Joseph Hocking is the Lutheran Librarian’s favorite Christian novelist. Though mostly forgotten now, during his lifetime he was widely read and greatly beloved throughout the English speaking world. Most of his books deal in some way with the struggles and conflicts of living as a Christian in the modern world.
“This little volume of sermons has been prepared in response to repeated appeals from the people who heard them from the pulpit… they have been chosen from a cabinet of upwards of two thousand discourses.
“…there are many people today who are wandering in doctrinal fogland, and do not know what they believe; or, if they think they have any real convictions, they have pared them down to what they call ‘the irreducible minimum.
“The book presents Christian doctrine and Christian character, as both are drawn from the words of the Bible… Throughout the work the aim has been to draw the teachings of the Bible directly from the sacred record itself.
“The mistake of those who direct all their efforts toward making men better and improving human society by teaching and enforcing the law… is of serious consequence to the souls of men… It can neither save their souls nor make them good… The only help for us is in Christ, without whom we can do nothing; and that help consists first of all in the forgiveness of our sins, which separate us from God and all that is good, and deprive us of all true peace and joy.
“Jesus was asked by one of his disciples (Luke 11:2), not one of the twelve, but a more recent follower, who had not been present at the first giving of the prayer, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.
This book was prepared by pastor Emanuel Greenwald to help his congregants with their daily prayers. While originally intended for family worship, it is perfect for private daily devotions. There are prayers, hymns and Bible readings for each day of the year.
“The sermon on the mount was preached in the interest of the great salvation which came by the grace and truth which were revealed through Christ, and its preaching of the law as a schoolmaster to bring us unto Him for salvation is always needed in our world of sin.
“These writings by Timothy East were first published in England in a journal called “Spirit and Manners of the Age”. “The author is the same who prepared the Evangelical Rambler, which has been received with so much favor.
“The Fourth of July! Independence Day! One hundred and fifty-two years ago today there took place in history one of those events the like of which takes place only once in five hundred or a thousand years; the promulgation of that immortal Declaration of Independence.
A Summary of the Christian Faith brings Hutter’s classic Compendium into a readable and easily accessible form. Henry Eyster Jacobs writes: “The book is not a mere compilation, but the matured expression of the convictions of the author, from the time when, as a child he was introduced to many of the problems treated, to the present.
“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.
“Amid other employments in this the evening of his long and useful life, Mr. East has, we think, been wisely guided to revise and publish these remarkable pastoral experiences. They include some exceedingly interesting cases of conversion and spiritual revival.
“The most deceived man of all is he whose mind is influenced by the Evil Spirit and yet he believes that he is besought by the Good Spirit. We hope to reach some of such persons whose eyes are color blind and whose ears are so impaired that they alone cannot distinguish between the voices that are calling them downward and those that are calling them upward.
“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.
“If ever any man was competent to write on true Christianity, that man was John Arndt. It had become his very life; it entered into the very center of his own experience; it was an essential part of his being, and hence it was only necessary to let the mouth utter that, of which the heart was full.
“In exhibiting the earliest and purest views of our church on the divine obligation of the Christian Sabbath, we propose to present first of all, the views of Luther and Melanchthon…”
“The following translation of a manuscript letter of the venerable Patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America, will constitute an acceptable addition to the valuable biographies which precede it. Its historic is not its only interest.
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.