Stories in Season

Stories in Season brings together thirty-two narrative sermons by Bruce Taylor based on the Common Lectionary (Revised) for preaching over the course of the Sundays and feast days of the Christian year. Included here are stories published for the first time and a sampling of stories that have appeared in his books previously published by Wipf and Stock. With some set in biblical times and others in imagined more recent circumstances, they exemplify the engaging use of storytelling in the process of communicating the gospel, drawing on Jesus' own example. The homiletical task is never one of pure entertainment, but the occasional and appropriate use of stories can provide a variety in preaching that sparks fresh interest in familiar Bible passages and invites congregations to discover new dimensions of the Scriptures and how Christian faith can and should shape daily life, all while narrowing the distance between the Bible and our own time and place. Whether the reader is a minister tasked with preaching or a lay person seeking intellectual and emotional connection with the continuing Christian epic, these stories will bring a smile, a tear, a nod, and a new engagement of heart and mind.