Thy Strong Word from KFUO Radio

Rev. George Murdaugh, pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Douglasville, Georgia, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 30. “You shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. [...] Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.” The LORD’s exclusive brand of cologne? E...

Rev. Steven Theiss, retired LCMS pastor, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 29. “You shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet.” Ordination ceremonies just aren’t the same anymore! Exodus 29 describes a massive...

Rev. Joel Shaltanis, pastor of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Plano, Texas, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 28. “Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD.” It’s not all about the priests. Exodus 28 shows that worship is an activity of the whole pe...

Rev. John Lukomski, retired LCMS pastor and co-host of Wrestling with the Basics on KFUO Radio, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 27. “The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.” That’s a really big portable grill, but it had to be for...

Rev. Richard Mittwede, pastor of University Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 26. “You shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them.” God does not endorse slavery, but He did redeem it in Exodus 26. God takes the workmanship and knowle...

Rev. Scott Adle, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Collinsville, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 25. “The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; [...] There I will meet with you.” This is what the Garden of Eden looked like. Far from old-school IKEA directions, Exodus 25 actually describ...

Rev. Thomas Eckstein, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Jamestown, North Dakota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 24. “They saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone[...]; they beheld God, and ate and drank.” Exodus 24 is one of the most blessed and mysterious chapters of the Bible. And it drips with grace—not legalism. God graciously s...

Rev. Mark Birkholz, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Oak Lawn, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 23. If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him.” All the talk of oxen and donkeys in Exodus 23 sounds ancient, but the ideas here are timeless: God wants us to help even the people who want to do us harm, ultimately pointing to Christ’s...

Rev. Delwyn Campbell, domestic missionary and pastor of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church & Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gary, Indiana, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 22. Learn more about Pastor Campbell and how to support his work at lcms.org/campbell. “It is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.” God p...

Rev. Kevin Parviz, pastor of Congregation Chai v'Shalom in St. Louis, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 74. “You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. You split open springs and brooks; you dried up ever-flowing streams.” O God, you slew one sea dragon. Now please slay the other! Psalm 74 looks out with confidence amidst the ru...

Rev. Lucas Witt, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Baltimore, Maryland, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 21. “He shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.” Exodus 21 by no means endorses slavery. God rather patiently approaches us where we ar...

Rev. Curtis Deterding, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Fort Myers, Florida, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 20. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Exodus 20 shows that the “Ten Commandments” are all about relationship and God’s grace. They are not simply law, but also gospel, as this very first of the “Ten Words” shows. Th...

Rev. Dr. Alfonso O. Espinosa, pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Irvine, California, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 19. “On the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around.” Israel finally arrives at Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19. After months of wandering, why does God make them wait longer before r...

Rev. Dr. Alfonso O. Espinosa, pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Irvine, California, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 18. “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you.” Exodus 18 is more than just leadership advice; God saves Moses here through his family. Free from Pharaoh, Moses tetered dangero...

Rev. Dan Eddy, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Beloit, Wisconsin, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 17. “Take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out.” Another water plague is reversed in Exodus 17, demonstrating both God’s supreme power and as w...

Rev. Nabil Nour, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hartford, South Dakota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study the second half of Psalm 78. “The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. [...] They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.” Wealth, power, land—the tribes of Joseph had it all. Ephraim in particular was shown so much grace, but Psalm 78 sh...

Rev. David Boisclair, pastor of Faith and Bethesda Lutheran Churches in North St. Louis County, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study the first half of Psalm 78. “He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them. He gave their crops to the destroying locust.” The opposite of forgetting is hearing, according to Psalm 78. The reason why we fail to obe...

“In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp.” Ravenous locusts and destructive hail were still fresh memories in Exodus 16, so the message was loud and clear when God worked these two anti-plagues to provide meat and bread for his people. God also used the dew-like and honey-flavored bread to patiently teach His children about the Sabbath, even be...

Rev. Benjamin Ball, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hamel, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 15. “At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.” The people see the glory of Yahweh and immediately burst into song in Exodus 15. They sing as one voice, God’s firstborn rescued from Egypt. Yet the...

Rev. David Boisclair, pastor of Faith and Bethesda Lutheran Churches in North St. Louis County, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 14. “See the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.” With the drowning of Pharaoh’s army in the sea, Exodus 14 ties together all the major themes of the book: Yahweh j...

Rev. David Andrus, pastor of Abiding Savior Lutheran Church in St. Louis and Not-Alone.net Ministries, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 13. “When in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.’” Exodus 13 seems like no time for theology class, in the middle of the wilderness with Pharaoh about to pursue...

Rev. Steven Theiss, retired LCMS pastor in Frohna, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 12. "There was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead." The human death that began in the hailstorm has reached its climax in Exodus 12, striking the head of the Egyptian pantheon. All was encoded onto the details of the ritual of Passover, whose name also me...

Rev. Thomas Eckstein, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Jamestown, North Dakota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 11. “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here.” Exodus 11 leaves us with a dramatic cliffhanger: Moses announces the most severe plague yet—the death of the firstborn—and storms out of Pharaoh’s palace in anger...

Rev. David Fleming, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Exodus 10. “Tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land.” The plagues of Exodus 10 ominously resemble the end of a decreation countdown. Yet even when the locusts are driven “into the Red Sea” with f...

Rev. Nathan Meador, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Wisconsin, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 110. “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Was King David also a priest? Psalm 110 seems to speak about David, describing how he anticipated the re-unification of prophet, priest, and king under God. God spoke to the angels about His plans for David before...