Hans Joachim Iwand, Before the Storm (The Hour of Apostasy, 1937): „Not only are we in a time of apostasy, but, what is worse, time itself does not know this; on the contrary, it believes it is in the hour of an unparalleled religious renewal. Certainly, it too will wake up terribly once in a while. But there is a new one that does not lead to repentance. For the time being, however, enough false prophets ensure that the dream continues to be dreamed. For we can learn this from the Holy Scriptures: the apostasy of the people from the living God goes hand in hand with the appearance of false prophets who interpret the hunger dreams and substitute their visions for the Word of God.“

Perhaps the most powerful speech (not sermon) given within the Confessing Church in Germany between 1933 and 1945: Before the … Mehr

Karl Steinbauer’s Sermon on Matthew 2:13-23 (Bethlehemite Infanticide) with Reference to the National Socialist Educational Dictatorship from January 1939: „There should be hearses running for those who have had Christ torn from their hearts, for the victims of this bloodless Bethlehemite infanticide, then our skin would shiver!“

Sermon on Matthew 2:13-23 (Bethlehemite Infanticide) with Reference to the National Socialist Educational Dictatorship By Karl Steinbauer Karl Steinbauer (1906-1988) … Mehr

Karl Steinbauer’s leaflet „For if one believes with the heart, he is justified, and if one confesses with the mouth, he is saved. (Romans 10:10)“ written calligraphically on March 21, 1939 in cell 18 of the Neu-Ulm District Court Prison: „A faith which we do not confess is no faith! ‚I believe, therefore I speak!‘ That is a death sentence, that one speaks oneself, if one says: ‚Pastor, I think exactly like you, but one may say nothing.‘ – I know how difficult it often is to open one’s mouth, but let us admonish and encourage one another to open our mouths for our Lord Christ, and let us look to Him alone, to whom all authority is given in heaven and on earth.“

After pastor Karl Steinbauer was imprisoned in the district court prison in Neu-Ulm on January 15, 1939, following a nocturnal … Mehr

Karl Steinbauer’s Confirmation sermon on Ephesians 6:10-20 (1939): „As I write these lines, I am sitting in my cell in prison. – You who later go to the table of the Lord and strengthen yourselves for the battle that is decreed for you, and you are incorporated into the fellowship of the body and blood of Christ, into the fellowship of the King of all kings – that is how I was able to strengthen myself yesterday with my wife in the Holy Supper. In one hour I will leave the prison here and will be taken to the concentration camp in Sachsenhausen. I thank you all, especially you dear confirmands, for your faithfulness, which you have testified to me again, and I know: It was not meant for my person, but for our faithful Savior, who was faithful for us even unto death …“

The confirmation sermon with reference to Ephesians 6:10-17 and Luther’s „Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott“ (Our God is a … Mehr

Resistance to the Nazi State and Disobedience to Compromising Church Leadership. Life and Legacy of Karl Steinbauer (1906-1988): „On January 8, 1939, Steinbauer preached a sermon on the infanticide of Bethlehem, denouncing Nazi youth education that was hostile to Christianity and the eradication of Christianity announced by party officials. He announced the ban imposed on him to give religious instruction and justified his refusal of the Aryan certificate by stating that according to the National Socialist race law the Lord Christ would be incapable and unfit to preach his own message and would not be allowed to enter a school.“

Resistance to the Nazi State and Disobedience to Compromising Church Leadership. Life and Legacy of Karl Steinbauer (1906-1988) Karl Steinbauer … Mehr