Praise for 20 Questions to Ask the Text: Year B I’ve said that biblical study for sermon preparation consists of a series of respectful questions that a preacher puts to a biblical text. Now Kurt Lammi demonstrates how to do that. Kurt’s questions and responses not only model how to interrogate scripture, but how to allow scripture to interrogate us. All preachers will receive fresh inspiration for truly biblical preaching from Kurt’s book. Will Willimon, Director, the Doctor of Ministry Program, Duke Divinity School, author of Preachers Dare: Speaking for God. Like the witness narrated in the Bible, this comprehensive set of exegetical interrogation deserves a sequel. As we move through the 2nd in the 3-year cycle of the Christian Year, Lammi provides additional insight that brings a contemporary witness to the ancient text enabling creative preparation for the sermon and engaging the gospel readings from the lectionary. For those desiring to be compelling preachers, this is a beneficial resource. Rev. Joy J. Moore, PhD, President and professor of Homiletics at Northern Seminary, Lisle, IL. and former Sermon Brainwave podcast co-host at Luther Seminary. Preachers are speakers, but first they must be listeners. Faithful preaching almost always begins in dialogue, when a pastor sits with biblical texts to pose questions and follow where the answers lead. Kurt Lammi's practice of posing twenty questions to a text allows readers to eavesdrop on what a preacher does throughout a given week. Pastor Lammi demonstrates the kind of expectation, study, patience, and hope that invigorates our interpretive efforts and creative processes. Matthew L. Skinner, Asher O. and Carrie Nasby Professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary Pastor Kurt Lammi’s “twenty questions to ask the text” approach offers preachers a valuable system for reading scripture passages closely and preparing sermons that are faithful to the text, proclaiming God’s grace to listeners. Covering every Sunday and major church commemoration, Twenty Questions is an excellent resource for preachers, Bible study leaders, and ministers’ text study groups. Joy A. Schroeder, Professor of Church History and holder of the Trinity Chair in Lutheran Heritage, Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University, Columbus, Ohio At first you think, "20 questions every week? That's a lot!" Nonetheless, Kurt Lammi's style of asking practical and reflective questions of the biblical text effectively shapes the holy habit of curiosity in its readers. The way Lammi asks and answers the questions without being overwhelming-- and as a fellow preacher-- inevitably stirs the reader-preacher's own imagination to ask the prayerful and powerful preaching question, "Why?" Readers feel like they are joining a conversation and being invited to add their own ponderings to his, which is a true gift! In other words, 20 Questions to Ask the Text: Year B is the best kind of biblical preaching preparation tool: it opens up rather than hems in the preacher's partnership with the Holy Spirit and the community of faith to bridge the gap between the text and modern context. Rev. Chelsey Harmon, pastor at The Bridge Community Church in Langley, British Columbia and frequent commentary writer for the Center for Excellence in Preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan.