Concord Matters from KFUO Radio

Your god is whatever you fear, love, and trust in above the Triune God. Luther called our hearts an “idol factory” that is ready to trust the newest god on the block. Yet, the one true God has given us access to His name through Christ and in return we pray, praise, and give thanks! Lord have mercy. Rev. Dr. John Pless, Assistant professor of pastoral ministry and missions at Concordia Theological...

Rev. Dr. Leonard Payton, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Forest Park, IL joins Rev. Brady Finnern to study the Preface to Luther’s Small Catechism. The landscape of the 16th century church was bleak. Pastors and members were worshipping, receiving the Sacrament, and leading the church without even knowing the 10 commandments, Creed, or Lord’s Prayer. Martin Luther brought teaching the faith...

What is Gnosticism? It's more than just a big word, and you've probably run across it more than you realize. Rev. Peter Burfeind joins host Rev. Sean Smith to discuss Gnosticism in America today. Learn the historical roots and key ideas of Gnosticism and the influence of Gnosticism on historic Christianity. Then, hear how the gnostic heresy is still active in Christianity today, the dangers of hid...

What is stewardship? You’ll often hear “time, talents, and treasures” referenced. But is that a helpful way to think about stewardship? Is stewardship “just the business side of the Church"? A matter of our Christian life? Only a matter of “me and God”? A confessional matter? How does the faithful pastor approach stewardship, and what does stewardship look like in the Church, the Christian home, a...

What are these Saxon Visitation Articles of 1528? Learn about what church visitations are about, what they have to do with the Book of Concord, and why Gospel-focused Lutherans—wanting to get out from under the Pope tyranny— would want to visit their churches and establish a Church order. Also hear what the proper use of the Lord’s Supper, closed communion, daily worship services, and what is bein...

What do our Lutheran Confessions mean to International Lutherans? What roll do our Confessions have in the mission work to non-Germanic people? Guests Rev. Dr. Alexey Streltsov — Rector of Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church Seminary in Novosibirsk, Russia, and Rev. Joel Fritsche — Director at Seminario Concordia El Reformador - República Dominicana, join host Rev. Sean Smith to discuss the value...

Let's talk about why the Lutheran Confessions matter in church planting and mission congregations. Hear from current church planters and pastors of mission congregations about whether we need to minimize or set-aside our Lutheran Confessions in church planting and mission work, the roll Lutheran Confessions play in a mission congregation how the doctrine of the Lutheran Confessions help overcome s...

We wrap-up the series on the Augsburg Confession with looking at the Conclusion, the importance of the the signers of the Confession, how the Confession was received, some historical context of the Confutation and the Apology of the Augsburg confession, the unaltered Augsburg confession, and ultimately, why this confession matters for our Lutheran Confessions—and the Lutheran confession in general...

What is the distinction between church authority and secular, government authority, and how do they interact? Do pastors have authority in relation to the civil life of the community in which they serve, in relation to the daily lives of the people in the congregation, in relation to the ceremonies and customs that are used in the congregation, and/or in relation to how the congregation operates?...

Is it bad to want to serve the church and live in intentional Christian community? Why is it important to measure church traditions in terms of practice, rather than just in principle? Should Christians be taking vows, even if they have good intention like in serving the Church? Why do people often tend to put more value in our promises than in God's? Rev. A. Brian Flamme, pastor of Immanuel Luthe...

What's the deal with the distinction of meats? What happens to the grace of Christ when human traditions dominate instead of the Gospel? How do the traditional Lutheran emphases on "Grace Alone" and "Faith Alone" provide a proper Christian focus to this article? Rev. Mark Squire, pastor of Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in St. Ansgar, Iowa, joins host Rev. Sean Smith to discuss the Distincti...

Why a second article on confession? Learn about the relationship of private confession and absolution to the general or public confession and absolution of the Divine Service, whether we need private confession and absolution when we have the general confession and absolution in Church, how confession and absolution provides the cure of souls more than just the care of souls that you might get fro...

How did the Lutheran Reformers answer the charge that they had abandoned the Mass? Have we, at times, been guilty of abandoning the Mass today? Also hear about why we would want to retain the Mass, its benefit to Christians and to the Church, why the Lutheran confessors specifically include talk of observing the Mass with the highest reverence and celebrating every Sunday communion. A chief concer...

Is there a religious life style more valued to God than that of marriage and family? Hear discussion on whether clergy should be married or celibate, why the matter of marriage of clergy matters to laity, and how the argument of the Confessors here in regards to the Marriage of Priests based on what God has established in creation and through His Word. Rev. Sean Kilgo, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran...

Even though this article begins a shift towards addressing the specific abuses in the Roman Catholic Church at the time of the Reformation (and thus this lines up nicely with the 492 Anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession today, June 25), how is the Lutheran approach to addressing these abuses still very much relevant for our consideration of matters within the Church still tod...

Do Lutherans have regard for the saints? Do saints pray for us? Learn about the role that saints have in the Roman Catholic Church, in the Lutheran Church, and in other Reformed churches. Also, hear about ways in our modern Lutheranism in which we may fall into either the cult of saints or no regard at all for saints, and how we can honor the saints according to Scripture. Rev. Tim Sims, pastor of...

We confess that good works are not necessary for salvation, but in what sense *are* they necessary? Hear also why some people accuse Lutherans of "forbidding good works," how this article on Good Works is really more about faith than about works, whether there is a wrong motivation for doing good works, what good works truly are, and whether there is a time that doing good works would actually be...

Sin is often excused because we claim that God "set us up" or that "the devil made me do it. But, what is the truth about sin and the cause of all sin in our world? Hear about the nature of our will after the Fall and why our reluctance to acknowledge the reality of our sin actually keeps us from the comfort of the Gospel. Rev. Mark Bestul, pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church in Elgin, IL, joins hos...

Do Christians have a free will? Hear discussion on what good people are able and unable to accomplish, and whether people have the ability to overcome evil by their own will-power. Also, consider how we think about charitable unbelievers and if God really hates their "good deeds." Finally, plug the Word and Sacraments into the conversation to think about how the nature of our will emphasizes our n...

How do we to understand the Biblical teaching on the future and Jesus' return for Judgment? Learn about how we we confess this teaching in our Christian life by the way that we pray, our liturgy, our hymns, and even how we view our everyday lives in this world. Also hear about what the final judgment hold  for believers and unbelievers, how that influences how people react to the Last Day, and in...

Is civil government a blessing — a gift of God, to be participated in, supported and sustained? Or is government evil and a tool of the devil? Is the world itself — our family, job, and communities — evil to be avoided? Or are the things of the world for Christians too, to be used in god-pleasing ways? Hear about the purpose of government and the Christian's relationship to it, the attitude of the...

As Lutherans we love our hymnody, but what makes hymns particularly Lutheran? How do hymns point us even more to Scripture, and  how can we use them devotionally? And, on the creative side, how does a Lutheran hymnwriter create a hymn that is both beautiful poetry and also doctrinally rich? Rev. Stephen Starke, Lutheran Hymn Writer of over 200 hymns (including 32 in the Lutheran Service book) and...

We sing hymns every Sunday, and hopefully throughout our daily lives. But, what actually is a hymn? Is it just a fancy word for song? Hear this delightful conversation about the purpose of hymnody, where we find scriptural basis for singing hymns in worship services, how we use hymns in the life of the congregation, how music and text work together in hymnody, and what makes our Lutheran hymnody s...

What are human ceremonies in the Church? What good is there in practicing human ceremonies in the Church if they are not commanded by God? When the Augsburg Confession says "ceremonies ought to be observed that may be observed without sin", learn what that would include and exclude, how we best confess Christ and His Gospel by our ceremony in the Church, and why it may be even more necessary today...

Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession is very short, and yet remains a point of contention. What is the benefit of having a properly Called pastor in the Church, and how do we understand the role of pastors in the Church? How has the church formed, Called, and Ordained pastors throughout the centuries? Rev. Kyle Mietzner, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Anchorage, Alaska, joins host Rev. Sean S...