The Coffee Hour from KFUO Radio

How is the LCMS responding to the devastating wildfires in Southern California? First, the Rev. Dr. Ross Johnson, Director of LCMS Disaster Response, joins Andy and Sarah to talk about his recent visit to Southern California and the impact of the fires, how the disaster has affected LCMS congregations and members, how LCMS Disaster Response is partnering with the Pacific Southwest District and congregations to help, and the long-term outlook for service in the community. Then, the Rev. Dominic Rivkin, Mission Executive with the LCMS Pacific Southwest District, joins Andy and Sarah to help us understand the LCMS Pacific Southwest District and the territory it covers, the area impacted by the devastating fires, the communities that have been affected, how congregations are coming together to support each other, and how the District will continue responding to the disaster.Find more details and ways to help at the following places:lcms.org/disasterfacebook.com/LCMSDisasterResponsepsd-lcms.org/disaster-responseplc.ccAs you grab your morning coffee (and pastry, let’s be honest), join hosts Andy Bates and Sarah Gulseth as they bring you stories of the intersection of Lutheran life and a secular world. Catch real-life stories of mercy work of the LCMS and partners, updates from missionaries across the ocean, and practical talk about how to live boldly Lutheran. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact us at: listener@kfuo.org.

How does a family make the transition to Seminary? Ross and Jenni George, a new seminary family at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, join Andy and Sarah for our Set Apart to Serve Series to talk about Ross's first career and how he made the decision to pursue pastoral ministry, how the Divine Service and community at Memorial Lutheran Church in Houston helped to shape him, the conversations through the discernment process, how his previous experience has prepared him for Seminary, and their move across the country to Fort Wayne from Texas.Learn more about the Set Apart to Serve Initiative at lcms.org/setaparttoserve.Christ’s church will continue until He returns, and that church will continue to need church workers.Set Apart to Serve (SAS) is an initiative of the LCMS to recruit church workers. Together, we pray for workers for the Kingdom of God and encourage children to consider church work vocations.Here are three easy ways you can participate in SAS:1. Pray with your children for God to provide church workers.2. Talk to your children about becoming church workers.3. Thank God for the people who work in your congregation.To learn more about Set Apart to Serve, visit lcms.org/set-apart-to-serve.

How does Grace Place Wellness ensure the wellness of professional church workers? The Rev. Dr. Greg Walton (Vice President of Ministry Solutions, Grace Place Wellness, with LCEF) joins Andy to talk about the work of Grace Place Wellness, how they serve professional church workers, why church worker wellness is important to them, and how they help the local congregation make decisions to care for the health of their church workers. Learn more about Grace Place Wellness at lcef.org/grace-place-wellness.As you grab your morning coffee (and pastry, let’s be honest), join hosts Andy Bates and Sarah Gulseth as they bring you stories of the intersection of Lutheran life and a secular world. Catch real-life stories of mercy work of the LCMS and partners, updates from missionaries across the ocean, and practical talk about how to live boldly Lutheran. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact us at: listener@kfuo.org.The Coffee Hour is underwritten by Concordia University Wisconsin. Live Uncommon. Learn more at cuw.edu.

It's time for the annual Texas Lutheran Writers Round Up! Texas Writers Ruth Meyer (N is for Nativity and other books), Martha Van Buskirk (Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Grace: God’s Purpose in Your Every Day), Christina Hergenrader (Inspired by the Holy Spirit: Four Habits for Faithful Living and other books), and the Rev. Michael Newman (Faith Notes, A Christ-Centered Survival Kit for Young Men and other books) join Andy and Sarah to talk about what they write about the most and why, their most challenging and favorite aspects of writing, the why behind a Lutheran Writers Round Up, what happens at this event, and what attendees can expect! Find more information about the event on the Faith Lutheran High School of Central Texas Facebook page: facebook.com/faithlhscentraltx and find more books by these authors at cph.org.As you grab your morning coffee (and pastry, let’s be honest), join hosts Andy Bates and Sarah Gulseth as they bring you stories of the intersection of Lutheran life and a secular world. Catch real-life stories of mercy work of the LCMS and partners, updates from missionaries across the ocean, and practical talk about how to live boldly Lutheran. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact us at: listener@kfuo.org.The Coffee Hour is underwritten by Concordia University Wisconsin. Live Uncommon. Learn more at cuw.edu.

How do Chaplains get to make the love of Christ known in their vocations as Chaplains in the Armed Forces? Chaplain Kurtis Bueltmann (US Air Force Chaplain, Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, TX), Chaplain David Edwards (US Air Force Chaplain, Serving at Patrick Space Force Base, Brevard County, FL) and Chaplain Craig Muehler (Director, LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces) join Andy and Sarah to talk about how they get to serve the men and women in our Armed Forces, what a day in the life of a chaplain might look like, the challenges men and women in the Armed Forces face each day, and how they decided to become chaplains. The need for chaplains is great! Contact LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces to learn more: email lcmschaps@lcms.org, call (314) 996-1337, and visit lcms.org/armedforces.As you grab your morning coffee (and pastry, let’s be honest), join hosts Andy Bates and Sarah Gulseth as they bring you stories of the intersection of Lutheran life and a secular world. Catch real-life stories of mercy work of the LCMS and partners, updates from missionaries across the ocean, and practical talk about how to live boldly Lutheran. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact us at: listener@kfuo.org.

What makes the season of Epiphany so special? The Rev. Dustin Beck, Pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Warda, TX, joins Andy and Sarah to talk about what Epiphany is, how Epiphany furthers our understanding that Jesus is God and man, what we learn from the account of the Magi, how we understand Jesus’ baptism, the significance of the wedding at Cana, and how the Epiphany season takes us from Christmas into Lent.As you grab your morning coffee (and pastry, let’s be honest), join hosts Andy Bates and Sarah Gulseth as they bring you stories of the intersection of Lutheran life and a secular world. Catch real-life stories of mercy work of the LCMS and partners, updates from missionaries across the ocean, and practical talk about how to live boldly Lutheran. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact us at: listener@kfuo.org.

How does Journey Mapping help individuals and congregations support future church workers? Annie O’Donoghue (Manager, Standing Partnership) and Nick Sargent (Vice President, Standing Partnership) join Andy and Sarah for our Set Apart to Serve series to talk about their work with Standing Partnership and their role with Set Apart to Serve, what journey mapping is and how they used this tool to understand a second-career seminarian's journey through seminary, what they learned from conversations with seminarians and their wives, and how their new understanding will create more and better resources for those considering second-career church work.Christ’s church will continue until He returns, and that church will continue to need church workers.Set Apart to Serve (SAS) is an initiative of the LCMS to recruit church workers. Together, we pray for workers for the Kingdom of God and encourage children to consider church work vocations.Here are three easy ways you can participate in SAS:1. Pray with your children for God to provide church workers.2. Talk to your children about becoming church workers.3. Thank God for the people who work in your congregation.To learn more about Set Apart to Serve, visit lcms.org/set-apart-to-serve.Have a topic you'd like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact us at: listener@kfuo.org.

What is Concordia Counseling and how do they serve the Church? Deaconess Michelle Downey, Director of Concordia Counseling, joins Andy to talk about the work of Concordia Counseling today, how church workers are equipped to respond to needs and crises, how being Lutheran shapes how she approaches mental health and wellness, and how Concordia Counseling has helped the local congregation. Learn more about Concordia Counseling at ConcordiaCounseling.org.As you grab your morning coffee (and pastry, let’s be honest), join hosts Andy Bates and Sarah Gulseth as they bring you stories of the intersection of Lutheran life and a secular world. Catch real-life stories of mercy work of the LCMS and partners, updates from missionaries across the ocean, and practical talk about how to live boldly Lutheran. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact us at: listener@kfuo.org.The Coffee Hour is underwritten by Concordia University Wisconsin. Live Uncommon. Learn more at cuw.edu.

The Old Testament is about Jesus, which is reason enough for us to open our Bibles and read it regularly. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). Jesus opens our minds to understand the Hebrew Scriptures (Luke 24:45) and teaches us how to read them. “Everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled... Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:44, 46–47). This year’s “Searching Scripture” columns will lead us through ways that the Old Testament witnesses to Jesus Christ and His grace, mercy and peace, delivered through the holy Christian church. This month we focus on the foundational messianic prophecy of the blessed “offspring” (or “seed”) of the woman first given in Genesis 3 and then reiterated to the patriarchs.Rev. Carl Roth, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Elgin, TX, joins Andy and Sarah to talk about the “Searching Scripture” feature in the January 2025 issue of the Lutheran Witness titled “The Blessed Seed” on Genesis 3:9-15. This year, “Searching Scripture” is themed “Opening the Old Testament” and will walk through ways that the Old Testament witnesses to Jesus Christ and His grace, mercy and peace, delivered through the holy Christian church. Follow along every month and search Scripture with us!Find online exclusives of the Lutheran Witness at witness.lcms.org and subscribe to the Lutheran Witness at cph.org/witness.

How does the Book of Concord help us understand Original Sin? (And what on earth is concupiscence?) The Rev. Brady Finnern, President of the LCMS Minnesota North District and host of KFUO Radio's Concord Matters, joins Andy and Sarah to talk about the Formula of Concord reading plan he created for 2025, including the context of the Formula of Concord in our church history, what was happening in Germany and Rome after Luther's death in 1546, the controversies the Formula of Concord addresses, and what we will learn about Original Sin and Concupiscence in the January readings. Find the full reading plan from The Lutheran Witness at witness.lcms.org/2024/reading-plan, and find correlating Concord Matters episodes at kfuo.org/formulaofconcord.JANUARY | Original SinWEEK 1:• Ep “Summary” 1–8 (p. 473–474)• Ep I 1 (p. 474)• AC II (p. 31–32)WEEK 2:• Ep I 2–10 (p. 474–475)• Ap II (p. 76–81)WEEK 3:• SA I (p. 270–271)• SD 1 33–49 (p. 515–517)WEEK 4:• Ep I 11–25 (p. 475–477)Next month: Free WillAs you grab your morning coffee (and pastry, let’s be honest), join hosts Andy Bates and Sarah Gulseth as they bring you stories of the intersection of Lutheran life and a secular world. Catch real-life stories of mercy work of the LCMS and partners, updates from missionaries across the ocean, and practical talk about how to live boldly Lutheran. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on The Coffee Hour? Contact us at: listener@kfuo.org.