Why does Jesus step into the waters of baptism?

What happens when the sinless Son of God stands with sinners?

And what does His baptism mean for you?

In this sermon for The Baptism of Our Lord, we hear the Gospel clearly proclaimed: Jesus enters the Jordan not because He needs repentance, but because we do. At the river, heaven is opened, the Spirit descends, and the Father declares His love—revealing who Jesus is and what He has come to do.

This message is about more than a moment in Jesus’ life. It is about God coming near, taking our place, and speaking a word of love over all who are baptized into Christ.

If you are weary, doubting, burdened by sin, or longing for assurance, this sermon is for you.

Key themes:

• Jesus standing with sinners

• Baptism as God’s promise

• The Father’s declared love

• Living daily from baptism

• Comfort for troubled consciences

“This is My beloved Son”—and in Christ, that word is spoken over you.

In this episode, we read Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XVI — Civil Affairs in full from the 1580 Book of Concord and unpack one of its most overlooked teachings:

that Christians do not seek to change or overthrow existing civil laws, whether written by believers or unbelievers, and that the Church rejects private redress—personal vengeance, vigilante justice, or political subversion carried out by private factions.

We explore:

The Lutheran doctrine of Two Kingdoms and why the Gospel does not function as a tool for rewriting civil law

The Confessions’ insistence on civil obedience and public peace, even under non-Christian governments

The clear rejection of revolution, coercive political reconstruction, and private force

How these teachings stand in direct conflict with Christian Nationalism, which calls for law-replacement, political dominance, and religious uniformity enforced by national power

Key theme:

The Gospel creates Christians, not constitutions. Christ redeems nations by His reign, not by our takeover.

Confessional Lutheran. Theologically rich. Politically clear.

Hosted by Charles Wiese of The Last Christian Church on Earth.

In this episode of Glory in the Dust, Charles Wiese confronts the most celebrated and most lethal sin: pride. From the garden’s ancient whisper to modern banners of white pride and American pride, we expose the lie that righteousness can come from flesh, nation, achievement, or identity.

With Scripture as our plumb line and Luther as our hammer, we hear the Reformer’s warning that boasting in bloodline or ethnicity is really boasting in inherited sin from Adam, and that every boast not rooted in Christ is rebellion dressed in glory.

Pagan cultures praise self-exaltation and despise humility, but Christ descends to save the lowly, killing pride at the cross and giving the sinner a new name, not earned but bled for.

The only boast that saves is the one that ruins the boaster and glorifies the Savior:

Christ crucified for sinners.

Come for truth that cuts. Stay for mercy that saves.

“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:31)

Epiphany shines the King of the Jews to the nations — not to the powerful, but to outsiders who are summoned into worship by God’s own Light. In this sermon, Christ is revealed as the star-maker, the idol-toppler, the prayer-hearing God, and the King who will die and rise for sinners. Herod trembles, the Magi kneel, Scripture guides, and faith is sent home by another way — equipped, forgiven, and turned outward for the world. A proclamation of the God who seeks the blind and makes them worship.

Preached by Charles Wiese — The Last Christian Church on Earth.

Did the early church teach dispensationalism? Or are modern claims engaging in historical and theological equivocation?

In this episode, Charles Wiese dismantles the popular narrative that dispensational eschatology was suppressed by antisemitism. We examine what early Christian millennialists actually believed—showing the absence of any rapture doctrine, secret return of Christ, or land promises granted to unbelieving Jews. We demonstrate that the early church rejected millennial speculation for Christological reasons, not racial ones—because it echoed the hermeneutic of Jews who denied Christ, contradicting the kingdom interpretation of Jesus and the apostles.

We then trace the tragic irony of history: the Nazis revived the same Christ-less, ethnocentric interpretive method the Church once labeled “Jewish dreams,” using it to construct their own racial pseudo-millennium. Luther’s warnings about Christ-absent prophecy and flesh-centered kingdoms prove disturbingly prophetic.

A theological, historical, and logical confrontation with modern dispensational myths—and a warning for every generation: any millennium dreamed without Christ becomes a false kingdom.

Topics include:

Early church eschatology, Jewish hermeneutics vs. apostolic interpretation, Luther and the Reformers on “Jewish dreams,” dispensational land theology, rapture origins, Nazi millennial ideology, and the dangers of Christ-less prophecy.

Long before the hammer struck the Wittenberg door, the blood of the saints had already watered the Church. In this podcast, Charles Wiese leads a deep dive into the pre-Reformation martyrs Martin Luther discussed in his sermons, lectures, and writings. From Jan Hus and Jerome of Prague to the Waldensians, St. Lawrence, Polycarp, and the martyrs under Rome, we examine their witness, their suffering, and Luther’s verdict on their faith: that they were justified by Christ alone, preserved by the Spirit, and condemned not for crime, but for the Gospel. This episode also confronts Luther’s warnings about false teachers, persecution from within the Church, and the enduring mark of true Christianity—the theology of the cross.

The world tolerates religion—but it rages against the Gospel that dethrones human pride and false authority. In this episode, we walk through the history of Lutheran persecution across centuries and continents: from Reformation-era martyrs, imperial bans, and state-church coercion, to the tragic moments when Lutherans turned against their own confessors. We trace the blood-stained path of pastors silenced for justification by faith alone, congregations driven underground for confessing Christ’s true presence, and the wound from within as synods, princes, and institutions punished faithfulness in the name of peace.

Grounded in Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, this episode remembers the flock beneath the Cross—not to glorify suffering, but to glorify Christ who preserves His Church through it. Here, the theology of persecution becomes comfort for wounded consciences, clarity for confessional Christians, and a summons to fearless fidelity in a world that still hunts the same Gospel.

“Peace if possible. Truth at all costs.”

Because the Church lives by Christ’s voice alone.

Tags/Topics: Lutheran history, martyrs, Sola Fide, Real Presence, conscience, underground church, America, global mission, confession, Book of Concord

During slavery, Black Christians risked everything to gather in secret churches—hush harbors in the woods, hidden cabins, and night meetings where the Gospel could be proclaimed. In this episode, we explore the history of these illegal Black churches, the spiritual courage of those who worshipped under threat, and the forces—both earthly and spiritual—that sought to silence them. Discover how faith persevered even when slavery and false churches tried to suppress it, and what it teaches us about standing firm in Christ today.

When the state forbids what God commands, the church does not revolt—she refuses.

This episode explores civil disobedience through the lens of Daniel, the outlaw prophets, and America’s long history of spiritual movements thriving without state permission.

Daniel opened his windows and prayed when empire criminalized devotion. The prophets were “outlaws” not for breaking God’s law, but for proclaiming it against kings who tried to control worship. The Lutheran fathers teach the same boundary: the state bears the sword, not the conscience, not the keys, not worship.

We also confront a modern test case—COVID lockdowns and worship bans—and expose the deeper danger beneath them: asking Caesar for permission to worship exalts an authority Caesar does not possess and turns Christians into political symbols instead of confessors of Christ.

The kingdom advances by obedience, not permission.

We must obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:29)

This episode is a watchman’s cry and a Redeemer’s answer. From Isaiah’s plea for heaven to tear open, to God’s revelation of hands stretched out toward rebels, the Word here exposes false hopes, unmasks self-made righteousness, and proclaims a Savior who descends to the unable and seeks the unseeking.

Hear God as Father, Christ as Redeemer, and mercy as God’s initiative—not man’s achievement. A message forged for weary exiles, wounded consciences, and stubborn hearts, preached in the Sword-of-God voice: sharp enough to pierce illusion, strong enough to break idols, and gentle enough to bind the broken.

For those who feel far from God, faint in prayer, or clothed in nothing but rags—listen close. Heaven has already been torn open in Christ. His hands were stretched for you. His peace is spoken over you.

Produced by: Charles Wiese

A proclamation of Christ for sinners, hope for the weary, and comfort for the terrified.