Preaching Through the Christian Year: Year a: A Comprehensive Commentary on the Lectionary

I found the subject matter clearly understandable but most important for me, it aids in making sermon preparation. An ordained Priest showed a Deacon Formation class this book , several members of the class ordered the book. The minister that brought the book, uses it regularily. It is an excellent resourse: I'm using it for my preparation of my sermon this Sunday.

As a seminary professor of New Testament, I know I'm supposed to eschew any "lectionary helps" because they are so often a shortcut to students' or pastors' own reading of the text they are going to preach. More often I eschew lectionary helps because they are dull, irrelevant to the preaching task, or moralistic in their appropriation of scripture.Preaching through the Christian Year is a wonderful exception to the rule. It's a three-volume collection (each sold separately). The authors almost always offer excellent pump-priming material for my own preaching. The exegesis is sound yet not so technical that you're sorry you asked in the first place. And the sermon ideas are thought-provoking if not always the direction I head. Worth the money!