Sermons

“The funeral sermon is one of the most difficult sermons to prepare and deliver. To begin with, there is an emotional strain which is felt by preacher and hearers alike. Jesus was ever and anon saying: “I have compassion.

“There are two general ways of looking at God; from the point of view of Sinai, or as He is revealed to us on Calvary. If we know God only, or chiefly, as He is revealed to us in the lights and shadows, the thunderings and threatenings, of Sinai, He will appear to us rather stern and austere, — a Lawgiver and Judge.

“These sermons were preached in the Church of the Holy Communion, Philadelphia, to a congregation consisting in part of University and college students. In preaching it was impossible to disassociate from my mind the struggles through which many of these young people were passing and the battles which I was asked to help them fight during the week.

“We have certainly great reason to be wide awake and watchful, if we would preserve the inheritance of the Lutheran Church Reformation. Strong are the delusions and temptations of these latter days, and you children and youthful Christians will doubtless see still more perilous times for the Church of Jesus Christ before you have grown old.

This book of brief and simple sermons are the result of a lifetime of study, thought and experience by a faithful pastor and teacher. “The title expresses the chief purpose of the book — to follow ‘In the Redeemer’s Footsteps.

“I want you to understand that I have never preached opinions from this pulpit; it is not a question of opinion; I have absolutely no right to stand here and give you my opinion, for it is not worth any more than yours; we do not come to church to get opinions; I claim that I can back up every sermon I have preached, with the Word of God, and it is not my opinion nor yours, it is the eternal Word of God, and you will find it so on the Judgment day.

“There are many of us who believe; we are convinced; but our souls do not take fire at contact with the truth. Happy he who not only believes, but believes with fire.

“…Every minister of the Gospel should so preach that he need never be ashamed of the words he has spoken. Do you suppose that if I were ashamed of my sermons I would have them put in cold print to speak long after I am dead?

“There is nothing more difficult, these times, than to keep the Church out of politics. And this difficulty is intensified where a Christian principle is at stake. “The Church, in some of its branches, has been knocking at the door of State and clamoring for the name of God in the Constitution.

The Burning Of The Old Lutheran Church, On The Night Of September 27th, 1854, a message delivered In The Evangelical Lutheran Church, Winchester, Va., The Nineteenth Sunday After Trinity, 1854.

An excellent collection of 57 sermons were delivered by Revs. Lenski, Tressel, Schuh, Gohdes, Bauslin, Troutman, Long and others. Particularly good are numbers 12, 19, 22, 30, 38, and 45.