# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Juli 1855_S218
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

218 The Sermon Outlines.

the thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, as well as on the Gospels for the Feast of St. John the Baptist and the Visitation of Mary.

These outlines are the mature and proven fruit of many years of careful study of Luther’s writings; may they now become the common possession of the Lutheran Church, and especially of its ministers.

Those who might regard or use the outlines as a Dormi secure would be entirely mistaken. They are not intended to spare preachers work, but rather to give them the right direction and the right material. Pastor Keyl says in the preliminary remarks: “In the first year, one should give an extract, as faithful to the wording as possible, from all of Dr. Luther’s sermons, making particular use of the passages marked ‘Summa,’ ‘briefly,’ and ‘in general.’ In the following years, one should preach the main points again each time (Philippians 3:1), continually reviewing the entire text, but in such a way that, following Luther’s example, one elaborates now on one part and now on another, while treating the rest more summarily. The more faithfully all this adheres to the wording, and the less foreign material is mixed in, the better it will turn out. Every subsequent sermon on one and the same Gospel will gain in substance through increasing knowledge, experience, and practice; and one will never be at a loss as to where to obtain sermon material, but rather as to where to put it all—a fact to which I can testify from fourteen years of experience. It hardly requires special proof that the continuing, orderly study of the sermons and expositions used here, as well as of Dr. Luther’s other writings, is an indispensable condition. May God grant that these outlines perform the service of the servants who issue the invitation and call out to all readers: Come, for everything is ready!—If only the ministers of the Lutheran Church in particular would refresh themselves and their hearers at this richly laden table, they would become ever more convinced how rightly these words may be applied to the Word of God, especially as preached by Dr. Luther: Whoever eats of me will hunger for me still, and whoever drinks of me will thirst for me still! Sirach 24:28–29.”

Let no one be deterred by the seemingly intricate and abrupt form of the outlines, with their countless citations. The effort devoted to carefully looking up and reading the cited passages will be richly rewarded by the faithful and complete picture of a Lutheran sermon thereby received.

We urgently call upon all our brethren in the ministry who do not consider it a disgrace to follow in Luther’s footsteps to make diligent use of these outlines and also to promote their circulation. For the continuation of the work, which is intended to encompass the cycle of the entire church year in four issues, will depend solely on support sufficient to cover its costs.

According to the publisher’s original plan, the issue was to contain only 32