Christian Faith and Life
I've been having an ongoing discussion in another forum about how to preach sanctification (or more fundamentally, whether it is preached explicitly or not.) CFW Walther has this to say:
it is to be advised that at the start of the church year, the preacher make a plan to use the pericopes so that, if possible, every fundamental article of Christian faith finds its place during the year. It is no small reproach to a preacher if an attentive listender has heard him for years without being instructed in important aspects of Christian faith and life. [ed. Walther's examples include neighborly love, Christian freedom, church discipline, the church, the ministry, the last things, duties of Christians in various states of life, bethrothal and marriage, raising children, prayer, home devotions, usury, the inspiration of Scripture, the difference between a church and a sect, temptation, the sin against the Holy Spirit, the election of grace, Christian perfection, etc.] It can happen, by the preacher's fault, that some of his listeners stray into the greatest danger, and the preacher cannot boast with paul that he is innocent of the blood of all men. C.F.W. Walther, American Lutheran Pastoral Theology, Lutheran News Inc., 1995.
