Sharper Iron From Kfuo Radio

Rev. John Bussman, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Cullman, AL joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Philippians 4:6-20. The church at Philippi had seen the Apostle Paul go through highs and lows during his ministry. As he writes his letter to them from prison, he proclaims to them the joy that remains theirs in Christ regardless of their circumstances. Because the LORD’s return is near, Christians live differently in the world. We are freed from anxiousness and worry through the comfort that is ours in Christ. Prayer and supplication flows from our lips to our Father’s throne of grace. His peace, given through the death and resurrection of Jesus, is our true guard from all evil. For that reason, our minds are occupied with all the good that He gives, as the Apostle learned and modeled from the Lord. Paul’s joy continues to abound through the gift that the Philippians sent. He had learned to be content in every circumstance, whether full or hungry, whether he had plenty or he had need, for Christ wa

Rev. Harrison Goodman, pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 8:1-10. Before the LORD brings Israel into the Promised Land, Moses invites the people to reflect upon the goodness of the LORD’s commandments. This is no romanticized memory; rather, they recall the dirty details of their wilderness wanderings in which the LORD humbled them. The LORD tested His people, bringing them to acknowledge time and time again that their life was not under their own control. Instead, life comes from the LORD’s promises. His promises protected His people in their suffering, not apart from it. His discipline was for their good as He treated them as His sons. For this reason, they would keep, treasure, guard, and obey the LORD’s commandments. They knew that He was bringing them into an abundantly wonderful land, where they would be filled in every way and so bless the LORD for what He had done. These physical realities are now also given to Christians spiri

Rev. Jeremiah Johnson, pastor at Glory of Christ Lutheran Church in Plymouth, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 9:11-15. Amos ends with two-hundred proof Gospel. Though it comes seemingly out of nowhere, Amos’ final preaching fits the LORD’s pattern of mercy throughout the Old Testament and serves as a reminder of the unmerited nature of grace. Once again, the day of the LORD comes up, but this time the prophet speaks of it as a day of salvation. The LORD promises to raise up the fallen booth of David. The LORD will dwell among His people once more. Though the kingdom seemed ruined, the LORD would keep the promise to set a king on the throne of David forever. This restoration is not for David alone, nor is it for Israel alone. The LORD’s act will impact all the nations, as He calls the Gentiles to trust in His promise. All of creation will benefit as well. Agricultural abundance and reaping the full benefits of labor will hold true as the LORD undoes the curse from Genesis 3. What He does in th

Rev. Ryan Ogrodowicz, associate pastor and headmaster at Grace Lutheran Church and School in Brenham, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 9:7-10. Israel is in a lot of trouble, to put it lightly. The LORD is about to bring them down from the high pedestal they think they occupy. Though the Exodus was His salvation for His people, the LORD reminds them that He is the Creator and Sustainer of all the nations, even their enemies. There is no room for false security and pride on their part. They have revealed themselves as the sinful kingdom, which the LORD will destroy in all of its outward forms. Yet the LORD preserves for Himself a remnant of the house of Jacob for the sake of His promises made to the patriarchs. He will shake His people through a sieve; those who have trusted in Him for salvation will be spared eternally, even if they go through destruction now. The end for those members of His people who have persisted in terrible, unrepentant sin against God and neighbor, however, will be quite

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 Amos 9:5-6. The LORD alone is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He has the authority and power to bring about the judgment He has declared upon Israel for their idolatry and injustice. As the Source of justice and righteousness, the LORD must punish sin and evil. Those who will not receive His work in faith will find themselves under His condemnation for their sin and evil. However, those who place their trust in Christ alone as the One who took God’s wrath upon Himself will find instead that God forgives and destroys their sin and evil for them in order to give them His justification. The LORD accomplishes such work simply through His touch, which He exercised throughout the Scriptures through water and does so still for us in the water and Word of Holy Baptism. He does this work in order to be present among His people on earth in order

Rev. Brady Finnern, pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church in Sartell, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 9:1-4. In Amos’ fifth and final vision, he sees the LORD Himself. The dead heterodoxy of Israel is about to yield its terrible result. The LORD has told His people to prepare to meet Him, and now He meets them, only not in grace, but judgment. He stands beside the idolatrous altar in Bethel to destroy the false temple there, along with all of the priests and worshipers. Even those who escape the crumbling building will not escape. There is no place high or low where Israel can flee such that the LORD cannot find them. Neither hell nor heaven, neither the highest mountain nor the lowest depth will provide a refuge from His judgment. Their friends will not be able to hide them, nor will exile amongst their enemies. The LORD will bring destruction upon His people, because His eye is fixed upon them for evil and not for good. The Law hits hard in this passage in order to point us to Christ. He is the

Rev. Stephen Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vinton, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 8:7-14. The LORD continues His commentary on Amos’ fourth vision. He swears by Himself as the true Pride of Jacob, in contrast to their idolatrous boasting in themselves and their accomplishments. His oath is terrifying, as He promises that He will no longer forget the sins of His people. With the comfort of the LORD’s forgiveness gone, all of creation groans. An earthquake and darkness at noon served as signs of the LORD’s judgment and indicators that Amos was a true prophet. The LORD announces that He will bring upon them the tragic mourning that would occur at the death of an only son. The news only grows more grim, as the LORD declares that a famine of His Word is coming. No matter how the people may seek the LORD’s Word, they will not find it. Their idolatrous worship has brought them to fall and never rise again. It is helpful for us to reflect upon such harsh Law as Christians today in orde

Rev. Christopher Jackson, pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Algoma, WI and St. Peter Lutheran Church in Forestville, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 8:4-6. Amos proclaims the reason for the LORD’s condemnation against His people. They have not recognized the brotherhood that exists among the people of Israel. Instead, they have mistreated the poor, abusing them even to the point of selling them into slavery for the most paltry of debts. The merchants have fleeced the poor in every possible way to maximize their profits, engaging in corrupt business practices even while trying to make everything appear right. The merchants have not acted alone, however. They have been aided by corrupt priests like Amaziah in an effort to cover up their sins with outward religiosity. The LORD knows their hearts. Even as they outwardly observe the festivals correctly, they are only concerned with getting back to their oppression of the poor. Amos’ preaching will not let us off the hook for either our mistreatmen

Rev. Carl Roth, pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Elgin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 8:1-3. After Amos’ confrontation with the apostate priest Amaziah, the prophet’s fourth vision continues to spell out the end of Israel. The LORD shows Amos a basket of summer fruit to convey the truth that the time is ripe for their judgment. God’s Word is full of positive imagery concerning fruit. Jesus is the true Vine, and Christians are the branches; we can only bear fruit in Him. When He makes us His own in Baptism, His Holy Spirit works His fruit in us and through us. Israel, however, had denied the one true God. Their idolatry at Dan and Bethel had severed them from Christ; they were only diseased trees that could only bear diseased fruit. By the time Amos saw his fourth vision, Israel had continued to refuse to repent. They were overripe and rotten; their end was at hand. The LORD would no longer pass by their sins in forgiveness; their joyful songs would be turned to wailing. The judgment that

Rev. Dustin Beck, pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Warda, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 7:10-17. Amos intended to bring Israel back to true faith in the LORD by his preaching, and the first to listen should have been one called a priest. Amaziah, however, proves himself unrepentant. Instead of returning to the LORD as the true king, Amaziah appeals to Jeroboam, claiming that Amos is leading a conspiracy against the kingdom. He commands Amos to return to the southern kingdom to make his living; he is free to preach there, but the temple of the kingdom is off limits. Amaziah has replaced the LORD as king. Amos, however, remains faithful in the face of such apostasy. He defends his ministry not as his own desire or plan. Before the LORD’s call, Amos worked in agriculture. When he heard the LORD’s roar, however, he could not do anything other than speak the LORD’s Word, even when that Word was not what people wanted to hear. That Word proclaimed judgment not only against the nation as a

Rev. Zelwyn Heide, pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Grassy Butte, ND and St. Peter Lutheran Church in Belfield, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 7:7-9. Amos’ visions take a turn with the third one. In the vision of the plumb line, the LORD begins to make clear that His patience has reached its end. Although the Hebrew word often translated “plumb line” provides difficulty, the explanation that the LORD gives to Amos provide clarity. He promises that He will never pass by them again; the time of mercy is over. That the LORD’s patience has reached its end is a serious matter. His patience results as a working out of His faithfulness to His promises in the midst of our sinfulness. Yet sinners never dare think, as Israel did, that His patience has no end. Since His Word is true, His patience must end. Judgment of sin and evil must come. Israel has reached this point in Amos’ prophecy. The LORD has called again and again for them to repent, and they have refused. The LORD announces, therefore,

Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Church in Austin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 7:4-6. The LORD invites Amos into the heavenly council a second time to reveal to the prophet what is about to happen. The fire that was missing from the judgment against Israel in chapter 2 finally arrives. This fire is all-consuming and cosmic in scale. What the LORD did to the water on Elijah’s altar on Mt. Carmel He will do to even the waters of the great deep. This fire is a part of the LORD’s courtroom verdict. Will He declare His people innocent or guilty? Will He bring the fire or not? Amos intercedes yet again on the people’s behalf. He does not plead their worthiness before the God of all creation; he simply pleads for the LORD’s mercy. Astonishingly, the LORD relents at the prophet’s prayer. Amos fills the intercessory role that was first given to Abraham as a prophet, the role that is brought to fulfillment in the Son of God in our human flesh, Jesus

Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Hebron, CT, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 7:1-3. This text starts the final third of the book of Amos. He has preached, “Repent!” but the people have refused to respond and return to the LORD. The series of visions the LORD shows to Amos beginning with this text proclaim the LORD’s judgment against His people Israel. The first vision is a swarm of locusts. The LORD forms them to send against His people at the time when the most destruction will be caused, before the first crops have been harvested yet after the second crops have sprouted. If this vision comes to pass, the devastation against Israel will be absolutely terrible. Amos responds as a prophet should. He prays on behalf of the people, with whom he is one. Amos asks the LORD to forgive, not based on any worthiness from Israel, but based on the LORD’s promise to send the Savior in the line of Jacob. In response, the LORD relents from His verdict of judgment for the time being. In A

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 Amos 6:8-14. The economic and political prosperity that Israel enjoyed in the first half of the 8th century BC had filled them with pride. They believed that they had attained to such heights on their own, apart from the LORD. They were sorely mistaken. Swearing by His own name as a guarantee of absolute certainty, the LORD declares that He hates such pride. This is the same sin against the 1st Commandment committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden, by their forefather Jacob, by Jeroboam son of Nebat, and by each and every sinner. With strikingly grim imagery, Amos declares that such pride does not lead to life; it only leads to death. This will be true for all, whether rich or poor, who have fallen away from faith in the LORD. Their prideful perversion of justice and righteousness is utter foolishness. The LORD mocks such pride and decla

Rev. Dan Speckhard, pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, IL, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 6:1-7. The LORD gives authority in various vocations in order to serve those under that authority. God’s people in Amos’ day had turned that truth upside down. Those with authority had become complacent toward the LORD’s Word, despising those for whom they should have cared. Amos declared woe against these leaders, who should have known better. If other greater nations could fall, so could Israel. They had attempted to avoid the LORD’s judgment, but they had only brought it nearer. Forgetting the authority and judgment of God that stood over them, they had treated with harsh judgment those under their authority. The religious leaders particularly had engaged in such abuses. Amos describes their great excess and debauchery, mocking them for thinking that they were following in David’s footsteps. Instead, they were actually failing to be faithful shepherds to God’s people, choosing to care for themse

Rev. Luke Zimmerman, pastor at Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mechanicsburg, PA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 5:21-27. Amos’ shocking preaching turns once again to the worship life of Israel. The LORD declares that He hates what His people offer as worship, refusing to accept it or take any delight in it at all. The reason is twofold. First, their worship has deviated from the true form that the LORD commanded in His Law, as they worship the LORD alongside idols in places that the LORD has not commanded. Second, their worship is faithless. The people of Israel think that if they only do the ritual by the book, the LORD will be pleased, regardless of what they believe about Him or the way they treat their neighbor. Amos’ preaching, therefore, connects right faith with right living. The LORD does desire that His people worship Him as He has commanded, not as a way for us to earn something by going through the motions correctly, but rather as a way for Him to deliver His forgiveness freel

Rev. Joel Heckmann, pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Okarche, OK, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 5:18-20. Amos was sent to Israel to preach during a time of military peace. The people expected that the day of the LORD would come as an increase of that peace, when the LORD would fight and win for them as He had in the days of the Exodus. Amos shocks them out of such illusions. Because of their idolatry and injustice, the day of the LORD was not a day that they ought to desire. The day of the LORD would not bring victory for them, but defeat. That day came for Israel in 722 BC with the Assyrian army and for Judah in 587 BC with the Babylonian army. Yet the day of the LORD for Amos and the other prophets was more than these historical events. The day of the LORD pointed further into history, when One would take the darkness and defeat of God in the place of sinners. The day of the LORD is Good Friday, when Jesus suffered and died on the cross. Only those who approach the day of the LORD in H

Rev. Clint Poppe, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Lincoln, NE, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 5:10-17. The courtroom scene of Amos 3-4 has shifted to a funeral dirge in Amos 5. The LORD tells His people that they have died and the reason why. They have been faithless in their legal transactions at the city gates, fleecing the poor for a profit. They have loved lies rather than truth; they have sought to increase their wealth at the expense of justice. For this reason, the LORD’s great reversal comes upon His people as Law. They will not dwell in the custom homes they had built, nor will they drink the wine of the choice vineyards they have planted. Such an evil time requires silence before the LORD so that His people will hear His Word and confess their sin. When they silently hear His Word, God’s people hear what He desires above all else. He desires to call His people out of their death and into His life. Even if His faithful remnant experiences the same tribulation as faithful Jose

Rev. Steve Andrews, pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Lee’s Summit, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 5:4-9. The worship life of Israel comes into focus with this text. The LORD desires His people to seek Him. He alone is the source of life as both Creator and Redeemer. If His people desire life, they will only find it where they find Him. That is why the LORD commands His people not to seek Him in their self-chosen ways. Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba may have an impressive historical pedigree of the LORD’s work in the past, but they no longer carry the LORD’s promise. To seek Him these places now is only idolatry and false worship. Amos’ call to seek the LORD and live is all the more urgent as he once again speaks of the judgment of fire, one that will be unquenchable by any false god. Such judgment comes because Israel has turned justice and righteousness upside down. Because they did not seek the LORD’s gift of righteousness and justice, their actions toward their neighbors became poi

Rev. Sean Daenzer, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Great Bend, ND and Peace, Barney, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Amos 5:1-3. When a funeral dirge is sung, our ears perk up to learn who has died. The surprise of Amos 5 is that death has come to God’s own people, Israel. Though physically alive, they are spiritually dead. They have not heeded the LORD’s call to repentance through increasingly severe plagues, and so they have met their God in death rather than life. Their failure to cry out to the LORD for mercy, having not even recognized their need for it, has led to their own fall, which they have brought upon themselves. Tragically, due to her own idolatry and injustice, the virgin Israel did not receive the wonderful gifts her husband, the LORD, desired to give. On her own land, the destruction of Israel would occur at the hands of Assyria in 722 BC. Only a tenth of the soldiers would remain, and these ten tribes of Israel would be lost to history. Yet the prophet sings this funeral dir