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If you find that reading good sermons primes the pump of your sermonic well, consider reading The Haunt of Grace: Responses to the Mystery of God's Presence by Ted Loder (Innisfree Press, Inc. 2002, $15.95). Loder is senior pastor of United Methodist Church, Germantown, Pennsylvania.

Or read Where All Hope Lies: Sermons for the Liturgical Year by James R. Van Tholen (Eerdmans, 2003, $20). The author, who died in 2001, was pastor of Rochester Christian Reformed Church in Rochester, New York.

Better yet, read Confessing Jesus Christ: Preaching in a Postmodern World by David J. Lose (Eerdmans, 2003, $27). The author describes preaching as "confessional," in the sense of this is what I believe, rather than this is what you ought to believe. As he describes it, "Confessional preaching leads not to certainty but to conviction, and lives not in the domain of knowledge and proof but rather in the realm of faithful assertion" (p. 3).

Again, "In short, I propose that preaching that seeks to be both faithful to the Christian tradition and responsive to our pluralistic, postmodern context is best understood as the public practice of confessing faith in Jesus Christ" (p. 3).

And, "The preacher, then, is called to confess, by the text, by the world, and by the preacher's own sense of self, and that the confession takes shape most clearly in the sermon offered to the gathered assembly of Christian believers awaiting the Word of faith" (p. 187).

As support, read the devotions of a man who confessed his faith when he spoke, The Road Back to God by O.P. Kretzmann, re-edited for a new century by Norman D. Kretzmann and John Paul Kretzmann (originally published in 1935, now republished by Valparaiso University and Wheat Ridge Ministries, 2003, $10).

Don't overlook Reclaiming the "L" Word: Renewing the Church from Its Lutheran Core by Kelly A. Fryer (Augsburg Fortress, 2003, $9.99). If you are a pastor, consider this for personal reading, for use by study groups, and possibly for new excitement in the parish.

As Timothy Lull suggested in his Foreword to the book, this is a book for potential members, for long-time members, and for anyone who wishes to know the core of Lutheranism. Written with clarity and enthusiasm, this book deserves to be available and used. The author is excited about "Lutheran dogma," the core of "Lutheran" faith. Surprise yourself. You, too, may be an excited Lutheran after you read this "confession of faith."

For further help with preaching and teaching, consider Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel by Craig R. Koester (Fortress, 2003, $27). How do people know God? This is a good question. Here's help.

As the author comments in his preface, this book "is a study of John's Gospel as a whole. Using symbolism as its focus, it explores the Gospel's literary dimension, social and historical context, and theological import. One question that shapes the study concerns how the people know God, since symbols are earthly images that bear witness to transcendent realities; and a second question is how particular things can have broader or even universal significance. In the chapters that follow we will make our way through John's richly textured narrative, asking how this telling of the story of Jesus enables readers 'from below' to know and believe what is 'from above'" (p. xi).

Another valuable resource is Church and State: Lutheran Perspectives edited by John R. Stumme and Robert W. Tuttle (Fortress, 2003, $20). This book has two parts. Part one "explores the church's identity, beliefs, and history, and shows how they shape a Lutheran perspective." Part two explores the legal context and "examines Supreme Court rulings on the First Amendment, describing and evaluating their meaning for church and society" (p. xi).

For a book that describes how religion has twisted Jesus' view of God as a God of violence, read Is Religion Killing Us? Violence in the Bible and the Qu'ran, by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer (Trinity Press International, 2003, $24). As the introduction points out, "Treating texts rooted in the violence-of-God traditions in the Bible and the Qu'ran as 'sacred' distorts God and faith and gives religious legitimacy to human violence" (p. xvi).

The author claims that by sanctioning violence in "sacred" texts and in reference to them, we invariably progress along a treacherous pathway. God is powerful and proves to be God through superior violence — and this justifies human violence in the name of God.

Related to this issue are two books from the Fortress Facet series: Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way by Walter Wink (Fortress, 2003, $6). and Islam: What Non-Muslims Should Know by John Kaltner (Fortress, 2003, $6). These are good books to have available for small-group discussions of timely issues.

Carl E. Linder is Lutheran Partners' interim book review editor. He was the magazine's editor from 1987-2002.