Sharper Iron from KFUO Radio
1,323 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★★ - 84 ratingsSharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.
Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.
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Episodes
Isaiah 65:17-25: The New Heavens and New Earth
April 25, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.9 MBUsing the same language as He did in Genesis 1, the LORD speaks about His creation of the new heavens and the new earth, which will bring great joy to His people. Here, He will give to them eternal life and fruitful labor, and no enemies will harm them. He will dwell with them to hear their prayers, and all creation will live at peace in the LORD’s holy mountain. The New Testament teaches that already now, we experience these blessings in the holy Christian Church, even as we wait for the ful...
LSB 487: Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain
April 24, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 75.9 MBIn this beautiful hymn written especially for the 2nd Sunday of Easter, John of Damascus proclaims that the rescue that God gave to Israel through the Exodus has been fulfilled in the rescue God has given to us through the resurrection of Jesus. The winter of sin and death has come to an end; new life has risen in Christ. For this reason, the faithful join together to sing the praises of the Lord Jesus as they gather to receive from Him the precious feast of HIs Supper. This brings the same p...
Isaiah 65:1-16: The LORD Says to You, “Here I Am!”
April 23, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.6 MBThe LORD responds to His people’s prayer by reminding them that He was ready for them to seek and find Him in the ways that He had chosen to reveal Himself to them. Even as He spread His hands out to them, they engaged in all kinds of idolatrous practices that made them smoke in His nostrils. To His servants who respond to this rebuke in repentance, the LORD promises that He will be faithful to His remnant. To the wicked who continue to see after the LORD in their self-chosen ways, however, t...
Isaiah 63:15-64:12: Rend the Heavens and Come Down
April 22, 2024 14:00 - 51 minutes - 35.5 MBIsaiah leads the people of Israel in prayer, lament, and confession before the LORD. They call upon the LORD as their Father, asking Him to see them as His children, even though they have strayed. They acknowledge that He has sent them into exile and made them as those who are not called upon His name. Still, they pray that He would tear open the clouds and come down as He did at Mount Sinai. His awesome deeds, so unexpected to human wisdom, reveal Him to be the only true God, especially in t...
Sharathon 2024: The Shepherd Seeks and Saves
April 19, 2024 14:00 - 45 minutes - 62 MBIn Matthew 18 and Luke 15, Jesus speaks a parable about a man who owns one hundred sheep, and one becomes lost. In love for that one sheep, the shepherd seeks it out and brings it back to the flock with great joy. By this parable, Jesus teaches us the great love that He has for us sinners. He calls us to see ourselves as the lost sheep that He seeks and finds through repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name. He calls us into His joy in this salvation, both the joy of being saved ourselv...
Sharathon 2024: Psalm 100: Raise the King’s Victory Shout
April 18, 2024 14:00 - 47 minutes - 65 MBPsalm 100 is a psalm for giving thanks for the ongoing reign of the LORD. Because He is the true King, His people join with all creation in the song of His victory. His people are called into His presence with gladness and singing, both in the Divine Service and in their daily vocations. We know Him because He has first known us, for He is the Good Shepherd who has made us members of His holy flock. As we enter His presence, we bless His name for His faithfulness that endures forever. Rev....
LSB 480: He’s Risen, He’s Risen
April 17, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76 MBC.F.W. Walther’s marvelous Easter hymn invites all people to join in the praises of Christ Jesus the Lord. By His resurrection, the Word of God made flesh has freed us from the prison of sin, death, and the devil. Though the evil one and all his evil host cheered to see Jesus dead and buried, their shouts of triumph were quickly silenced by the risen Lord. His resurrection means the defeat of sin, death, and the devil, so that we no longer need to fear these enemies. Jesus has welcomed us int...
Isaiah 63:1-14: Why Are the LORD’s Garments Red?
April 16, 2024 14:00 - 56 minutes - 77.5 MBThe prophet sees a Mighty Warrior coming; He identifies Himself as the LORD. The prophet has questions concerning the Warrior’s stained garments; the LORD says that they are red from the blood of His enemies, whom He has conquered on the day of His vengeance for the year of His favor. Upon seeing the LORD in this way, Isaiah leads the people in praising the LORD by proclaiming His deeds of old, especially from the Exodus. Even though His people rebelled against Him, and He became their enemy ...
Isaiah 62:1-12: The LORD Gives New Names
April 15, 2024 14:00 - 56 minutes - 77.6 MBThe LORD promises to speak for the sake of His beloved people to bring them His righteousness and salvation. Nations will see this light and come to the people of God, who are His crowning jewel. Though their sin and idolatry had left them forsaken and desolate, the LORD bestows the names “My Delight Is in Her” and “Married” upon His people now because of His gracious action on their behalf. As the LORD is not silent, so His watchmen and His people are not silent, proclaiming His Word and cal...
Isaiah 61:1-11: The LORD’s Anointed Servant Brings Joy
April 12, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.1 MBThe Servant of the LORD speaks as the One anointed by the Spirit. He comes to preach good news, to comfort, and to give God’s good gifts. Through the work of the LORD’s Servant, His people are established securely in righteousness. No longer will they be found in shame, but they will serve the LORD according to His Word. The people of God rejoice exceedingly because He has clothed them with His own righteousness. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, these promises are fulfilled. Rev. Tim Koch, p...
Isaiah 60:1-22: Arise, Shine, for Your Light Has Come
April 11, 2024 14:00 - 56 minutes - 78 MBBecause the LORD has caused His glory to come to His people, they rise and shine so that nations are drawn to worship the LORD. All the wealth of the world is put into the service of the LORD as He calls sinners to His salvation because He loves people as His treasured possession. The safety of the LORD’s kingdom is complete; no enemy shall threaten His people. The abundance of the LORD’s kingdom is overwhelming; His people will lack no good thing. The light of the LORD’s kingdom is glorious;...
LSB 467: Awake, My Heart, with Gladness
April 10, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 75.9 MBPaul Gerhardt’s Easter hymn fits perfectly as the first words sung by Christians gathered for an Easter sunrise service. The reality of the empty tomb on Easter banishes sadness and fills us with gladness. Though the foe thought he had won the victory when Jesus lay dead and buried, in fact, the Savior has routed his enemy. Jesus’ complete victory over all enemies—sin, death, and devil—is comfort and joy for all those who trust in Him. Jesus is the Mighty Warrior who has given His victory to ...
Isaiah 59:1-21: Unrighteous Sinners Need the Righteous Savior
April 09, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 75.7 MBThe LORD tells His people with vivid imagery that they have separated themselves from Him. He speaks of their defilement in their words and actions. He condemns their deceitful plots and plans. In response, the people confess their rebellion, their idolatry, and their complete lack of justice and righteousness, and they throw themselves upon God’s mercy. The LORD knows that no one else can serve as Intercessor and Redeemer, so He Himself comes to bring His righteousness and salvation. In Chri...
Isaiah 58:1-14: The LORD’s Chosen Fast
April 08, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.1 MBThe people of Israel were guilty of hypocritical worship. Although they went through the motions of fasting and praying, they did so without faith in the LORD’s Word. When they complained to Him that He wasn’t listening, the LORD called them to task for abstaining from food only to quarrel with each other. Rather, the LORD desired His people to fast from wickedness and evil and to fill themselves with the fruit of faith toward their neighbor. With such true worship of Him, the people would se...
Isaiah 57:1-21: Contrition Is Better than Idolatry
April 05, 2024 14:00 - 58 minutes - 80 MBNo one on earth may regard the LORD’s righteous one, but the LORD sees and knows. He will not fail to judge the idolatry of His people, particularly among the leaders. Those who follow idolatry only fall into all kinds of perversion and wickedness. Although they look to their idols for help, their idols will not save them. Those who are contrite and lowly in spirit, however, will receive the LORD’s comfort and help. This is found in Christ, the Righteous One who has died and risen for us, in ...
Isaiah 56:1-12: A House of Prayer for All Peoples
April 04, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.1 MBBecause of the work of the Servant of the LORD for His people, they are called into a life according to His justice and righteousness. Those who worship Him from a true heart and love His Word will be brought to the LORD’s holy mountain—even eunuchs and foreigners. This is a part of the LORD’s mission to gather people to Himself. He speaks words of condemnation, however, to those leaders of Israel who show no regard for the people under their care. Rev. Jacob Dandy, pastor at Zion Lutheran...
LSB 457: Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
April 03, 2024 14:30 - 56 minutes - 77.8 MBThis joyous Easter hymn resounds with Alleluias at what our Lord Jesus has done in His resurrection. His victory over death and the grave is made ours by His grace. His suffering on the cross has redeemed us from all that we lost under sin. His sufferings, death, and resurrection have won our salvation, which is ours eternally because He reigns forever. As His love for us is eternal, so our praises to Him are eternal as we sing to the Triune God with all the heavenly host forever. Find this h...
Isaiah 55:1-13: Buy Without Money
April 02, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.1 MBThe LORD calls all people to come and receive His great salvation, won by the Suffering Servant. The gifts of His Word come without cost to those who hear it, and those gifts bring greater blessings than any earthly food or money. Now is the time for people to seek the LORD and forsake their own wickedness, for the LORD is compassionate. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. In His wisdom, He works through His Word to bring about His purposes. As those who receive the LORD’s blessings t...
Isaiah 54:1-17: The Heritage of the Servants of the LORD
April 01, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.6 MBBecause of the work of the Suffering Servant, the LORD’s people sing for joy. Though His people were as a barren woman in the exile, the LORD has increased her children beyond what the current borders can hold. He has done this as a faithful husband to His people, who has called His bride back to Himself in joy. His steadfast love for His people will not depart; He will establish His people so that they do not need to be afraid. Through the work of His Suffering Servant, He has made His peopl...
Isaiah 52:13-53:12: With His Stripes We Are Healed
March 29, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.1 MBThe LORD calls His people to behold His Servant high and lifted up on the cross in divine glory. Although His appearance did not attract us to Him, His suffering has sprinkled us with His cleansing blood so that we can truly see the only God. Men despised and rejected Jesus and hid their faces from Him. He suffered this willingly; all our sin and shame and pain were placed upon Him in order to give His healing and forgiveness to us. Jesus endured this great shame and suffering to the point of...
Isaiah 52:1-12: Beautiful Feet Bring Good News
March 28, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76 MBOnce more, the LORD calls His people to wake up. He calls them out of their distress and despair, for He is redeeming them out of their captivity according to His powerful Word. The messenger who proclaims this good news to God’s people runs to Zion on his beautiful feet so that they will know that their God is truly King. This Gospel message brings joy and singing among God’s people as they see His holy arm work salvation not only for them, but for all the nations. For that reason, they must...
LSB 438: A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth
March 27, 2024 14:00 - 56 minutes - 77 MBPaul Gerhardt’s marvelous hymn text is fitting both for Lent and Holy Week. We sing of Jesus as the Lamb of God who goes willingly into sacrifice to bear our sin and be our Savior. He gives His spotless life in place of our sinful lives gladly, treating us as His friends. Jesus does this as the true Son of God at the command of His Father, who desires our salvation. This great love that God has for us is His strength to save us, so that now we stand before His throne in the righteousness of C...
Isaiah 51:1-23: The Arm of the LORD Wakes His People
March 26, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 75.8 MBThe LORD calls His people to look to the rock from which they were hewn, recalling how the LORD their Rock brought a great nation from the dead rock Abraham. Therefore, Israel must listen to the LORD’s Word, as His righteousness and salvation come near to them. He works this salvation through His holy arm, which is awakened to deliver His people yet again. The LORD is the One who comforts His people in the midst of fear and oppression; therefore, they must wake up from their drunken stupor af...
Isaiah 50:4-11: The Obedient Suffering Servant
March 25, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.9 MBThe LORD’s Servant speaks again; He does so as One whose tongue and ear have been taught by the LORD. As the Servant speaks faithfully, His Word sustains those who are weary. As the Servant remains faithful to the LORD, He begins to suffer physical pain and public shame. Because He knows that the LORD will vindicate Him, the Servant does not fear. The LORD’s people are called to respond to the work of the Servant. Their darkness can only be scattered by the light of the true God; any idolatry...
Isaiah 49:14-50:3: The LORD Will Not Forget or Forsake
March 22, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.4 MBWhen the LORD’s people claim that He has forgotten them, He proclaims that His memory of them is even greater than that of a mother for her child. He has even engraved them on the palms of His hands. He promises to enlarge the people of Israel so that they will need more room for everyone; this is His doing to draw the nations to Himself through the signal of His Son’s cross. The LORD is able to rescue His people from their captors, and He will do so because their separation from Him is not p...
Isaiah 49:1-13: The LORD’s Servant to Israel and the Nations
March 21, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76 MBThe Servant of the LORD speaks to the ends of the earth, for He is the One set apart by the LORD from the womb to speak His Word faithfully. Even as He laments in the midst of the suffering He endures, the Servant trusts the LORD to vindicate Him. The LORD commissions His servant not only to bring back the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but also to be a light to all nations. The LORD declares that this is the day of salvation that He brings about for His people that will cause them to sin...
LSB 442: All Glory, Laud, and Honor
March 20, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.6 MBThis glorious Palm Sunday hymn places us in the procession of palms to sing praises to Jesus, who entered into Jerusalem as the King of Israel. As we worship Him on earth, we join in the worship of the angels in heaven and the song of all creation that is offered to Christ as the Redeemer of all. As we sing the same songs as the Palm Sunday crowds so long ago, this is more than a historical reenactment. Because Jesus is actually present with us in the Divine Service, our prayers and praises a...
Isaiah 48:1-22: Go Out From Babylon, O Israel!
March 19, 2024 14:00 - 56 minutes - 77.1 MBThe LORD again calls His people to listen. Although Israel has not lived up to her name, the LORD has lived up to His; He is faithful to His promises. No idols can do what He has done. Although His people have not heard in the past, He speaks to them again so that they will listen. The LORD promises that He will bring a deliverer to rescue Israel from Babylon. However, when that Deliverer speaks, it becomes evident that this is not simply Cyrus, but Christ Himself. In view of His coming deliv...
Isaiah 47:1-15: Arrogant Babylon Will Be Brought Low
March 18, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.4 MBBabylon will receive the same judgment as its idols; Babylon will be brought low. Their earthly glory will be turned to shame at the hand of the LORD, who is the Redeemer of His people Israel. Though the LORD had made use of Babylon to carry out His righteous anger against His people, Babylon went too far. Babylon became proud and considered herself a god above all others. The LORD dares Babylon to rescue itself by making use of sorcery and astrology, but Babylon is powerless to save itself f...
Isaiah 46:1-13: Babylonian Idols Bow Before the LORD
March 15, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.5 MBThe idols of Babylon are powerless to deliver anyone from their burdens. Instead, the idols of Babylon must be carried around as burdens themselves. Therefore, the LORD calls to His people to listen to Him who has carried them from their beginning to their end. No god can be compared to the LORD; idols cannot move or answer any prayer. Therefore, Israel must remember the LORD and stand firm in faith in Him, for He is bringing His righteousness and His salvation for His people. Rev. Merritt...
Isaiah 44:24-45:25: The LORD Names Cyrus
March 14, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.2 MBThe LORD has repeatedly declared that He alone knows and accomplishes what will come in the future. He provides further evidence of that reality by naming the Persian king, Cyrus, over one hundred years ahead of time. Through Cyrus, the LORD will deliver His people from Babylon, so that all would know that the LORD alone is God. He is the One who guides and directs all things, even when His ways are hidden. Yet, where the LORD has revealed Himself, His people cling to Him there and trust in H...
LSB 430: My Song Is Love Unknown
March 13, 2024 14:00 - 55 minutes - 76.8 MBThis marvelous hymn helps us to rejoice in the reality of God's love for us sinners. Through Christ's death, God loves us to the uttermost, even though we were loveless and undeserving. The hymn traces the way that Jesus humbled Himself by taking on our humanity and suffering at the hands of the very people He had come to save. Though Jesus did not deserve such treatment, He willingly endured His passion, death, and burial in order to save us. For that reason, we sing the praises of Jesus now...
Isaiah 44:1-23: Idols Are Stupid
March 12, 2024 14:00 - 57 minutes - 78.3 MBThe LORD tells His people to listen, for He has formed them from the womb. They need not fear, as the LORD brings even Gentiles to faith in Him so that they see along with Israel that the LORD is the only God who declares and accomplishes what is to come. Isaiah exposes the foolishness of idolatry, as if a statue fashioned by a man could ever be worshiped as almighty. Those who worship idols are led astray into lies, and there is no deliverance for them. When Israel remembers this reality, th...
Isaiah 43:1-28: The LORD Brings a New Exodus
March 11, 2024 14:00 - 56 minutes - 77 MBThe LORD calls out to His people to take away their fear. Even in exile, He is with them as their God and King; He will gather His people together whom He has formed and created. The nations are put on trial, but the LORD brings forth Israel as the witness to His saving acts. Their very existence proves that He is the only Savior and that idols must fail. As He once made a way through the sea to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt, so He promises to accomplish a new exodus by delivering ...
Isaiah 42:10-25: The New Song Resounds
March 08, 2024 15:00 - 56 minutes - 77.3 MBThe work of the Servant of the LORD brings singing. The choir grows throughout creation and to the ends of the earth as praises resound for what God has done. He shouts aloud in victory like a mighty warrior or a woman in labor, for His deliverance is here. He guides those who are blind and opens their eyes who have been blinded by idolatry. The shocking reality is that it is God’s own people Israel who have been so blinded. Though they had been called to be the LORD’s servant, they have not ...
Isaiah 42:1-9: The Chosen and Beloved Servant of the LORD
March 07, 2024 15:00 - 55 minutes - 76.6 MBThe LORD brings forth His chosen and beloved servant. Although Israel and others have been called the LORD’s servants, the Servant described here is finally Jesus. St. Matthew and the other evangelists quote from this text and allude to it so that we might see Jesus fulfilling it in His Baptism, in His ministry of healing and preaching, in His crucifixion, and in His resurrection. As the One who bears the Spirit, Jesus serves us by sustaining us under the weariness of our sin in order to brin...
LSB 420: Christ, the Life of All the Living
March 06, 2024 15:00 - 56 minutes - 77.2 MBThis Lenten hymn helps us to give thanks for all of the benefits that Jesus has won for us by His suffering and death in our place. Throughout the hymn, numerous pictures are used to help us see the fullness of the Gospel. Christ has accomplished the great exchange for us in so many ways. He was bound to set us free. He was wounded to heal us. He took our curse to give us His blessing. He received shame so that we might have honor. His crown of thorns means a crown of heavenly glory for us. F...
Isaiah 41:21-29: Idols On Trial
March 05, 2024 15:00 - 56 minutes - 77.3 MBThe LORD calls the nations and their idols into the courtroom and challenges to bring forth any compelling testimony. Can idols tell what things will happen in the future and bring those things to be? Can idols correctly interpret all of history? Can idols do anything at all? The LORD gives the answer: “No! Idols are nothing, and all who trust in them are an abomination.” The LORD then provides testimony of His own. He is the One who will bring Cyrus as a deliverer of His people; He is the On...
Isaiah 41:8-20: Fear Not! The LORD Is Your God
March 04, 2024 15:00 - 55 minutes - 75.6 MBThe nations have not heeded the LORD’s call to repentance over idolatry, and so He turns to strengthen His people Israel as His servant. They need not fear, because the LORD is their God who defeats the enemies who strive against them. Though Israel has been a helpless worm, the LORD promises His help and deliverance. He will answer His people’s prayers and will not forsake them, so that they will see that He has done this for them. As Isaiah records these words, he gives to us a picture of J...
Isaiah 41:1-7: Who Stirs Up One from the East?
March 01, 2024 15:00 - 55 minutes - 76.5 MBThe LORD calls even the coastlands to hear the testimony of who He is. As evidence, the LORD presents Himself as the One who stirs up someone from the east who will be victorious at every turn. Although Cyrus of Persia will fulfill this promise in part, ultimately, the LORD speaks here of Jesus Christ, our Savior. He is the first and the last who rules over all nations in every generation. The nations, however, do not heed this call to repentance; instead, they continue in their idolatry, whi...
Isaiah 40:12-31: The Almighty Creator Strengthens His Weary People
February 29, 2024 15:00 - 56 minutes - 77.7 MBThe LORD makes it plain that He alone has created and sustains all things. No one showed Him how to do His work. The nations are nothing before the LORD, and idols are human creations that have no power to move. The LORD alone rules over all creation and over all human empires; no one can compare to Him. Therefore, His people must not think that He is unaware of their way. He is the everlasting God who uses His almighty power in order to strengthen His people in their weakness. Through trust ...
LSB 431: Not All the Blood of Beasts
February 28, 2024 15:00 - 55 minutes - 75.8 MBThis Lenten hymn helps us to meditate on the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice for us in fulfillment of all the Old Testament sacrifices. The blood of bulls and goats all alone could not atone for human sin; only the divine blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, can give us peace. For that reason, we go to Christ in repentance and lay our hands on Him as the scapegoat so that He takes our sins away. He bore the burden of our guilt; in faith in Him, we rejoice in His bleeding love for us. Find ...
Isaiah 40:1-11: Comfort, Comfort, Ye My People
February 27, 2024 15:00 - 55 minutes - 76.1 MBTo the Babylonian exiles, the LORD has a word of double comfort. Their warfare is over; their sins are forgiven. A voice crying in the wilderness first announces this good news, preparing the way for the LORD to come to His repentant people. This good news is ultimately for all flesh, so that they would see the LORD’s glory revealed. Although people are here today and gone tomorrow, the LORD’s Word endures forever. That Word is proclaimed by Zion and Jerusalem, so that they would see their Go...
Introduction to Isaiah: The Fifth Evangelist
February 26, 2024 15:00 - 56 minutes - 76.9 MBIsaiah had an extensive ministry as a prophet to the people of Judah, proclaiming God’s Word under the reigns of four kings. He was called into the heavenly throne room of the Holy One of Israel. There, the LORD absolved Isaiah of his sin and sent him as a proclaimer of His Word. Isaiah’s preaching spanned key historical events, as he proclaimed God’s Word in the midst of Assyrian dominance of his own day and in the midst of Babylonian oppression that would come a hundred years after his mart...
NEW SERIES: The Fifth Evangelist
February 26, 2024 14:45 - 2 minutes - 3.46 MB"The Fifth Evangelist” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through Isaiah 40-66. Though Isaiah lived one hundred years beforehand, he writes to the people of God in exile in Babylon to assure them that their God reigns and will rescue them through the work of His servant. These promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whose work Isaiah proclaims vividly seven hundred years beforehand. Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context...
Galatians 6:11-18: What Counts Is The New Creation
February 23, 2024 15:00 - 56 minutes - 77.5 MBAlthough most of the letter to the Galatians was physically written down by a scribe according to St. Paul’s dictation, the Apostle now picks up the pen himself to write the conclusion of the letter. His large letters authenticate the letter as coming from him, as he emphasizes once more to the Galatians the necessity of holding onto the true Gospel. Those who insist upon circumcision only want to boast in themselves; St. Paul would have the Galatians boast only in Christ crucified. In the fi...
Galatians 6:1-10: Bear Each Other's Burdens
February 22, 2024 15:00 - 55 minutes - 76.6 MBSt. Paul calls the Galatians to care for each other when sin rears its head within the congregation. The goal of calling a brother to repentance is restoration. Those who exercise such care for others should exercise appropriate care themselves, lest they deceive themselves and fall into their own unrepentant sin. The standard for the whole congregation is the Law of God, not sinful comparisons to each other. Those who teach these things in the congregation ought to be held in high regard, so...
LSB 423: Jesus, Refuge of the Weary
February 21, 2024 15:00 - 55 minutes - 76.5 MBThis Lenten hymn is full of beautiful imagery that teaches us of Christ and His work for us. He is the living water given by God Himself to provide life and rest for us sinners. Though our sin has offended Him, yet God has willingly taken our pain upon Himself on the cross. When we consider Christ crucified, the Lord brings us to repentance over our sins, knowing that the grace He shows here grants us eternal peace. In this faith, the Lord sustains us until the end when we are with Him in glo...
Galatians 5:16-26: The Fruit of the Spirit
February 20, 2024 15:00 - 56 minutes - 77.1 MBAs those set free by Christ, the Galatians have been placed by God on the way of walking according to the Spirit. However, the sinful flesh wars against those desires of the Spirit, and so the Christian is engaged in a constant struggle. On the one hand, the works of the flesh are readily evident. Whether “big” or “small,” all of these works of the flesh lead us away from the kingdom of God. However, the Holy Spirit works His fruit in His people. Because we are alive in the Spirit, we walk wi...
Galatians 5:1-15: Freedom From and Freedom For
February 19, 2024 15:00 - 56 minutes - 77 MBSt. Paul urges the Galatians to live in the freedom that Christ has given them from the law, rather than submitting again to slavery. By viewing even only circumcision as necessary for salvation, the whole law must then be kept. If the Galatians pursue that path, they are cutting themselves off from Christ, as even just a little leaven of false teaching will spread and work destruction. St. Paul speaks strong words to those who would teach such falsehoods. He once again calls the Galatians to...