The Parable of the Prodigal Son, Part 3 – Bryan Wolfmueller, 1/22/26 (0221)

Issues, Etc.

Lutheran Public Radio

Christianity, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

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Summary

Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller of St. Paul Lutheran, Austin, TX

Has American Christianity Failed?

The post The Parable of the Prodigal Son, Part 3 – Bryan Wolfmueller, 1/22/26 (0221) first appeared on Issues, Etc..

Transcript

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0:00.0	Pastor Brian Wolf-Miller, author of the Issues, Etcetera, Book of the Month,
0:03.7	Finally Free, Three Lessons in the Parable, the Prodical Son.
0:07.8	One of the major points that's often missed is that Jesus with this parable of the prodigal
0:13.0	Son is calling those Pharisees and scribes away from their complaining, grumbling at the mercy of Christ, and to join the angels
0:24.5	in rejoicing over the repentance of a sinner. Learn more about Finally Free at Issuesetc.org.
0:33.2	Here's an easy way for you to support the worldwide outreach of Lutheran Public Radio Incorporated
0:38.3	and create a will for free.
0:40.7	Free will offers a secure, online, estate planning tool that can help you create a will for free in about 20 minutes.
0:47.9	Through free will, you can help us educate future generations of Lutherans through programming, like issues, etc.
0:55.1	The Word of the Lord Endores Forever. 24-7 sacred music and talk stations, and the publishing of books. Learn more at
1:01.9	freewill.com slash issuesetc.org. This is what's missed a lot in the discussion about feminism.
1:16.6	Most of these women were former mainline Protestants, and almost all of them, after they had kind of a conversion where they left mainline Protestantism, they ended up becoming Unitarians.
1:26.6	The part of the Christian gospel that is most offensive to people is the part that points
1:32.2	out our sin and our need for Christ. However, when you talk about doing things like feeding
1:37.2	the poor and other social justice type things, those are not offensive. Those can be very,
1:42.2	very popular when they're not tethered to a gospel message.
1:45.0	When we're using extra biblical stories, what's being conjured up is feeling and sentiment that this illustration is supposed to engender.
1:53.0	And what goes by the wayside is Christ in Him crucified.
1:57.0	The Lord intends for the slavery of despair, not to end in despair, but to end in the merciful arms of the father.
2:06.9	Seamstresses love listening to issues, et cetera, while sewing baptism banners for all the new babies at church.
2:24.7	If it were a film or a play, we would be in intermission right before the third act.
2:29.3	The third act of the prodigal son is not just an afterthought or a footnote.
	...

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