What are the hard questions that affect how we love our neighbors? In this crossover series with The Coffee Hour podcast, we’re exploring “loving your neighbor” from a variety of perspectives! In the first half of Episode 4, Rev. Dr. Joel Biermann (Professor of Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary St. Louis) joins joins Steph and co-hosts Andy Bates and Sarah Gulseth (The Coffee Hour podcast) to talk about whether loving your neighbor is always law-abiding, if we should take risks to love our neighbor, why these risks are often the small things right in front of us, and the things that challenge us about loving our neighbors. In the second half, the Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller (pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church and Jesus Church of the Deaf in Austin, TX) joins Sarah and guest co-host Steph Neugebauer to talk about how love is often described and defined on social media, how a biblical understanding of loving your neighbor compares to modern social definitions of love, how we can talk with our kids about being loving in a social media age, and how we live in the tension between love and happiness.
Find The Coffee Hour podcast at kfuo.org/thecoffeehour.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer: amazon.com/dp/0684815001
- Day 7: For Work, Rest, or Play by Joel Biermann: cph.org/day-7-for-work-rest-or-play
- The Quiet Ambition by Ryan Tinetti: ivpress.com/the-quiet-ambition
- {The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge} Book Club Wrap Up: The Quiet Ambition – kfuo.org/2026/07/24/lutheran-ladies-lounge-episode-356-book-club-wrap-up-the-quiet-ambition
- {The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge} Kitchen Table Talk: The Quiet Ambition with Dr. Ryan Tinetti (Book Club Bonus!) – kfuo.org/2026/08/07/lutheran-ladies-lounge-episode-358-kitchen-table-talk-the-quiet-ambition-with-dr-ryan-tinetti-book-club-bonus
Additional Resources:
- Email us at friendsforlife@lcms.org
- LCMS Life Ministry: lcms.org/life
Not all the views expressed are necessarily those of the LCMS; please discuss any questions with your pastor.
We believe that God is the author and sustainer of all life. We also know it can be hard to speak about the intrinsic value of life, health and the family when it feels like the world is trying to drown us out.
We’re right here beside you. In this podcast of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s Life, Health and Family Ministries, we’re coming alongside one another as a community of Christ’s redeemed people. Together we’ll explore life, health and family issues in a way that honors our heavenly Father’s value of human life, serves our neighbor, shares the faith and connects us to others who are doing the same. Join us, so that together we can be friends for life.
