The Coffee Hour from KFUO Radio

Rev. Dr. James Baneck, Executive Director for LCMS Pastoral Education, joins Andy and Sarah for our Set Apart to Serve Series to talk about Church Worker Appreciation Month, why it's important to show appreciation to church workers, how congregations can show appreciation beyond just the month of October, and how the Set Apart to Serve initiative ties-in with appreciating and recognizing our church workers.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.

Joleen Cary and Katy Baetz-Matthews — Volunteers with LCMS International Mission for the Missionary Kid Program Team in the Dominican Republic, and Erin Mackenzie — LCMS Missionary in the Latin America and Caribbean region, based in the Dominican Republic, join Andy and Sarah to talk about how they learned about this opportunity to serve in the Dominican Republic, the preparations for serving in this way, what they were able to do while they served the missionary kids, and advice for those considering serving in this way. Find how you can serve (including this opportunity for next summer!) at servenow.lcms.org. Learn more about Erin Mackenzie and her service in the Dominican Republic at lcms.org/mackenzie. Missionary Kids and short-term mission team at the 2022 Missionary Conference in the Dominican Republic.

Karen and Tracy Bougher, who adopted a child through Lutheran Family Service of Iowa, join Andy and Sarah to talk about when they first began considering adoption for their family, how Lutheran Family Service connected them to families, the long process of waiting for a child, and how they've been doing since adoption day. Learn more about Lutheran Family Service of Iowa at lutheranfamilyservice.org.

Rev. Jason M. Braaten, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tuscola, Illinois, joins Andy and Sarah to talk about the history of Vacation Bible School, as he wrote about in the September 2022 of The Lutheran Witness, including the concept of the first Vacation Bible Schools in the United States, how these programs were vastly different depending on the location of the students, how Vacation Bible School has chanted over the last 50 years, and how a locally developed program may be very beneficial to individual congregations and their children.See what is included in the September 2022 issue of LW at witness.lcms.org/2022/lutheran-witness-september-2022. Find online exclusives of the Lutheran Witness at witness.lcms.org and subscribe to the Lutheran Witness at cph.org/witness.

Deaconess Heidi Goehmann, LCSW, MSW, joins Andy and Sarah in our series on "Emotions and the Gospel" to talk about what we know about emotions (and what we don't know), the Church's relationship with emotions, her own relationship with emotions, and what we're going to dive into in this series on emotions.Find your copy of Emotions and the Gospel: Created for Connection at books.cph.org/emotions-and-the-gospel. Listen to all episodes in this series at kfuo.org/tag/emotions-and-the-gospel.Hear Mental Health Mondays each Monday at 9am CT, or listen to all episodes at kfuo.org/tag/mental-health-monday.View Deaconess Heidi's Mental Health Playlist on Youtube, listen to the Life in Relationship Podcast, and find all of her writings and resources at heidigoehmann.com.

Rev. James Woelmer, Pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Plano, Texas, joins Sarah for our Set Apart to Serve Series to talk about empowering parents to talk with their children about considering church work, including where church work vocations begin, why it's important for parents to have these conversations, some examples of how parents (and other adults) can faithfully encourage, some key points for parents to consider, and other actions parents can take when encouraging young people to think about church work vocations. Learn more about the Set Apart to Serve Initiative at lcms.org/SetApartToServe.This is a rebroadcast from June 10, 2022.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/SetApartToServe.

Rev. Doug Griebenaw visited the 2022 Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education Conference at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and had the opportunity to chat with CCLE board members and conference presenters.Hear his conversation with Mrs. Cheryl Swope, Author of Simply Classical curriculum for children with special needs (Memoria Press), as they discuss classical education for all including those with special needs. Find more information on the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education at ccle.org.

Rev. Doug Griebenaw visited the 2022 Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education Conference at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and had the opportunity to chat with CCLE board members and conference presenters.Hear his conversation with Dr. Gabriel Haley, Associate Professor of English at Concordia University Nebraska, as they discuss the importance of reading the Great Books and other outstanding literature as part of a classical Lutheran education.. Find more information on the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education at ccle.org.

Landon, Teresa, and Thérèse-Marie Poss join Andy and Sarah to talk about their adoption story through Lutheran Family Service of Iowa, including why they first considered adoption for their family, how they connected with Lutheran Family Service of Iowa, their (somewhat harrowing) journey to being adoptive parents, and how Thérèse-Marie is doing today. Learn more about Lutheran Family Service of Iowa at lutheranfamilyservice.org.

Rev. Roy Askins, Managing Editor of The Lutheran Witness, joins Andy and Sarah to talk about the “Searching the Scriptures” feature in the September 2022 issue of the Lutheran Witness titled "Walk in Love" on Ephesians 4:17-32. This year, "Searching the Scriptures" will study the book of Ephesians, so stay tuned each month for the next Bible study. Follow along and search the Scriptures with us!Find online exclusives of the Lutheran Witness at witness.lcms.org and subscribe to the Lutheran Witness at cph.org/witness.Ephesians 4:17-32The New Life17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self,[a] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.Read full chapterFootnotesEphesians 4:22 Greek man; also verse 24English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org