Rev. Stephen Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vinton, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Peter 4:1-6. Christ’s suffering arms us as Christians to live now in the midst of our suffering. God lays the holy cross upon us in order to begin to put our sin to death as we suffer willingly and gladly as Christ did. In the same way, we mortify our own sinful passions, knowing that we have already spent enough time living as the pagans. When we refrain from its wickedness, the world s...
Apr 20, 2021•54 min
Rev. Carl Roth, pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Elgin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Peter 3:18-22. St. Peter arrives at the theological heart of his first epistle. This creedal text lays out the saving work of Jesus Christ as the reason for the hope that is in us. Jesus suffered once for sins as the righteous one for the unrighteous ones in order to bring us to God. After His death and resurrection, He descended into hell to proclaim His victory over the devil and his demons. ...
Apr 19, 2021•55 min
Rev. Sean Kilgo, pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Lawrence, KS, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Peter 3:13-17. Because the eyes and ears of the Lord are open to us, no harm can truly come upon us in Christ. Even when we suffer for righteousness’ sake, the Lord brings His blessing to us. St. Peter quotes from Isaiah to call us away from the fear of the world and to a proper fear of the Lord, who is Christ. He is held in our hearts as the Holy One who makes us ready to speak His Word...
Apr 16, 2021•55 min
Rev. Ryan Ogrodowicz, associate pastor and headmaster at Grace Lutheran Church and School in Brenham, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Peter 3:8-12. St. Peter wraps up his table of duties by speaking to all Christians. The goal for Christians is unity of mind that is founded in the true doctrine that is taught from Holy Scripture and points to Christ crucified and risen. From that unity of mind, Christians suffer together with each other in compassion and humility. When Christians ar...
Apr 15, 2021•55 min
Rev. Gaven Mize, pastor at Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hickory, NC, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Peter 3:1-7. St. Peter continues his table of duties by addressing wives and husbands. Among early Christians, wives sometimes were brought to faith even though their husbands did not believe. Even in such cases, Christian wives are to be subject to their husbands in love. Their respectful and pure conduct serves to convict their husbands and give an opportunity to speak the ...
Apr 14, 2021•55 min
Rev. David Vandercook, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in North Little Rock, AR and Shepherd of Peace Lutheran Church in Maumelle, AR, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Peter 2:18-25. St. Peter continues his table of duties by speaking to servants in relation to their masters. Christian servants are called to be subject to their masters, even when their masters are not Christian or treat them unjustly. Such endurance of unjust suffering is a picture of God’s grace in Christ, for He has ...
Apr 13, 2021•56 min
Rev. Chris Hull, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Tomball, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Peter 2:11-17. Christians live in this world as sojourners and exiles. The passions of our flesh war against us in an attempt to convince us that our home is this world; Christians fight against this temptation by focusing on our home in the resurrection of the dead. The Christian life among the Gentiles is to be honorable, even when they speak against us, so that ultimately glory will be giv...
Apr 12, 2021•56 min
Rev. Rick Jones, chaplain and vice-president of spiritual life at the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in Minot, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Peter 2:1-10. The life of the Christian flees from all lies and evil and toward the truth of God’s Word. He has given us new birth into His kingdom through His Word. As a mother’s milk sustains her newborn infants, God’s Word nourishes and strengthens us. Our Lord has shown us that He is good, for though He was rejected by men, God chose Him as ...
Apr 09, 2021•54 min
Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Luverne, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Peter 1:13-25. Christians live in a world that would conform us to its ignorant passions. That makes the Christian life no idle stroll. Instead, St. Peter urges us to gird the loins of our minds to be ready. That happens not of our own will, but through the hope of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. The holy life is a high and difficult calling, yet it is founded upon the holiness that belon...
Apr 08, 2021•53 min
Rev. Vance Becker, LCMS missionary serving as a theological educator at Neema Lutheran College in Matongo, Kenya, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Peter 1:1-12. Read Pastor Becker's story and how to support his missionary work at lcms.org/becker . St. Peter’s first epistle was likely written in the mid-60s from Rome. He writes to several churches in Asia in order to strengthen them in the face of persecution and to encourage them in their Christian life and witness before the world. The ...
Apr 07, 2021•53 min
“The Imperishable Inheritance” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the epistles of 1 and 2 Peter and Jude. The life of the Christian Church right now is life in exile. We endure attacks from various trials and from false teachers. Such suffering makes us long for the eternal home that will be ours at the resurrection of the dead. In Jesus, we have this promise of eternal life that can never be snatched away. These three epistles strengthen us to hold fast to Christ in the midst of...
Apr 07, 2021•2 min
Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer, professor of New Testament and chairman of the department of exegetical theology at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 16:9-20. The risen Lord Jesus does not leave His Church without witnesses of His resurrection. He graciously appears to Mary Magdalene and to two disciples as they were walking in the country. The unexpected nature of these witnesses provides evidence of the truthfulness of the Gospel accounts. The d...
Apr 06, 2021•56 min
Rev. Dr. James Voelz, professor of New Testament at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 16:1-8. Throughout his Gospel account, St. Mark emphasizes the complete reliability of Jesus’ Word. Now, at Jesus’ empty tomb, the angel speaks that same reliable Word to the women. These women have come to Jesus’ tomb after the sun had risen, recalling Malachi’s promise that the Sun of Righteousness would rise with healing in His wings. Indeed, the Son has risen. Th...
Apr 05, 2021•55 min
Rev. Matt Wietfeldt, Director of Admissions and the Christ Academy program at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 15:42-47. St. Mark continues his slow, detailed account through the events of Jesus’ passion as he records Jesus’ burial. Because Jesus died and was buried on Good Friday, His prediction of His third day resurrection remains intact. As a member of the Sanhedrin who is also rich, Joseph of Arimathea seems like an unlikely discip...
Apr 02, 2021•53 min
Rev. Joel Heckmann, pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Okarche, OK, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 15:33-41. Darkness covers the whole land for the final three hours of Jesus’ crucifixion. All creation now mourns its Creator as the full wrath of God comes down upon Jesus on this Day of the LORD. Jesus prays Psalm 22 on the cross in His moment of greatest agony; He experiences hell in our place when He is forsaken by His Father. God has abandoned Jesus so that we would never be ...
Apr 01, 2021•56 min
Rev. Nate Hill, pastor at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Winchester, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 15:16-32. Jesus’ suffering intensifies. The entire Roman battalion, about 600 men strong, joins in mockery and blasphemy for their sadistic pleasure. The purple cloak and crown of thorns are intended to show Jesus what they think of His kingship, and the spitting and mockery add great shame to growing pain. Jesus’ wounds make Him too weak to carry His own cross, so Simon of Cyre...
Mar 31, 2021•55 min
Rev. Sam Wirgau, pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Ossian, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 15:1-15. Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin has ended; His trial before the Roman authorities now begins in order to fulfill the Word of God concerning Jesus’ death on the cross. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, is skeptical of the charges against Jesus as he examines the case. The Lord’s silence amazes Pilate, as Jesus fulfills the words about Him from Isaiah 53. As the crowd calls ...
Mar 30, 2021•53 min
Rev. Harrison Goodman, pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 14:66-72. As Jesus undergoes His trial before the Sanhedrin, Peter undergoes a trial of his own. The bravado He displayed earlier in the evening of Maundy Thursday is gone now that Jesus is bound. When a servant girl challenges him, Peter feigns ignorance. His distance from Jesus, physically and spiritually, begins to grow. Soon the servant girl speaks with other bystander...
Mar 29, 2021•54 min
Rev. Jacob Dandy, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church and School in Terra Bella, CA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 14:53-65. Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin shows the horrific result of unbelief. The chief priests, elders, and scribes otherwise would not have seen eye-to-eye on many issues, yet their hatred toward Jesus binds them together to destroy Him, even by legally questionable means. The mention of Peter’s presence at the beginning of Jesus’ trial serves to highlight Jesus’ fai...
Mar 26, 2021•54 min
Rev. Mark Squire, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Ansgar, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 14:43-52. The groups whom Jesus had silenced previously in Holy Week now seek to carry out their violent intent to silence Jesus. In fulfillment of several Psalms, Judas, one of Jesus’ own, cruelly betrays his Teacher and Lord into the hands of the armed crowd with a kiss. The incident threatens to turn to full-scale violence as one of Jesus’ disciples draws a sword to cut off the ...
Mar 25, 2021•55 min
Rev. Tim Koch, pastor at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Milbank, SD, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 14:26-42. Even with His betrayal, suffering, and death looming, Jesus still sings with His disciples as they go to the Mount of Olives. He bluntly tells His disciples that they will all fall away, as the prophet Zechariah foretold. Peter responds selfishly, contending that he will not. Jesus reveals that Peter particularly will deny Him three times before the night is over, even as all th...
Mar 24, 2021•55 min
Rev. Jason Kaspar, pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in La Grange, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 14:12-25. As the LORD delivered His people Israel from death through a sacrificial lamb in the Passover, so Jesus now delivers His people from death by His own sacrifice on the cross. The preparations that Jesus sends His disciples to make are really His own preparations; Jesus is the One giving and preparing this meal. He speaks concerning His upcoming betrayal at the hands of ...
Mar 23, 2021•57 min
Rev. Jeremiah Johnson, pastor at Glory of Christ Lutheran Church in Plymouth, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 14:1-11. The events of Holy Week now turn to focus on the Passover. This is not only the Passover Jesus celebrates with His disciples; this is the Passover that Jesus accomplishes for His disciples and for the world in fulfillment of everything the Old Testament has spoken. Though the religious leaders in Jerusalem plot to kill Jesus, it is the Father’s will at work to ac...
Mar 22, 2021•55 min
Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz, assistant professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 13:32-37. As Jesus concludes His discourse on the destruction of the temple and His second coming, He knows that His disciples will be tempted toward speculation. He knows that what they need is vigilance, and so He clearly states that only the Father knows the time of the Son’s second coming. The disciples do not need to calculate times...
Mar 19, 2021•55 min
Rev. Dr. Adam Filipek, pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church and Immanuel Lutheran Church, both in Lidgerwood, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 13:14-31. Jesus continues to speak to His disciples concerning the destruction of the temple and His second coming. As Jesus’ disciples once saw the abomination of desolation in the temple prior to its destruction, so whenever Christians see heretical teachings working their way into the Church, they flee to the refuge of Holy Scripture. Ev...
Mar 18, 2021•54 min
Rev. Jeff Hemmer, pastor at Bethany Lutheran Church in Fairview Heights, IL, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 13:1-13. Jesus’ teaching during Holy Week reaches a climax when He leaves the temple for the final time. His words concerning the utter destruction of the temple building left His disciples in shock. This had been the place they knew they would have access to God. In speaking of the building’s destruction, Jesus indicates that He is the new temple; in His flesh, God dwells amo...
Mar 17, 2021•55 min
Rev. James Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 12:38-44. As no one dares to ask Jesus any more questions, He continues His teaching by warning against the scribes and other religious leaders. This warning is necessary because their outward show of piety only covers the evil of their false teaching and refusal to learn the truth of who Jesus is. As they live in pretentious religiosity, they only harm widows, those the Lord particula...
Mar 16, 2021•55 min
Rev. David Appold, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Paducah, KY, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 12:28-37. The motive of the scribe who comes to question Jesus is less important than the question itself. “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus’ answer ties together love for God and love for neighbor. The scribe responds positively. He recognizes the truth that Jesus has preached previously concerning the role of faith and mercy in the proper use of sacrifices. ...
Mar 15, 2021•56 min
Rev. Andrew Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Guttenberg, IA and St. Paul Lutheran Church in McGregor, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 12:18-27. Jesus faces yet another challenge during the early days of Holy Week. The Sadducees, who deny the resurrection and only hold to the five books of Moses, come to Jesus with a case study concerning levirate marriage. They cannot see how their scenario is compatible with the resurrection. Jesus bluntly tells them that they know ne...
Mar 12, 2021•54 min
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 Mark 12:13-17. Despite theological and political differences over paying taxes to Rome, the Pharisees and Herodians find common ground in their hatred of Jesus. During Holy Week, they come to Jesus in an effort to trap Him. As they flatter Him with words they likely do not mean, they end up speaking the truth about Jesus and His judgment. Their ...
Mar 11, 2021•53 min
