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 Luke 8:22-39. When Jesus gets into the boat with His disciples, He promises them that they are going to the other side of the lake. As long as they are in the boat with Jesus, they are safe. This provides a picture of our life in the Church. Jesus shows His power over wind and waves with only His Word, a ...
Feb 10, 2022•57 min
Rev. Tom Eckstein, pastor at Concordia Lutheran Church in Jamestown, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Luke 8:1-21. Jesus’ Galilean ministry continues in other cities and villages. He and His apostles were supported by several women who had come to believe in Jesus. As a great crowd comes to Jesus, He begins to speak in parables in fulfillment of Isaiah 6. The first parable Jesus tells speaks of seed being sown on four types of soil; only in the last type of soil does the seed grow. Jes...
Feb 09, 2022•55 min
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 house Jesus is eating, is sure that this proves Jesus is not a prophet. Out of love for Simon and in or...
Feb 08, 2022•55 min
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 is the Coming One; he does the right thing with any doubt he has by asking Jesus. The Savior graciou...
Feb 07, 2022•56 min
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, the centurion sends more friends to Jesus. The centurion recognizes his own unworthiness to have Jes...
Feb 04, 2022•55 min
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 in forgiveness and generosity. Jesus’ parable concerning a blind man leading a blind man calls His d...
Feb 03, 2022•55 min
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 identity in Him, even when their outward circumstances involve suffering. This blessing belongs to Je...
Feb 02, 2022•55 min
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. These are the men He will send to proclaim and write His Word for His Church. The first eleven men ar...
Feb 01, 2022•54 min
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 redemption. Jesus calls them to account for not understanding what the Scripture teaches. Once again, He...
Jan 31, 2022•54 min
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. The Pharisees object to Jesus’ association with those they consider sinful, and Jesus responds by st...
Jan 28, 2022•56 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 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 touch, Jesus does what the Law had been unable to do. In the second account, Pharisees and teachers ...
Jan 27, 2022•57 min
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 faith in Simon to trust what Jesus had said. The immense catch of fish led Simon to recognize that ...
Jan 26, 2022•56 min
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 next goes to Simon’s house, where He rebukes her fever as a reminder that He has come to undo all of si...
Jan 25, 2022•55 min
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 of the devil. When Jesus declares this Scripture fulfilled at that moment, the reaction of the congr...
Jan 24, 2022•56 min
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 is precisely what Jesus does. Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeds. The devil’s temptations against Jes...
Jan 21, 2022•55 min
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 Triune God for sinners is made manifest, the same love that is given to sinners in our Baptism into...
Jan 20, 2022•55 min
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, the forerunner of the Christ. John’s preaching in the wilderness fulfills the Word of the Lord spoken...
Jan 19, 2022•56 min
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 of the Passover lamb, and Jesus also shows Himself to be our example by His attentiveness to the wors...
Jan 18, 2022•56 min
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. There Jesus is presented as the firstborn and sacrifices are offered for Mary’s purification, in acc...
Jan 17, 2022•54 min
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 where she gives birth to her firstborn son seems ordinary and quite humble. Yet the mention of Davi...
Jan 14, 2022•55 min
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 Gabriel had already given the child a name, which Zechariah faithfully wrote on his tablet: “His name is...
Jan 13, 2022•57 min
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. Elizabeth recognizes the great blessing she is being given that the mother of the Lord has come to...
Jan 12, 2022•55 min
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 to a barren woman, but to a virgin woman. The fact that the virgin, whose name is Mary, comes from th...
Jan 11, 2022•51 min
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 faith, but they had no child, for Elizabeth was barren. Yet precisely to this couple, the Lord chos...
Jan 10, 2022•55 min
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 inspiration of the Holy Spirit, St. Luke undertook this task, one that others before him had done, by s...
Jan 07, 2022•56 min
“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 that Jesus is our Savior. Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scri...
Jan 07, 2022•3 min
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 voice we still hear in Holy Scripture. As the radiance of God’s glory and the imprint of His nature, J...
Dec 23, 2021•56 min
Rev. Dr. Dean Wenthe, professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Titus 3:4-7. The epistle for Christmas Dawn extols the grace of God for us sinners. Although we were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, and slaves to our passions, we are the ones whom God has loved. In that love, He has caused His goodness and kindness to appear in Jesus Christ for our salvation. No works of ours, no matter how righteous they seem...
Dec 22, 2021•54 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 Titus 2:11-14. The foundation of the Christian life is the appearance of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. By the coming of the Son of God in our flesh, salvation has been brought to all people. God saves us from ungodliness and worldly passions, and He saves us for self-controlled, upright, and godly lives even in the midst of...
Dec 21, 2021•55 min
Rev. Chris Hull, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Tomball, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 John 4:7-16. Love begins with God, because He is love. He has manifested His love among us by sending His only Son into the world to give us life by being the propitiation for our sins. From the love that God has given us in His Son, our love for each other flows forth. This love is not a generic feeling; rather, this love is a commitment to another person that is grounded in the truth of who...
Dec 20, 2021•55 min
