Sharper Iron from KFUO Radio

Rev. Mark Squire, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Ansgar, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 12:1-17. Jeremiah picks up the common lament of the Scriptures: why do the wicked prosper? Jeremiah  wonders why he suffers affliction and persecution while the wicked grow and thrive under the LORD, and so the prophet prays for justice against them. The LORD does not condemn Jer...

Rev. Bart Day, president and CEO of the Lutheran Church Extension Fund in St. Louis, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 11:1-23. Learn more about LCEF at lcef.org. Jeremiah preaches that the people of Judah and Jerusalem have failed to listen to the words of the covenant that the LORD made with them. By worshiping idols, they have forsaken the freedom that was theirs in having the...

Rev. Hans Fiene, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Crestwood, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 10:1-25. God mocks idolatry in order to show His people that the nations and their gods do not need to be feared. Idols are only human creations; they are as lifeless as scarecrows that can do absolutely nothing. In complete contrast, the LORD is the one true God and King ov...

Rev. Jeremiah Johnson, pastor at Glory of Christ Lutheran Church in Plymouth, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 9:17-26. The destruction coming upon Jerusalem is so great that professional mourners will be needed. The people of Judah will be cast from the Promised Land as the LORD’s judgment against them. Death will strike every household as the LORD once struck against the first...

Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz, assistant professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 8:18-9:16. Jeremiah laments the destruction that he knows is coming upon his fellow Israelites; he longs for healing from the LORD who seems absent from His people. Yet Jeremiah also laments the people’s idolatry and accompanying wicke...

Rev. Dr. Adam Filipek, pastor at Holy Cross and Immanuel Lutheran Churches in Lidgerwood, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 8:4-17. Jeremiah accuses the people of Judah and Jerusalem for their stubborn stiff-neckedness. Though anyone who falls gets back up again, Judah refuses to return to the LORD. Like a war horse that plunges into battle and death, so Judah plunges into idolat...

Rev. Dr. David Adams, associate professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 7:21-8:3. The LORD tells Judah that their atoning sacrifices are useless because they are being offered without faith. When the LORD brought His people out of Egypt, He established His relationship with them by His Word before He ever gave the sac...

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar, pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in La Grange, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 7:1-20. The LORD sends Jeremiah to the temple to preach against deceptive words of false comfort. False prophets are repeating their mantra that everything will be fine for Judah and Jerusalem because the temple of the LORD is there. Jeremiah calls the people out of this fa...

Rev. Jeff Hemmer, pastor at Bethany Lutheran Church in Fairview Heights, IL, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 6:1-30. The LORD’s people think that Jerusalem must be the place of safety, but Jeremiah assures them that it is actually the world’s most dangerous place. Because they are only full of violence and destruction, the LORD of Hosts has brought foreign armies against His people...

Rev. James Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 5:14-31. Because the false prophets have spoken their lies, the LORD puts His true Word in Jeremiah’s mouth as a fire that consumes all things other than Christ in which sinners might put their hope. That fire comes against the people of Judah and Jerusalem in the destructive Babylon...

Rev. David Appold, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Paducah, KY, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 5:1-13. As the LORD once looked in vain for ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, so He now looks in vain for one who does justice and seeks truth in Jerusalem. The idolatry stretches from the top to the bottom of Judah’s society, and Babylonian destruction awaits as a punish...

Rev. Dr. Ryan Tietz, assistant professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 4:5-31. Judah’s continued refusal of repentance will lead to terrible destruction. The cry goes out through the land that warfare is coming, and no one will escape. The invaders are instruments of the LORD, who still calls His people to...

Rev. Clint Poppe, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Lincoln, NE, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 3:19-4:4. Although His people have been faithless, the LORD remains faithful. He desires to call them back to Himself in true repentance and faith. The dialogue between the LORD and Israel indicates how the LORD works this by His Word. Israel returns to the scene of their idola...

Rev. Sean Daenzer, director of worship for the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod and chaplain for the International Center, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 3:1-18. The LORD seals His case against His people Judah. Their chasing after other gods is adultery of the highest degree. They have become completely calloused to the LORD’s repeated calls to repentance, choosing unfaithfulness...

Rev. Zelwyn Heide, pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Hannover, ND and Zion Lutheran Church in New Salem, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 2:20-37. The LORD continues His case against His people, leaving them without excuse for their idolatry. Though He had freed them from slavery in Egypt, they chose further slavery for themselves by their blatant idolatry. They did not sim...

Rev. Shawn Linnell, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blair, NE, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 2:1-19. As Jeremiah’s preaching begins, the LORD recalls the honeymoon period with His people as the exodus from Egypt. Though they certainly rebelled in their wilderness wanderings, they came back to the LORD in repentance. All of that has changed by Jeremiah’s time; these words are...

Rev. Dr. Timothy Saleska, professor of exegetical theology and dean of ministerial formation at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 1:4-19. The LORD called Jeremiah to be a prophet during the reign of King Josiah; even during the faithful king’s religious reforms, the LORD’s Word was needed to bring repentance from the rampant idolatry in Judah and...

Rev. Dr. Reed Lessing, professor of theology and ministry at Concordia University in St. Paul, MN and author of the forthcoming book, Overcoming Life’s Sorrows: The Book of Jeremiah, from Concordia Publishing House, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 1:1-3. Jeremiah preaches to the people of Judah and Jerusalem during their waning years leading up to the horrific Babylonian conquest i...

“A Time to Destroy and a Time to Build” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Jeremiah. The prophet calls the people of Judah and Jerusalem to repent of their faithless idolatry and warns them of the destruction that is coming in the Babylonian exile. Yet Jeremiah does not leave us without hope in the midst of such dark days. Jeremiah and all who believe the Word of God he...

Rev. Luke Zimmerman, pastor at Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mechanicsburg, PA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jude 17-25. Having warned against false teachers, Jude returns to strengthen God’s beloved people. The false teachers and their ungodliness were foretold by the apostles; therefore, Christians need not fear. Instead, they are given strength to be built up in the Christian...

Rev. Andy Wright, pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Keystone, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jude 1-16. St. Jude, a servant of Jesus and brother of James, writes to Christians in Palestine in the mid to late 60s AD in order to strengthen them to contend for the Christian faith in the midst of false teachers. These false teachers have attempted to infiltrate the Church without notic...

Rev. John Bussman, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Cullman, AL, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 2 Peter 3:11-18. The truth that this world is coming to an end compels Christians to holiness and godliness as we wait with eagerness for the return of Christ. At His coming, He will usher in His new creation, free from sin, evil, and death in a way that is beyond our current experience....

Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller, pastor at St. Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 2 Peter 3:1-10. The Christian Church is a waiting Church. Jesus has made His promise to return, and so His people wait with expectant faith for Him to fulfill His Word. That Word, recorded by the prophets and apostles, sustains us as we wait. Scoffers continue to scoff...

Rev. Steve Andrews, pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Lee’s Summit, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 2 Peter 2:10b-22. St. Peter continues to expose the utter sinfulness of the false teachers. In contrast to the angels who do not step outside of their God-given office, the false teachers are bold and willful in their blasphemy against God’s glory. They show themselves to be no dif...

Rev. Matt Ulmer, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Bishop, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 2 Peter 2:1-10a. As false prophets once lied to the people of Israel, so false teachers still seek to bring eternal harm to Christians. St. Peter writes against false teachers who cast aside God’s commandments in favor of their own sensuality and greed. The Apostle exposes this lie for what it...