Sharper Iron from KFUO Radio

Rev. Brian Flamme, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Roswell, NM, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 7:36-50. This text presents a beautiful example of justification by grace through faith. The sinful woman knows that Jesus has taken away her shame by His forgiveness, and so she ignores any social awkwardness to worship Jesus, even if only at His feet. Simon the Pharisee, at whose hou...

Rev. Joel Heckmann, pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Okarche, OK, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 7:18-35. After John the Baptist had preached against Herod’s adultery, the wicked king had put John in prison. Having been imprisoned for some time, John sends messengers to Jesus. If Jesus really was the Christ, why would John still be in prison? John wants to know if Jesus really...

Rev. Nate Hill, pastor at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Winchester, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 7:1-17. After Jesus concludes His Sermon on the Plain, Jesus goes to Capernaum, a place where He has been received favorably in the past. A centurion there sends the elders of the Jews to Jesus in order to request healing for one of the centurion’s servants. Before Jesus arrives,...

Rev. Steve Andrews, pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Lee’s Summit, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 6:37-49. Jesus concludes His extended sermon for His disciples by teaching them to keep their lives founded on Him. Though the world misunderstands Jesus’ words concerning judgment, He gives to His disciples important instruction as to how their lives are shaped after His own...

Rev. Matt Ulmer, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Bishop, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 6:20-36. Jesus begins an extended sermon in which He tells His disciples who they are in Him and what their lives will look like as a result. The Beatitudes that Jesus speaks are far more than keys to happiness in this life; rather, Jesus declares that His disciples are blessed by their i...

Rev. Sean Kilgo, pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Lawrence, KS, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 6:12-19. Jesus’ prayer on the mountain serves to show Him as the Savior who intercedes for His people and also sets an example for us to follow. The Father answers the Son’s prayer as the next morning Jesus speaks His authoritative Word to call twelve of His disciples as His apostles. T...

Rev. David Boisclair, pastor at Bethesda and Faith Lutheran Churches in north St. Louis County, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 6:1-11. Jesus’ conflict with the Pharisees escalates as they confront Him for what His disciples are doing on the Sabbath. Their mechanical view of work on the Sabbath has led them to miss the true purpose of Sabbath rest in God’s work of creation and rede...

Rev. Tim Koch, pastor at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Milbank, SD, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 5:27-39. Jesus doesn’t wait for Levi, also known as Matthew, to reform himself. Instead, the Lord goes to the tax collector while he sits at the tax booth, and Jesus’ word is effective to make Levi a disciple. In joy, Levi throws a party for Jesus and invites all his tax collector friends....

Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz, assistant professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 5:12-26. St. Luke continues his account of Jesus’ ministry with two more healings. In the first account, a leper approaches Jesus with humility and boldness in asking for cleansing according to Jesus’ will. By cleansing the leper with His...

Rev. Dr. Adam Filipek, pastor at Holy Cross and Immanuel Lutheran Churches in Lidgerwood, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 5:1-11. Jesus continues to show the authority of His Word. He teaches a crowd from Simon’s fishing boat and then commands the fishermen to let their nets down for a catch. To seasoned fishermen, this might have seemed like nonsense, but the Word of Jesus created...

Rev. Dr. Curtis Giese, professor of religion at Concordia University Texas in Austin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 4:31-44. Jesus’ Galilean ministry continues in Capernaum, where His preaching once again reveals the authority of His Word. Jesus confirms this further by casting out an unclean spirit. As the Stronger Man, Jesus breaks the power of the demon over the man. Jesus nex...

Rev. Stephen Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vinton, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 4:14-30. Jesus begins His Galilean ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit. He goes to His hometown, Nazareth, where He keeps His custom of going to the synagogue on the Sabbath. The passage He reads from Isaiah 61 proves programmatic for His ministry of freeing sinners from the power...

Rev. David Appold, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Paducah, KY, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 4:1-13. Freshly baptized and full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus takes the offensive; He has come to set sinners free from Satan’s grip. Therefore, Jesus must be the stronger Man who binds the strong tempter. This...

Rev. Andrew Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 3:21-38. In Jesus’ Baptism, the love of the Father for the Son is on full display. The fulfillment of the enthronement of the Son from Psalm 2 happens in a remarkably lowly way. The sinless Son of God stands in the Jordan River, baptized alongside sinners. In this way, the love of the...

Rev. Rick Jones, chaplain and director of spiritual life at the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in Minot, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 3:1-20. Jumping forward almost twenty years, St. Luke once again sets the historical context. A different emperor reigns in Rome, but the same God who spoke His Word though the prophets of the Old Testament reading now speaks His Word through John, t...

Rev. Dr. Scott Murray, pastor at Memorial Lutheran Church in Houston, TX, and 3rd Vice President of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 2:41-52. The Lord returns to His temple as a twelve-year-old boy. He goes there according to the custom of His family in order to celebrate the Passover. In this, Jesus shows Himself to be our Savior as the fulfillment o...

Rev. Jacob Dandy, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church and School in Terra Bella, CA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 2:21-40. Already as an eight day old infant, Jesus fulfills the Law in the place of sinners and begins to shed His blood for their redemption. His name tells who He is: the Savior. About a month later, when Jesus is forty days old, He goes to His Temple with Mary and Joseph....

Rev. Jeremiah Johnson, pastor at Glory of Christ Lutheran Church in Plymouth, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 2:1-20. St. Luke sets the account of Christ’s birth in the context of Caesar Augustus, a reminder that he is not telling a fable, but recounting real works of God in history for the salvation of sinners. At first glance, the account of Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem...

Rev. Dustin Beck, pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Warda, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 1:57-80. When the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, she gave birth to a son, to the great joy of all her family and neighbors. They wanted to name the child Zechariah, which normally would have been a fitting name given the family and circumstances. Yet the Word of God through Gabr...

Rev. Mark Barz, pastor at Crown of Life Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 1:39-56. Mary has believed the Word of God, and so she goes to visit her relative Elizabeth, who is six months along with John. Upon hearing the greeting of Mary, John leaps for joy in the womb of Elizabeth, who is herself filled with the Holy Spirit to exclaim blessing upon Mary...

Rev. AJ Espinosa, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Irvine, CA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 1:26-38. Although the first chapter of Luke largely records events surrounding the birth of John, the Evangelist provides notice that the narrative is really about Jesus, the Child who comes after John. When Gabriel makes a second visit, he is sent to announce the birth of a son, not t...

Rev. James Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 1:5-25. St. Luke begins his narrative with John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Christ. Not only in his preaching, but also in his life, prepares the way for the Lord. This begins with the announcement of his birth to Zechariah. The aged priest and his wife were both righteous through...

Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Oschwald, professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 1:1-4. St. Luke the Evangelist, the beloved physician and companion of St. Paul, writes his Gospel account to the most excellent Theophilus in order to give him certainty concerning the things that he has been taught concerning Jesus. Writing under the ins...

“The Beloved Physician’s Orderly Account” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the Gospel according to St. Luke. The Evangelist wrote his well-researched account of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection so that Theophilus would have certainty concerning the things he had been taught. As we still read the Word of God recorded by St. Luke, our gracious Lord gives us that same certainty...

Rev. Ryan Ogrodowicz, associate pastor and headmaster at Grace Lutheran Church and School in Brenham, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Hebrews 1:1-12. Through the incarnation and birth of the Son of God, the Lord has spoken His Word of love to sinful humanity. Though He spoke in a variety of ways through the prophets of the Old Testament, He has now spoken to us through His Son, whose vo...