A Lutheran pastor shares his experiences and thoughts with his flock, family, and friends.
If the preacher tries to spend too much time on [secular stories], he will cause his hearers to hear the Word of the living God with sleepy, lazy ears until some silly story allures their ears and entertains their mind.
–Johann Gerhard, Method of Theological Study (p. 202)
I’m going to try to read as much of these text studies as I can this time through the church year. I wish I had time to read (and translate) the whole thing, but at 60+ pages of German per week, I don’t think that will happen.
I need to frame this on my wall:
Es ist aber auch nicht nötig, in jeder Predigt das Ganze zu erschöpfen. Jeder Bruchteil dieser inhaltsreichen Perikope bietet reichlich Stoff für eine besondere Predigt.
This is from a text study on the Gospel for Oculi Sunday, Luke 11:14-28, by George Stöckhardt.
A Shepherd's Story 