What a grand, lectionary-based set of resources for preaching and worship! In a way, this is the next generation of Feasting on the Word and represents the best thinking on Biblical exegesis, homiletics, personal and social application, all offered with preaching commentary and worship planning ideas for each lectionary reading of the given season.
The contributions are wide and broad, with dozens of writers from bunches of denominations, from Evangelical Free and the Christian Reformed Church to the more standard Presbyterian, United Methodist, Lutheran, UCC, and Episcopalian. There are African American exegetes and Latina preachers and Baptist liturgists. What a fun and helpful array of prayerful ideas from stimulating voices.
Surely one of the best worship aids and liturgical resources in many a year, to be celebrated as a publishing win in 2018.” –Byron Borger, Hearts and Minds Bookstore owner
"Given the deep crisis we face in church and in society, the recovery of the biblical text in all its glorious truth-telling is an urgent task for us preachers. For much too long the text has been neglected through complacency, timidity, and embarrassment. Now is the time of recovery of the test. There are few resources as useful for such a recovery as Connections. It is interpretive work done by our best interpreters, skilled in our best methods, grounded in deep faith, and linked to lived reality. This resource is an immense treasure that invites boldness and imagination in our shared work of proclamation." —Walter Brueggemann
"Pity the poor preacher. The sabbath seems to come back around every ten minutes and pastoral life is already full to overflowing. Thank God for Westminster John Knox Press and for these editors and this small army of writers. The fantastic biblical resources in Connections will help many poor preachers remember the biblical and theological substance of our calling. Reading these commentaries reminds me of the joy of leading in the church—we actually get to participate with God in the renewal of creation." —Jason Byassee, Butler Chair in Homiletics and Biblical Hermeneutics at the Vancouver School of Theology
"Having to preach Sunday after Sunday can lead preachers to acquire laser vision into biblical passages so that we can discover a message for the sermon quickly and skillfully. This relentless routine, however, can also lead us to neglect subtle nuances in the texts. Without adding days to our sermon preparation process, Connections brings to us a wide range of scholars and preachers to interpret lectionary texts with a thick examination of their interrelatedness to the wider ancient biblical canon and the depths of the contemporary world. The pairing of these two concerns in commentaries on every lection for the year will help preachers discover wonderful, new homiletical possibilities that we missed three years ago." —O. Wesley Allen Jr., Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University
"Connections takes the urgency of the contemporary moment as seriously as it takes Scripture. These essays clear the path from meaning to implication and help preachers unearth new dimensions of truth. As a preacher and teacher, I'm grateful for the way this commentary approaches Scripture as a symphony and gives us ears to hear how each verse contributes to the whole. I see Connections as a launching pad for those who want to understand the Word and live on it." —Donyelle McCray, Yale University Divinity School
"In a culture of do-it-yourself religion, we all need Connections! More than a commentary, Connections is a stimulating conversation among a diverse company of preachers, theologians, and biblical scholars. We are invited to listen in, as it were, to be enriched by the discussion, and then to continue the conversation in our own ministries of the Word. Once again, Westminster John Knox takes the lead by taking the Bible seriously. Word of God for the people of God: thanks be to God!" —Richard Lischer, Duke Divinity School, author of Reading the Parables, also published by Westminster John Knox Press
"Preachers are guided by Karl Barth's advice to go into the pulpit with an open Bible in one hand and the daily newspaper in the other hand. The relationship between the two, the scriptural text and what is happening at the moment in the community and world, is critical, complicated, and, at times, fraught. Connections is a welcome preaching resource that addresses that important relationship, grounded in sound and current biblical scholarship and reflecting the ways the Word can engage creatively and thoughtfully the world God so dearly loves and Jesus Christ came to redeem. I can think of no more valuable help for those who stand up in the midst of their congregations weekly and attempt to speak a faithful, challenging and reconciling word." —John M. Buchanan, former Editor, The Christian Century, and author of From the Editor's Desk: Thinking Critically, Living Faithfully at the Dawn of a New Christian Century, also published by Westminster John Knox Press.
“Connections is the real deal.” -The Rev. Canon Broderick Greer, Canon Precentor at Saint John’s Cathedral, Denver Colorado
"Here is a resource that puts hundreds and hundreds of focused scholars in the preacher's study, ready to help shovel the diamonds of Scripture for the Sunday sermon. Every congregation in the country should buy their pastor a complete set, both for their own good and the good of the world." —Barbara Brown Taylor
"In this day when potential listeners are biblically and theologically untutored, distracted and disconnected, Connections is just what the doctor ordered for contemporary preaching. Connections is well named, for it equips preachers to preach sermons that connect with both Scripture and contemporary life, sermons that are both faithful to their biblical contexts and fitting to the contexts of their congregations in the world. Connections provides an antidote to biblical lectures with little acquaintance with contemporary life as well as to strings of stories that lack biblical grounding. We owe the publisher, editors, and authors of this series a debt of gratitude for the gift of this resource for preaching." —Alyce M. McKenzie, Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship, Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, and Director, The Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University
