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Nov 20, 2015 · There are things preachers can learn regarding how to construct and deliver a sermon, and how to communicate information effectively from the pulpit. He also said that the makeup of the human person is an important clue to preaching. God has made us in His image and has given us minds.
Sep 9, 2014 · What are some of the main reasons preachers do sermon illustrations poorly, or avoid them altogether? If preachers avoid illustrations, it is typically because they believe that to use illustrations would be to pander to an entertainment ethic.
- Gavin Ortlund
As preachers, we have the privilege of selecting and crafting powerful illustrations that resonate deeply with our congregation. An illustration is only as good as it presented by the preacher to bring about the desired results according to the objective of the sermon.
- Literature
- Your Life Experiences
- History and Biographies
- Nature
- Current Events
- Sermon Illustration Books and Websites
- Other Biblical Narratives
- Movies and TV
I passionately believe that pastors can benefit from reading literature, and we should do it more. Getting illustrations is just one of the benefits of this practice, but it’s a real one. Literature illustrates helpfully because 1. it is narratival, dramatic, and particular (the stuff of good illustrations); 2. it brings truth into real (often cont...
Personal illustrations can be helpful, because they bring truth into “normal” moments of life and can be more relaxed. The great danger in using illustrations from your life, of course, is being self-promoting, or drawing attention to yourself in unhelpful ways. Even when you use yourself as a bad example, you can still be saying, “Look how self-de...
Historical illustrations can be really useful and edifying and meet many of the same criteria as literature. Again, you have to be careful not to alienate people who aren’t interested in history by overusing these kinds of illustrations. But history can also be told in a way that engages just about everybody. Right now I have Sylvia Nasar’s A Beaut...
I’ve been surprised by how useful illustrations from nature and the animal kingdom can be. We’ve been watching Planet Earth IIon Netflix, so these spring to mind a lot. Lately I’ve referenced the way camels get irritated at humans as an illustration of the dangers of resentment (Martha in Luke 10); the protectiveness of a mother bird over her eggs ...
The news is filled with stories and other information that can be used to illustrate. For instance, you’re waiting at the dentist. You pick up a magazine and read a story about a teenager falling into a pit and needing to be rescued. Something she says in the interview resonates with you about the power of fear. Boom. Great illustration. These kind...
I can understand why some people are against using these kinds of resources altogether. There’s a high risk of artificiality, they’re often cheesy, and the theological bandwidth of what’s illustrated tends to be pretty wide. Nonetheless, I don’t think it’s bad to use them on occasion, when other resources fail. These resources must be used with the...
It’s often been observed that the majority of Scripture comes to us in the form of narrative. The Bible’s many colorful stories are a minefield of illustrative material. A benefit of this practice is that we’re exposing our listeners to a variety of biblical texts beyond those on the preaching calendar. You can be preaching verse-by-verse through a...
What movies we watch is generally a more divisive issue than what books we read, so we must be extra vigilant not to violate the consciences of our listeners. You can try to cloak the illustration by not mentioning what movie it’s from, but some people will probably figure it out, and it distracts people who spend time trying to figure it out. I th...
- Gavin Ortlund
- Illustrations inform and instruct. Our goal as gospel heralds is to teach our people the ways of God. The use of illustration recognizes that people more readily grab hold of pictures and images than they do propositions.
- Illustrations explain and clarify. Explanatory power resides in good illustrations that make the truths of the Bible apparent. Good illustrations will evoke an “Aha” moment or provide a “Now I see” experience.
- Illustrations can help the preacher connect and identify with his people. Good communicators learn how to touch the souls of their congregation and take hold of their hearts.
- Illustrations are a tremendous aid to memorization and recall. People remember stories. Remembering our stories or our striking and memorable statements will pave the road back to our exposition and aid in its recall.
Sep 12, 2013 · It is the same with the preacher beginning to take illustrations seriously. Some sections of the sermon call for thick brushes like stories while others require only thin dab from an analogy. The question, then, is which illustrations are most effective for which parts of the sermon?
People also ask
Do illustrations make a good preacher?
Should illustrations be the main focus of a sermon?
What is a good example of a sermon illustration?
Are personal illustrations helpful?
Here is more on that thought, and some other wrong ways preachers often use illustrations in their sermons: 1. The illustrations are too long. If you're going to eat up valuable real estate in your sermon time, you've got to make it really count.
