Here, however, we meet with a practical difficulty.  Too many of our teachers are not clear themselves on this subject.  Their own early instruction may have been imperfect.  Their whole environment has been unfavorable to rooting and grounding them in this faith, once delivered to the saints.  This old-fashioned faith, as we have seen, has become unpopular with the masses even of professing Christians.  The whole current of the religionism of the day is against it.  In many localities and circles, to profess this faith is to invite ridicule and opposition.  The Lutheran Church in this matter, as in others, is behind the age, because the age is away ahead of Christ and the Apostles, the Church Fathers and Reformers.

What wonder then that in many places, our members, on whom we must depend for teachers, have unconsciously drifted away from the old landmarks, and are altogether at sea as to God’s means and methods of Grace, especially with the children?

It is, therefore, a matter of the gravest importance that our Church place in the hands of her willing but inexperienced teachers such plain, practical and full helps and equipments as will enable them to be safe and successful instructors in our Sunday-schools.  Our good teachers are always willing to learn.  They need to be and want to be first taught.  They need clear, sound exposition, illustration and application of every lesson for themselves, before they can successfully teach others.  They need to be shown in every lesson, how the divine Word everywhere sets forth the precious doctrines of our Church.  They need to be shown over and over again, how these doctrines are to be impressed and applied to the heart, conscience, and life of the pupil; and how the truth is to be so instilled that it may, by means of every lesson, awaken and deepen a sense of sinfulness, and repentance therefor, and beget and increase faith and love for the dear Saviour.  Every lesson that does not make sin more hateful and Christ more precious, is in so far, a failure.

From what we have learned in the last chapter, a Lutheran Sunday-school cannot safely use the literature, whether lesson leaves, lesson helps, or hymns, of others.  And this simply because their sentiment is not only at variance with, but openly hostile to our faith.  It is therefore even more important for our Church than for any other, to furnish all the necessary equipments for good, sound, live Sunday-schools.  Our equipments ought to aim to become more and more superior to all others.  The Church should strive to constantly improve them until they become so desirable and attractive that no Lutheran school would think of exchanging them for any others.

We hope to see the day when our Church will lead in all these practical enterprises, even as she has led and still leads in the sphere of sound doctrine.  But we digress.