The Preacher's Study Ezine Archive |
||||
* * T H E P R E A C H E R ' S S T U D Y * * *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* [3] Preacher's Study Website Updates Greetings! A special warm welcome to new subscribers. You may or may not have realized that I missed the deadline for the last issue. I've been working on a new home for this ezine and since I'm the chief design department along with being the editor and writing staff to boot, there wasn't enough time to get the issue out. Sorry. I will be announcing the new URL soon though, so please stay tuned. The ezine will continue to be sent free of charge to any and all who request it. This issue will be a bit longer than normal. I'm doing that to make up for the missing one. I hope you find it useful. Good sermon illustrations are invaluable to good preaching. While there are many canned "collections" available, both in digital form and on paper, original ones are harder to come by. This issue presents a list of possible sources. I keep this list handy by my computer when I'm writing my own sermons. That way I'm seldom caught without a good story. As always, your comments are welcomed. God bless. [2] *=*Featured Article If you have preached very long, you know that wise use of illustrations can mean the difference between a terrific sermon and a tedious one. Knowing the value it is one thing. Finding good material is quite another. Other issues of this ezine have encouraged the collecting of sermon illustrations and described methods to keep track of them. In this article I want to mention some of the better sources for finding your own original material. When I say "original" in this context, I don’t necessarily mean that you authored the illustration or that you conceived it yourself. I mean that you recognized its value and gathered it from some source besides a book or database of someone’s sermon illustrations. You and you alone brought it into the context of preaching from its former context. If you want to collect and use your own original illustrations, and not depend upon the collections of others, here are some sources to help get you started. 1. Scripture The Bible does a wonderful job of illustrating it’s own principles and truths. As you prepare your sermons, ask yourself, "Is there a story in the Bible that will show my hearers how this principle/command/admonition applies? When using illustrations from Scripture, don’t dwell on the obvious. Try to tell the story in a creative way rather than just citing it or reading it or, if you do read it, explain it interestingly as you go. A helpful tool for this kind of illustrating is a topical Bible. I use Nave’s Topical Bible, which is a part of my Biblesoft PC Study Bible Software. Just enter the topic and it cites Bible passages that teach and illustrate that topic. Nave’s is available for free online use at: http://bible.crosswalk.com/Concordances/NavesTopicalBible/ 2. Personal Experience Your own life is a rich source of original material. (Boy, does that sound like a self-serving statement!) If used sparingly and carefully, stories from your own life can be illuminating, motivating, and interesting. There are some pitfalls, though. Here are some things to avoid: (1) Speaking of yourself too frequently. It sounds like boasting. (2) Making yourself the hero of the story. In fact, the most effective personal stories may be those that cast you into the role of the one who learned the lesson the hard way. (3) Exaggeration. We're never more likely to stretch a story than when it is about us - perhaps because we feel that since it is "our story" and we were the only ones who were there, we won't be called on it. (4) Including references to others without their permission. ("Dad, you embarrassed me out of my mind when you used my name in your sermon today!") 3. Newspapers and Television News As you read or watch, keep your eye open for good illustrative material. If you haven't done this before, you will probably be surprised at how much you'll find. These illustrations may be collected over time and filed away for future use. See my article on a file system that works at: http://preacherstudy.com/ezine8_h.htm Newspaper and TV news illustrations may also become the catalysts for an entire message at the time you hear them. TV stories are a little harder to "capture" because they usually come unannounced and are half done before you can grab a pencil or pen. A recent development is the advent of websites for the various news services. If you hear a story, check the website. You may find it recorded there. Just do it right away because "old news" is removed rather suddenly. Here are several links to try: You may also have the daily news sent directly to your email box. My favorite resource for this is at: Be sure to check out the "human interest" section of this latter mailing. Don’t forget to check your local news station as well, both on TV and on the web. A couple of our local radio and TV stations I listen to have websites: Listen to your local TV News for addresses of their websites. 4. Cartoons Gleaning illustrations from such a common source may help bridge the gap between pulpit and pew. My main source of cartoons is the local newspaper. I try to stick to those that I know others read or at least know about. Good cartoonists often capture poignant snapshots of life that can be meaningful in a sermon. I think it is important to use these sparingly, even if you find them a good source, simply because you don't want to present the image of getting your sermons from the funny paper. Also, don’t copy them without expressed permission from the author. Rather, just describe them. ("Lucy in the Peanuts comic strip is always cocked and ready to go off on anybody who doesn’t agree with her ways of…. In last Sunday’s Oregonian, Lucy was….") As for legal use of the actual cartoonists’ drawings, here is a good article for discerning the do’s and don’ts: http://www.3m.com/meetingnetwork/ 5. Movies and Television Programs Caution is urged here. Much of what is on TV is not fit for Christian consumption. Many movies are the same or worse. Of particular note regarding TV are the evening sitcoms that constantly mock morality and decency and make joke of things God says are serious matters. A preacher's quote from such a dubious source can sound like an endorsement. I seldom utilize this source, which probably stems from the fact that I don’t watch them. I mention it here because there is probably a place for some careful gleaning, if only to illustrate the wrong way of doing things. 6. Radio Radio can be a good source of illustrations. I love to listen to so-called "talk radio" while driving. Those who know me would say I'm a "talk show junkie." I seldom listen to music when I’m on the road. A good interview on someone’s "newsmaker line" is much more interesting to me. More than once I have pulled over to the side of the road and jotted notes on a 3x5 card regarding something I heard in a talk show. I find that I must use caution here though, as many people don't recognize my sources since they have different listening habits. 7. Encyclopedias Back in the days of paper edition encyclopedias that cost thousands of dollars, I seldom utilized this resource. Today with most or even all of them available on CD at a fraction of the former prices, or even on the web, they are a ready source of helpful, easy-to-search illustrative material. I use Britannica, Compton’s, and Microsoft Encarta. As an example of how an encyclopedia can be used, I wrote a sermon a few months ago called, "The Bible’s First Hostage Rescue." Based on Genesis 14, it told the story of Abraham’s rescue of his nephew, Lot. I needed something to set the mood so I loaded Britannica and typed "hostage rescue" into the search box. That brought up 25 items. I scanned the articles until I found "Entebbe Raid" which told the story of one of modern Israel’s first hostage rescues. It was a perfect my purpose. I read it, and reduced it to one exciting paragraph. It provided a compelling introduction to the theme I was emphasizing from the passage. Here are some online links to various encyclopedias: 8. Magazines Magazines, especially those pertaining to Christianity, can be a ready source of concentrated material. Since many are well known and readily available, I won’t mention any names here. 9. History and Biography I enjoy reading biographies and they provide an excellent source of original sermon illustration material. The local library or bookstore is usually well stocked with biographies in paper book form. When I do such reading, I keep a pencil ready to mark any stories that illustrate truths I might want to preach about. I suppose people probably can guess my favorites since I use them most often. Cable television has also become a great source of history and biography. Much like the news channels mentioned above, some of these have websites where you can find useful material along with programming schedules. Here are a couple that are available to cable subscribers in the USA: The History Channel The Discovery Channel Biography 10. Fiction I confess. This is not a very useful source of illustrations for me because I don’t spend much time reading it. I have friends who devour novels, and from time to time I note that they cite fictional incidents in their sermons. If you read a lot of fiction, double its worth by marking parts that might be useful in the pulpit. Again, I think caution is in order, as some fiction is not much better than some movies or TV. 11. Quotation Books These are available at bookstores in the reference section. A quick list may be put together by visiting Amazon.com. Writers use these as source material very often. Quote books provide a rich source of short statements that can be used to bolster your arguments or clarify your points. [If your main concern is just good illustrations and you are not concerned as much for originality, here are some additional sources]: 12. Forums and Online Preacher’s Groups. I subscribe to several discussion email lists of preachers. Along with ongoing discussion on many topics (which I usually don’t have time for) a lot of sharing of material goes on. I can glean 8-10 good illustrations per week from one of these sources (and I’m fairly picky.) While this source doesn’t quite fit my definition of "original" above, it can provide a good jump-start for your illustration collecting. I don’t recommend these email lists for their doctrinal content. They are often frustratingly diverse. They will provide you with a steady stream of illustrations though. The Pastor’s Helper List PastorMail The Timothy Report 13. Illustration Programs The computer has made keeping illustrations on hand an easy accomplishment. Parson’s Bible Illustrator is still my program of choice. The Deluxe Version comes with tens of thousands of useful illustrations already loaded. In my opinion, this program is the best way to keep track of what you collect for later access. Keep in mind that the longer such programs are out, the more common the material in them becomes, so a good habit of regular additions to your collection is a good idea. I have referenced several good illustration programs in other issues of this ezine 12. Illustration and anecdote books If you are a beginner, these may be helpful. The main drawback is that many of them were compiled in a bygone era. They must either be reworked or ignored altogether, lest you sound very "dated." 13. Printed sermons If you read the sermons of others, gleaning illustrations can be an added bonus to the actual content. Read with pencil in hand. Give credit where you can. Copyright 2001, Dave Redick, The Preacher's Study. All Rights Reserved. Reprint by permission only (which will probably be granted if you just ask.) Please do not cut articles out of this ezine and paste them anywhere else without permission. You may, however, forward this entire Ezine to friends freely. Four new messages were added to the Premium Section of our Website since the last issue. New messages are added weekly. These may be viewed only if you are a Premium Subscriber. "Four Tips for Lifelong Faithfulness," a sermon based on the parable of the minas in Luke 19:11-27. "Handling Life's Second Best," deals with coping with the disappointments of God's redirection in our lives. Often what looks like "second best" turns out to be the very best. "Out on a Limb for Christ," considers taking risks for the cause of the Kingdom. Based on the story of Zaccheus in Luke 19:1-10. A sixth funeral message was also added, a message pertaining to a lady who was not a
Christian when she died. [4] *=*On Subscribing to Our Website [7] *=*Copyright Information
|
||||
