As the fledgling church was taking its first steps into a new world, carving out a new spiritual path, it left road signs to guide the church yet to come. Those road signs are contained in the pastoral letters of the New Testament, and they have been guiding the body of Christ since its infancy. In this outstanding anthology of sermons based on the Second Readings from Cycle B of the Revised Common Lectionary, five distinguished preachers draw valuable lessons from these texts for the complex challenges posed by life in the 21st century. With material for every Sunday and major celebration throughout the entire church year, this volume is filled with compelling stories and wisdom. It's a preaching, teaching, and meditation resource that will be a welcome addition to any library. This essential resource is useful for: Fresh homiletical approaches to the lectionary texts Inspiring preaching illustrations and sermon starters Understanding scripture passages Adult study and discussion groups Personal devotions and Bible study Scott Suskovic is the senior pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, a thriving congregation with an average worship attendance of more than 1,000 in both contemporary and traditional settings. He previously served churches in Florida and Minnesota, and he has been a contributor to several editions of Augsburg Fortress's Sundays and Seasons series. Suskovic is currently a member of the writing team for the online preaching resource The Immediate Word (). He is a graduate of St. Olaf College (B.A.), Luther Seminary (M.Div.), and Boston University (D.Min.). Nancy Kraft has been the pastor of congregations in North Dakota, Ohio, and North Carolina, and she presently serves at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. She has also been an assistant to the bishop of the ELCA's Northeastern Ohio Synod. She is a graduate of Bowling Green State University (B.S. in Education), Trinity Lutheran Seminary (M.Div.), and the University of Pittsburgh (Ph.D.). Gibson "Nibs" Stroupe and his wife, Caroline Leach, have been the pastors of Oakhurst Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Georgia, since 1983. They are the co-authors of O Lord, Hold Our Hands, a book detailing Oakhurst's unique multi-cultural ministry. Stroupe is also the author of Where Once We Feared Enemies (CSS) and While We Run This Race, which won the 1996 Gustavus Myers Award for outstanding book on human rights. Stories on Stroupe and his Oakhurst ministry have been featured in several national media outlets, including Time, the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, NBC Nightly News, CNN, and National Public Radio. In 2007, Stroupe was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta. Thomas Lentz is an ordained Lutheran pastor who has had a varied career in business and the parish ministry. He has served congregations in Ohio and the Virgin Islands, and he is a co-founder and former acquisitions editor of CSS Publishing Company. Lentz is currently the chairman and North American divisional head of Global Display Solutions. He is a graduate of Wittenberg University, Hamma School of Theology, and Yale Divinity School. Patrick J. Rooney is the senior pastor of Christ Lutheran Church (ELCA) in York, Pennsylvania, a historic congregation currently celebrating its 275th anniversary. He is a native of England and a former monk, having spent a decade as a member of a Roman Catholic religious order. In addition to pastoral ministry, Rooney has served in two ecumenical agencies and worked in the social welfare field. He is a graduate of St. Mary's College of the University of London and Shippensburg University (M.Ed.). Rooney completed his Lutheran studies at Gettysburg Seminary and also studied at Catholic University

Whether we are conscious of it or not, we fear difference. That often unwarranted fear leads us to create enemies in our hearts and minds, and fear was no stranger to Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, as confessed by Pastor Nibs Stroupe: "We have listened to one another's stories here, and we have discovered that the people we feared, those monsters we thought would destroy us -- because of different skin colors, different genders, different sexual orientations, different economic categories -- they are really our sisters and brothers, the folks for whom our hearts long."
In the 1960s the Oakhurst congregation was 900 members strong, but by the time Nibs Stroupe arrived in 1983, "white flight" had left less than 100 on the church's dwindling membership rolls. Since then, Oakhurst has undergone an extraordinary transformation, re-inventing itself as a growing community that welcomes everyone. The congregation has attracted national attention for its radically inclusive and egalitarian diversity, which extends beyond racial integration to class, gender, sexual orientation, and theological perspective. How have people from such dissimilar backgrounds come together to create a harmonious and thriving whole? In what biblical vision is it rooted and shaped? By what theological resources is it fed and sustained? The heart of the answer to these questions lies in the exceptional sermons of Nibs Stroupe.
Growing out of the experience of a multicultural congregation in which diversity is both valued and feared, these messages offer an uncompromising prophetic vision of the American church's identity and mission. Stroupe firmly grounds a liberal social viewpoint within the biblical and theological traditions of the church, and he calls us to hear God's claim on us in our place and in our time. Underlying his powerful sermons is the fundamental conviction that the barriers that separate us from our neighbors have been brought down in Jesus Christ. "Where Once We Feared Enemies" will be an indispensable addition to any pastor's library. It is also inspiring and enlightening reading for anyone interested in the future of the American church, as well as its role in the continuing stories of race relations, civil rights, and peace and justice issues.
"These sermons are not your typical "social action" homilies. Rather Nibs Stroupe cuts to the quick of the biblical message of Jesus as it impacts the minds and hearts of thinking people of every race, class, and political stripe. This is theologically rich fare that will satisfy and energize Christians and non-Christians alike. These are the kind of no-nonsense sermons that have made Oakhurst one of the most faithful and consistent witnesses to the love and justice-making of the gospel that I have seen in more than half a century of ministry."
Gayraud S. Wilmore
Emeritus Professor of African-American Church History
Interdenominational Theological Center
Gibson "Nibs" Stroupe and his wife, Caroline Leach, have been the pastors of Oakhurst Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Georgia, since 1983. They are the co-authors of "O Lord, Hold Our Hands," a book detailing Oakhurst's unique multicultural ministry. Stroupe is also the author of" While We Run This Race," which won the 1996 Gustavus Myers Award for outstanding book on human rights. Stroupe and his Oakhurst ministry have been featured in" Time," the "Wall Street Journal," and the "Christian Science Monitor," on "NBC Nightly News," CNN, and National Public Radio, and in several books.
Chris Boesel (editor) is an assistant professor of Christian theology at Drew University Theological School.