Concord Matters from KFUO Radio

If we believe that God's Word is true history and that God created everything "according to its kind" and is "good" in His eyes, how did we get the mess we live in today? How does the Fall, as recorded in Genesis 3, result in separations in multiple domains such as theological, psychological, sociological, ecological, and physiological? How are these separations addressed? How is the depth of sin thoroughly understood? Rev. Mark Bestul, Pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church in Elgin, Illinois, joins host Rev. Sean Smith to discuss separation as a result of the Fall.

As Lutherans, we confess the truths we find in our Catechism, but we also live in a world that has a hard time accepting the notion of objective truth. Why are Jesus’ claims of “Truth” an important fundamental principle for Christian defense of the Scripture — and thus our entry into the Catechism? What do we learn from the true story of creation in Genesis 1 & 2 that help us understand the Catechism more fully?Rev. Mark Bestul, Pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church in Elgin, Illinois, joins host Rev. Sean Smith to discuss the place of the catechism in our daily lives as Lutherans.

As Lutherans we love our hymnody, but what makes hymns particularly Lutheran? How do hymns point us even more to Scripture, and how can we use them devotionally? And, on the creative side, how does a Lutheran hymnwriter create a hymn that is both beautiful poetry and also doctrinally rich?Rev. Stephen Starke, Lutheran Hymn Writer of over 200 hymns (including 32 in the Lutheran Service book) and retired LCMS pastor, joins host Rev. Sean Smith to discuss our heritage of Lutheran hymnody and what makes it unique.

We sing hymns every Sunday, and hopefully throughout our daily lives. But, what actually is a hymn? Is it just a fancy word for song? Hear this delightful conversation about the purpose of hymnody, where we find scriptural basis for singing hymns in worship services, how we use hymns in the life of the congregation, how music and text work together in hymnody, and what makes our Lutheran hymnody so unique and wonderful.Rev. Dr. Jon Vieker, Senior Assistant to the President of the LCMS and Former Assistant Director for LCMS Commission on Worship, joins host Rev. Sean Smith to discuss why concord matters for Lutheran hymnody.

This entire show is about the Lutheran Confessions, and we encourage you to study and learn them. Today we ask, why and how? Why are these Lutheran Confessions so important to us? How can we incorporate them into our daily lives, and what are the benefits of taking these Confessions to heart?Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison, President of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod; Rev. Mark Bestul, Pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church in Elgin, Illinois; and Layman Mr. Tim Matheny join host Rev. Sean Smith during this special Sharathon edition of Concord Matters to talk about using the Confessions devotionally.

The role of a pastor in a congregation is of utmost importance: forgiving sins in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. Where do we find this function of a pastor in our confessions, and how do our confessions give us certainty in this forgiveness? And, what about the priesthood of all believers? Why does concord matter for the function of the pastoral office, that authorized forgiveness of sins?Rev. Dr. David Maxwell, Professor of Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, joins host Rev. Sean Smith to discuss the function of the pastoral office.Find the article by Dr. Maxwell referenced in this episode at lutheranpress.com/books/papers-presented-at-the-congress-on-the-lutheran-confessions/pastoral-theology-vol-15-2008.

We talk about the resurrection of Christ all the time, and we celebrate this every Sunday. But on Easter Sunday, we pull out all the stops and celebrate this critical event in our salvation story. What do we really confess when we talk about Christ's resurrection, and where do we find these beliefs in our Lutheran Confessions? Why is this resurrection so important for us? Find the print by artist Ed Riojas at edriojasartist.com/giclee-prints-2/giclee-prints/#jp-carousel-307.Rev. Merritt Demski, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Waterloo, Illinois, joins guest host Rev. Peter Ill to dive deep into Jesus Christ's resurrection and discuss where we find this doctrine in our Confessions.

It's not just hard to understand that Jesus Christ is, at the same time, God and man. Jesus is both perfect God and perfect man, and it's difficult for sinners to understand a perfect man - but that's exactly who Jesus Christ is, and He's perfect God as well! Our reason and logic can't contain God, but we read the Scriptures to say as much as Scripture reveals about God as we can.Rev. David Oberdieck, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lebanon, Missouri and chaplain in the United States Army Reserve, joins guest host Rev. Peter Ill to discuss the second part of the Athanasian creed, especially as it confesses the truth of Jesus Christ.Listen to the first part of the Athanasian Creed conversation from last week at kfuo.org/2021/03/23/concord-matters-032321-worshipfully-confessing-the-athanasian-creed.

You probably don't have the Athanasian Creed memorized. It's long and very, very specific, saying certain things about God but being careful not to go beyond what God says to us in Scripture. Our faith is this: that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity as we repeat the truths that God has shown us about His Triune being.Rev. Dr. Geoff Boyle of Grace and Trinity Lutheran Churches in Wichita, Kansas joins guest host Rev. Peter Ill to discuss the first part of the Athanasian Creed, printed in Lutheran Service Book on pages 319-320 and in Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions on pages 17-18.

"God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, of the same substance as the Father." Those big words mean something very specific about our Lord Jesus, the Son of God. But they aren't just big words to impress. Those words confess that it is God Himself who saves us. Our salvation and our forgiveness isn't the work of a mere man, but God in the flesh. The Holy Spirit, also God, delivers this good news to create and strengthen faith in you because you are God's beloved new creation.Pastor Bruce Keseman of Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church in Freeburg, Illinois, joins guest host Pastor Peter Ill to discuss the Nicene Creed, what's a heresy, how the Nicene Creed confesses biblical truth, the way that the Father sent His Son to be the sacrifice for sin, and there's even an analogy about baseball cards!