Preaching is the art of building a bridge in the hearer's mind from the ancient world of the biblical text to the realities of our daily lives. Throughout this book, Stephen Farris offers splendid insights into ways that the Bible can connect with modern life and gives specific guidance to preachers on how to make these connections happen. This is a highly practical book for ministers and for classroom use.

These hymns, the Magnificat, Benedictus and Nunc Dimittis, are a familiar part of Christian liturgy; but their origin is uncertain, their meaning debated and their significance within Luke-Acts often ignored. This monograph argues that they were composed in Hebrew by Jewish-Christian poets, and were incorporated by the evangelist as anticipating certain key themes of his own work.