Perry’s Scope: Christian sermons, lessons, and resources for teachers

A penthouse sits on the very top of a building. It rests on all the stories below it. The point of so many sermons and bible class lessons rests on the stories that support them.

When I first began preaching, I rarely used stories. Most of my sermons were packed with scriptures. Everything I said was supported by a biblical text. Over time I began to hear more “successful” speakers than I and noticed a common characteristic of story-telling.

I started using stories, illustrations, quotes, etc. in my lessons. In my opinion, it improved my impact. I read that stories were like the raisins in the oatmeal. People may not always remember my sermon or class, but they tend to remember the point - based on the stories along with the text.

It occurs to me that we really want to imitate Jesus in our teaching. His primary method of teaching was the story. We generally call his stories “parables.” When Jesus spoke these parables, they were not scripture.  They did not become scripture until the Bible was canonized. Jesus could have just quoted scripture to people (and some times he did) or given sermons like we would present. He chose to emphasize story to his hearers.

I understand that the rabbis of Jesus’ day intentionally taught their disciples in order to make changes in their lives. They were not giving them information, they were making transformation. We think that if we just fill people with enough information it will be sufficient.

Jesus used his stories to illustrate biblical truth. For instance, the parable of the sower illustrates the power of God’s word. He could have quoted Psalm 119 and declared its power, but he chose a story. He could have quoted Zechariah and the fact that we do not despise the day of small beginnings. Ins tead, he chose to tell us about a mustard seed. On and on we could go.

There are many resources available for good stories. Take the time to read the newspaper, watch the news, read contemporary books, subscribe to on-line sites that are filled with stories and illustrations. Take the time to appropriately add these to your lessons. You will make a bigger impact and your hearers will remember.

Perry Greene