Thy Strong Word From Kfuo Radio

Rev. Steven Theiss, retired pastor in Frohna, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Joshua 3. In the most important moment of the whole book, God miraculously stops the Jordan River and leads Joshua & the people through on dry ground, a second Exodus. The event is all about continuity. The priests are from the same family of Levi, they have the same Ark of the Covenant, and God is with Joshua just like He was with Moses. The land, however, is new! They are “baptized” into the Promised Land as they cross the river, so that new dirt of blessing sticks to their feet. In faith, we see continuity that extends to the present-day church as our Lord was prefigured in humble yet bold Joshua. In the midst of darkness and distance, we see God’s universal reign and salvation more clearly.

Rev. Rolf Preus, pastor of Trinity-Sidney & St. John-Fairview, Montana, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Joshua 2. The story of Rahab is famous. The drama makes it a great story: the soldiers searching for the spies, Rahab hiding them and lying to the soldiers, and finally Rahab helping them escape through a window in the city wall. Underneath the drama though, we see a story of Rahab’s faith and Joshua’s blessing. Rahab of Jericho wasn’t a prostitute anymore, even if it had become like a last name. From the distance of Jericho, she sees that Yahweh is the true and universal “God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” We see our Lord prefigured as Joshua’s spies make a covenant to save this repentant sinner: “Our life for yours even to death!” The scarlet cord and the three day’s wait prefigure our Lord’s passion and resurrection to save us from the stronghold of Satan.

Rev. John Lukomski, retired pastor in Southern Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Joshua 1. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” This verse from Joshua 1 is one of the most popular in the Bible, but what exactly is God promising? God does not promise to bless our every endeavor. He will be where He promises to be, and in the case of Joshua, that meant His aid in the battle for Canaan. It wasn’t because of Joshua’s personal qualities, but because of his faith in the promise God made to Moses. We too should go to where God has promised to be: in Christ’s Word and sacraments.

Rev. Jaime Nava, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Maplewood, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 3 John. It seems like someone took the advice from 2 John and went too far. In his previous letter, John warned not to host false teachers. In 3 John, the apostle criticizes Diotrephes for refusing to host practically anybody, answering to no other Christian authority but himself. On the other hand, John commends Gaius for his generosity. The truth of Christ’s gospel makes us into faithful and dependable supporters of the mission of the church. Our sharing meals together and our face-to-face conversation is vital to the life of the church, as our Lord Jesus showed by His own example.

Rev. Scott Adle, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Collinsville, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 2 John. “That’s not very loving.” Lots of people talk about love today, but Christian love isn’t about being “nice people”—as Lewis put it, it’s about being “new men.” In 2 John, the apostle applauds a Christian congregation for going against the grain as they live by Christian love. He also sends a word of warning: do not host prophets who belong to the false church. In a culture of hospitality, it went against their instincts to turn anyone away, especially if they claimed the name of Christ. John however is clear: either we host Christ and live by His commands, or we host the antichrist and participate in their sin.

Rev. Dr. Martin Noland, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in San Mateo, California, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 66. God isn’t fooled by appearances. There were those in Judah who publicly offered sacrifices to Yahweh while also participating in other religious rites and sinful behavior on the side. These even mocked the faithful for hoping for the Temple to be restored. These divisions have been there in every age since the fall. God promises punishment for these hypocrites and consolation for his faithful. This consolation is like a mother’s love for her newborn, and it is universal in scope: “They shall bring all your brothers from all the nations.” These words were fulfilled in the return from exile and on the day of Pentecost, and they will be fulfilled again at the resurrection of all flesh.

Rev. John Shank, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Edwardsville, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 65. “I will not keep silent, but I will repay.” God answers Isaiah’s prayer in chapter 65, promising to distinguish between His chosen ones and those “who forsake the LORD.” The language here is very similar to that of Isaiah 57, but also to that of chapter 1, bracketing the entire book and setting up the final chapter. His people have been in this mess before, with their outstretched hands full of idolatrous blood, but God stretches out his hands in untiring acceptance. Just as He brought restoration from the Assyrian invasion, He will do so from the Babylonian invasion. He is the God of the amen, who faithfully forgives and never tires to bring about new creation.

Rev. Gaven Mize, pastor of Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hickory, North Carolina, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 64. “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down!” Isaiah continues his plea on behalf of the people into chapter 64. He invokes God as a warrior, that “the nations might tremble” before His face. As He makes this request, He acknowledges that there is nothing good in Judah that should prompt God to do so. He boldly asks that God would take gracious and undeserved initiative. Faith is bold yet humble. The chapter ends with a question similar to “How long?” We boldly ask yet we humbly acknowledge that God does not owe us an answer, and that He may not answer our prayer for a very long time. Yet we trust that He eventually will answer all of our prayers and that He will work all things for our good because of the Messiah who has saved us throughout Israel’s history.

Rev. David Boisclair, pastor of Faith and Bethesda Lutheran Churches in North St. Louis County, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 63. After what seemed like a good ending for the whole book in the previous chapter, chapter 63 unexpectedly picks up with an oracle of judgment against Bozrah. Why talk about the Edomites when the Babylonians are the big problem? The poetry weaves together imagery of red blood and red wine, trampling grapes and trampling enemies. Ultimately this chapter begins a desperate plea for mercy to be continued in the next chapter. God must rescue not because of any goodness in ourselves; our ancestors would disown us on account of our sin. Only by grace did Christ conquer the enemies of Judah, and only by grace will He judge our enemies at the end of the age.

Rev. Stewart Crown, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Palo Alto, California, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 62. In chapter 62 Isaiah says “I will not be quiet until her righteousness goes forth.” And he tells the watchmen, “You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest.” Keep asking God again and again, keep praying, until He delivers on His promise. This is the boldness of faith. We hang on to God’s promises until we’re given a new name like Jacob. Judah is to hang on until the exiles return to them, when they will rebuild Jerusalem and receive the name “A City Not Forsaken.” The church is to hang on by celebrating the Eucharist until we receive our promised names spoken by the Bridegroom of the Church.

Rev. Steven Theiss, retired pastor in Frohna, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 61. What does it mean to say “the LORD has anointed me” as in Isaiah chapter 61? Typically only kings and priests were anointed by God in Israel. Yet after the Babylonian invasion of Judah, there was no king or high priest left remaining in the land. In even greater audacity, when our Lord Jesus read these words and said that He was fulfilling them, there were a king and a high priest—Herod and Caiaphas, appointed by the Romans! All authority comes from Jesus Christ, and all authority in the church comes from His Word. God’s people are a holy priesthood not because everyone makes up their own mind, but because we all listen to the authoritative voice of the Anointed One as He speaks through those He calls and ordains.

Rev. Jim Kress, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Englewood, Florida, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 60. Often mothers greet their children who are still in bed with “Rise and shine!” It’s a phrase that signals the beginning of work and the promise of a new day. The phrase comes from Isaiah 60, where it signals the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the most amazing of reversals. The exiles will return with treasure, and their former Babylonian oppressors will help them carry the gold, frankincense, and myrrh! It foreshadows not only the magi, but the mission of the church and the heavenly Jerusalem still to come. All of this is accomplished by Christ’s light, His Word which shines into the darkness of sin.

Rev. David Boisclair, pastor of Faith and Bethesda Lutheran Churches in North St. Louis County, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 59. Don’t try to tell God what He should and shouldn’t care about. In chapter 59, Isaiah says that the Judeans who survived the Babylonian conquest are fooling themselves if they think they can impress God with their hypocritical prayers and piety. It’s not that He’s blind to our plight or to our religious behavior; it’s that He can see what we do with the rest of our time. Yet thank God He cares more about our salvation than He does waiting for us to get it right. We would have groped in the darkness for eternity. In Christ, He brings His light and His armor of vengeance to defeat sin and darkness of idolatry.

Rev. Nathan Meador, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Wisconsin joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 58. The Judean survivors think they’re doing well by God. They call on His name and they fast, yet God shows no regard for their piety. What’s going on? According to Isaiah 58, the people only think they’re sincere because they’ve deluded themselves. They lack the light of God’s Word, so their religious fasting is accompanied by mistreating their neighbors. Too often today, pastors hold back in their preaching of the law, lulling their people into the false security that they aren’t part of the problems “out there.” We need Christ to shine His light on us in the Divine Service so that we are empowered to work toward justice for our neighbors.

Rev. Ben Ball, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hamel, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 57. Judah has become a mess in the wake of the Babylonian devastation. Their religion has devolved into sexual immorality and sacrificing children to idols. In chapter 57 Isaiah says that the people are sorceresses and adulterers by their very nature. Isaiah speaks this way to offer repentance and forgiveness. There is still a way out! Those who repent will find healing and rebuilding: God is about to reunite the survivors with the exiles. And the faithful who die are “taken away from calamity” and enter into peace. Although we have found new ways to be guilty of the same old sins of idolatry, God makes us the same offer of repentance in Christ Jesus.

Rev. Thomas Eckstein, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Jamestown, North Dakota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 56. God will make His barren people fruitful! That’s been the message of the last two chapters, but now in Isaiah 56, the foreigners and eunuchs are wondering about their place in the people of God, since bearing children with a good Hebrew name is a sensitive topic for them. God is not fooled by outward religious practices, but He sees the faith behind them. It is the spirit of the law, not the letter, that is the way of faith. We only fulfill the law in Christ, who fulfills it for us. Our pastors are meant to be watchmen who bark like dogs when the danger of idolatry comes near, that nothing would avert our eyes from Christ.

Rev. John Shank, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Edwardsville, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 55. Yahweh’s word came down like rain. It gave the exiles water and bread in the wilderness of exile—it gave them what they had hungered and thirsted for. In Isaiah 55, the idea of being “fruitful” ties together powerful words about what God does for us. Only His Word gives us true identity, purpose, hope, and salvation. We’re not going to get these things from the peoples around us. The return from exile was a sign of the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It seems strange that God should work through means as brutal as the Babylonians or the Cross, but God says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.”

Rev. William Foy, pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Valparaiso, Indiana, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 53. “Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” These are the words from Isaiah 53 that we hear read at Good Friday every year. When the Ethiopian eunuch asked about this passage, Philip used these words to tell him “the good news about Jesus.” Jesus Christ was crucified to forgive the sins of the whole world, including yours and mine. We should not assume that we are without sin just because we aRev. John Lukomski, retired pastor in Southern Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 54. Ruth and Orpah tragically lost their husbands so quickly that they had been left childless. Isaiah 54 describes Judah in similar terms, the exiles feeling abandoned and hopeless, like their story was left without purpose. God says to the exiles, “For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you.” He speaks to t

Rev. William Foy, pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Valparaiso, Indiana, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 53. “Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” These are the words from Isaiah 53 that we hear read at Good Friday every year. When the Ethiopian eunuch asked about this passage, Philip used these words to tell him “the good news about Jesus.” Jesus Christ was crucified to forgive the sins of the whole world, including yours and mine. We should not assume that we are without sin just because we are not severely punished by the government. The survivors of Judah wrongly assumed that the exiles were worse people than they were. No, the exile happened because of the sin of the whole nation, and now God was bringing the exiles home to resurrect His lost and wayward people, pointing ahead to Christ.

Rev. Chris Biernacki, pastor of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Florence, Alabama, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 32. This psalm is called a “maskil.” David wanted us to use it in worship, and he also wanted to teach us from his life experience: if you try to bury your sins and forget about them, they’ll eat you from the inside. We’re lying to ourselves if we think we can deal with them on our own. The only real solution is to confess and ask for God’s forgiveness. And at the end of the day, forgiveness is what makes life worth living. Psalm 32 was one of Luther’s favorites. He called it a “Pauline psalm”—not just because Paul quotes from it in Romans 4, but because it teaches grace through faith. Christians around the world are familiar with Psalm 32, particularly the second half of verse 5: “I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”