What a treasure God has given us in Holy Scripture! What a privilege He has given us to be teachers of His Word to others, pointing them ultimately to the gracious Lord and mighty Savior of whom the Bible testifies! What strength, comfort, joy, wisdom, refreshment, mercy, hope and peace that God’s Spirit pours out to us and to others through His Word!

As I parked my car near the Luther statue this morning, I had the radio tuned to KFUO, the radio station of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Rev. Timothy Appel (’10) was hosting his daily program, “Sharper Iron.” The guest pastor of the day was Rev. Joel Heckmann (’17). As I listened to their wise, humble and helpful reflection on the passage of the day, a text from Jeremiah, I was filled with gratitude for the work that our Seminary does in preparing servants of the Word like these two men and grateful to be called by God to have a hand in that work.

Last month, I had the opportunity to be a guest of Pastor Appel’s radio show, also discussing Jeremiah. I guess that was “radio week” for me because I also was a guest on another KFUO Bible study program hosted by Rev. Brady Finnern (’06). During Pastor Finnern’s “Thy Strong Word” program, we discussed God’s mighty, gracious work through humble means in the story of Naaman the leper in 2 Kings 5. Through the discussion, it was apparent to me that, while I might be the Old Testament professor, it was Pastor Finnern who was the real expert in that setting, clearly communicating to his audience and consistently shepherding the conversation back to the most significant points of the text and its connections to Jesus Christ.

What a joy it is to see our Concordia Seminary alums engaged in edifying others through God’s Word!

This month, our summer Greek and Hebrew classes are in full swing. Please join me in praying for our seminarians who are laboring with verb paradigms and vocabulary lists. And please join me in thanking God for speaking to us the words of life and for sending us the Word of Life in human flesh.

“Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’” (John 6:68 ESV).

“To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn” (Is. 8:20 ESV).

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth” (Ps. 119:103 ESV).

May God bless and sustain you through His Word, and may He bless and sustain others through His Word — and through you!

Every blessing in Christ,

Dr. Thomas J. Egger
President