORD alone is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He has the authority and power to bring about the judgment He has declared upon Israel for their idolatry and injustice. As the Source of justice and righteousness, the LORD must punish sin and evil. Those who will not receive His work in faith will find themselves under His condemnation for their sin and evil. However, those who place their trust in Christ alone as the One who took God’s wrath upon Himself will find instead that God forgives and destroys their sin and evil for them in order to give them His justification. The LORD accomplishes such work simply through His touch, which He exercised throughout the Scriptures through water and does so still for us in the water and Word of Holy Baptism. He does this work in order to be present among His people on earth in order

Rev. Brady Finnern, pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church in Sartell, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 9:1-4. In Amos’ fifth and final vision, he sees the LORD Himself. The dead heterodoxy of Israel is about to yield its terrible result. The LORD has told His people to prepare to meet Him, and now He meets them, only not in grace, but judgment. He stands beside the idolatrous altar in Bethel to destroy the false temple there, along with all of the priests and worshipers. Even those who escape the crumbling building will not escape. There is no place high or low where Israel can flee such that the LORD cannot find them. Neither hell nor heaven, neither the highest mountain nor the lowest depth will provide a refuge from His judgment. Their friends will not be able to hide them, nor will exile amongst their enemies. The LORD will bring destruction upon His people, because His eye is fixed upon them for evil and not for good. The Law hits hard in this passage in order to point us to Christ. He is the

Rev. Stephen Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vinton, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 8:7-14. The LORD continues His commentary on Amos’ fourth vision. He swears by Himself as the true Pride of Jacob, in contrast to their idolatrous boasting in themselves and their accomplishments. His oath is terrifying, as He promises that He will no longer forget the sins of His people. With the comfort of the LORD’s forgiveness gone, all of creation groans. An earthquake and darkness at noon served as signs of the LORD’s judgment and indicators that Amos was a true prophet. The LORD announces that He will bring upon them the tragic mourning that would occur at the death of an only son. The news only grows more grim, as the LORD declares that a famine of His Word is coming. No matter how the people may seek the LORD’s Word, they will not find it. Their idolatrous worship has brought them to fall and never rise again. It is helpful for us to reflect upon such harsh Law as Christians today in orde

Rev. Christopher Jackson, pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Algoma, WI and St. Peter Lutheran Church in Forestville, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 8:4-6. Amos proclaims the reason for the LORD’s condemnation against His people. They have not recognized the brotherhood that exists among the people of Israel. Instead, they have mistreated the poor, abusing them even to the point of selling them into slavery for the most paltry of debts. The merchants have fleeced the poor in every possible way to maximize their profits, engaging in corrupt business practices even while trying to make everything appear right. The merchants have not acted alone, however. They have been aided by corrupt priests like Amaziah in an effort to cover up their sins with outward religiosity. The LORD knows their hearts. Even as they outwardly observe the festivals correctly, they are only concerned with getting back to their oppression of the poor. Amos’ preaching will not let us off the hook for either our mistreatmen

Rev. Carl Roth, pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Elgin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 8:1-3. After Amos’ confrontation with the apostate priest Amaziah, the prophet’s fourth vision continues to spell out the end of Israel. The LORD shows Amos a basket of summer fruit to convey the truth that the time is ripe for their judgment. God’s Word is full of positive imagery concerning fruit. Jesus is the true Vine, and Christians are the branches; we can only bear fruit in Him. When He makes us His own in Baptism, His Holy Spirit works His fruit in us and through us. Israel, however, had denied the one true God. Their idolatry at Dan and Bethel had severed them from Christ; they were only diseased trees that could only bear diseased fruit. By the time Amos saw his fourth vision, Israel had continued to refuse to repent. They were overripe and rotten; their end was at hand. The LORD would no longer pass by their sins in forgiveness; their joyful songs would be turned to wailing. The judgment that

Rev. Dustin Beck, pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Warda, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 7:10-17. Amos intended to bring Israel back to true faith in the LORD by his preaching, and the first to listen should have been one called a priest. Amaziah, however, proves himself unrepentant. Instead of returning to the LORD as the true king, Amaziah appeals to Jeroboam, claiming that Amos is leading a conspiracy against the kingdom. He commands Amos to return to the southern kingdom to make his living; he is free to preach there, but the temple of the kingdom is off limits. Amaziah has replaced the LORD as king. Amos, however, remains faithful in the face of such apostasy. He defends his ministry not as his own desire or plan. Before the LORD’s call, Amos worked in agriculture. When he heard the LORD’s roar, however, he could not do anything other than speak the LORD’s Word, even when that Word was not what people wanted to hear. That Word proclaimed judgment not only against the nation as a

Rev. Zelwyn Heide, pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Grassy Butte, ND and St. Peter Lutheran Church in Belfield, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 7:7-9. Amos’ visions take a turn with the third one. In the vision of the plumb line, the LORD begins to make clear that His patience has reached its end. Although the Hebrew word often translated “plumb line” provides difficulty, the explanation that the LORD gives to Amos provide clarity. He promises that He will never pass by them again; the time of mercy is over. That the LORD’s patience has reached its end is a serious matter. His patience results as a working out of His faithfulness to His promises in the midst of our sinfulness. Yet sinners never dare think, as Israel did, that His patience has no end. Since His Word is true, His patience must end. Judgment of sin and evil must come. Israel has reached this point in Amos’ prophecy. The LORD has called again and again for them to repent, and they have refused. The LORD announces, therefore,

Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Church in Austin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 7:4-6. The LORD invites Amos into the heavenly council a second time to reveal to the prophet what is about to happen. The fire that was missing from the judgment against Israel in chapter 2 finally arrives. This fire is all-consuming and cosmic in scale. What the LORD did to the water on Elijah’s altar on Mt. Carmel He will do to even the waters of the great deep. This fire is a part of the LORD’s courtroom verdict. Will He declare His people innocent or guilty? Will He bring the fire or not? Amos intercedes yet again on the people’s behalf. He does not plead their worthiness before the God of all creation; he simply pleads for the LORD’s mercy. Astonishingly, the LORD relents at the prophet’s prayer. Amos fills the intercessory role that was first given to Abraham as a prophet, the role that is brought to fulfillment in the Son of God in our human flesh, Jesus