Because the Bible is an ancient book, it invites the preacher back into its world in order to understand; because the Bible is the church s Scripture, it moves forward into our world and addresses us here and now. from the author s Introduction This is the first volume of a comprehensive three-volume set of commentaries of all of the lectionary texts for Sunday reading (including the Psalms) and for special days in all communions, treating the readings for each year in a single volume. Year B will follow in September 1993; Year C in September 1994. The volumes are based on the newly revised The Common Lectionary: The Lectionary Proposed by the Consultation on Texts (1992) together with other readings kept in the Episcopal, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic churches. The entire set will prove useful also for those who do not follow the lectionary, since each volume provides commentaries on a vast number of texts and includes a complete index of those texts. Preaching Through the Christian Year is an extensive revision and expansion of the author s earlier work (Preaching the New Common Lectionary), taking into account changes in appointed texts, revised translations of the Bible, additions to the liturgical calendar, and the like. The result is a new, larger, and improved commentary to aid those who preach and teach. The authors of this important series teach at Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Atlanta, and are renowned scholars in their particular disciplines preaching and Old and New Testament studies.