"Here are sermons, which I can say proudly are by my pastor, which bury into some of the lectionary's Old Testament texts. They get at them in the context of the message of the whole gospel. They address the issues we face with candor. They will stimulate your imagination and your faith, just as his preaching stimulates those of us in his congregation week by week."
Paul Westermeyer
Professor of Church Music
Luther Seminary
St. Paul, Minnesota
"In Bethlehem the rules are different. We get by giving. We win by losing. We live by dying. These are principles set forth by a God who comes to us, not under Herod's golden crown, but Jesus' thorny crown, not with legions of soldiers, but legions of angels, not in great Jerusalem, but in tiny Bethlehem. Let us begin our journey there."
-- from the Advent 3 sermon
Robert A. Hausman writes that once again in Advent, we tell Israel's story of hope against hope. We believe the promise of a shoot coming forth from a dead stump, of a king who executes justice.
"In faith we are ready to be called by the name, 'The Lord is our righteousness.' We remember not only the promise, but also the fulfillment," says the author.
The seventeen sermons in this book are based on the First Lesson texts primarily from Isaiah and Jeremiah. The sermons follow the Revised Common Lectionary.
Robert A. Hausman, St. Paul, Minnesota, is pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection. In addition to his parish ministry, he has been a campus pastor, a college and seminary professor, and a book editor. He holds a doctorate from the University of Chicago.