I’ve preached and taught on a weekly basis for nearly two decades, and many things have gotten easier with time. But there’s one part that never seems to get easier: finding that perfect illustration that involves listeners and grabs their attention. That’s why every pastor and professor needs Interactive Illustrations: The Gospels. Every idea that Mike Nappa describes will help to spark your creativity and form you into a more effective teacher and preacher.
—Dr. Timothy Paul Jones, professor of leadership and church ministry, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, author of The Da Vinci Codebreaker
Being a pastor is like finals week for the rest of your life. The weekly sermon is not only a pastor’s greatest opportunity to touch lives and a personal joy; it’s also a relentless beast that must be fed. Every pastor knows the pressure of needing something with which to feed the flock when there’s nothing left to give. That’s why Interactive Illustrations: The Gospels is so helpful. Sometimes just one good idea can jump-start the creative process. That one good idea can make a pastor’s week go from pressured to fulfilling in a matter of minutes.
—Ed Rowell, lead pastor of Tri-Lakes Chapel in Monument, Colorado, author of Preaching with Spiritual Passion
It seems that every facet of our society has embraced the value of interactivity. TV viewers can interact with their favorite show’s characters on Web sites. Runners customize their own shoes online. Blogging boomed, and then gave way to the faster, more fidgety microblogs. Social networking sites allow for customization and personalization. The pulpit seems to be the last holdout for yesterday’s information-dump learning style. But there’s hope! With Interactive Illustrations: The Gospels, Mike Nappa has given pastors and speakers a tool that empowers captive audiences everywhere. These creative illustrations will allow once-bored pew sitters to help write the sermons by participating in lively experiences and spirited conversations. Use the illustrations in this book and your audiences will be talking about your sermons all week.
—Larry Shallenberger, pastor of Next Generation Ministries, McKean, Pennsylvania
Published by Standard Publishing, Cincinnati, Ohio www.standardpub.com © 2010 by Nappaland Communications Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in reviews, without the written permission of the publisher. Editor: ??? Cover and interior design: Thinkpen Design, Inc., www.thinkpendesign.com All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation second edition. Copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Published in association with Nappaland Literary Agency, www.NappalandLiterary.com. Visit the author’s Web site at: www.Nappaland.com, “The Free E-Magazine for Families.” Add line about a church obtaining a motion picture license whereby they can legally display movie clips in a public setting, as long as they do not charge admission. ISBN 978-0-7847-2357-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data <to come> 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
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Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx
What’s in the Box? (Matthew 1:18-24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Magi Mentality (Matthew 2:1-12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. The Devil’s Razzle Dazzle (Matthew 4:1-11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Prayer Postures (Matthew 6:7-13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. Heavenly GPS (Matthew 7:13, 14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. It’s for You (Matthew 9:9-13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. Just Because He Can (Matthew 14:22-33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. True or False (Matthew 16:13-20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. Forgive or Forget It (Matthew 18:21-35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10. The Greatest (Matthew 22:34-40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11. Give and Get (Matthew 25:14-30) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12. Barkers in the Bleachers (Matthew 26:36-46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13. Second Fiddle (Mark 1:1-15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14. Healing Hands (Mark 1:29-34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15. Legalism Kills, Jesus Heals (Mark 3:1-6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16. In the Garden (Mark 4:30-33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17. Unbelievable Belief (Mark 5:21-43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18. Penny for Your Thoughts (Mark 6:1-6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19. Potluck Power (Mark 6:30-44) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20. Great Big Zeroes (Mark 9:33-37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21. Kid Stuff (Mark 10:13-16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22. Show Me the Money (Mark 10:17-27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23. Things That Make God Go “Grr” (Mark 11:15-18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24. Open Hands (Mark 12:41-44) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25. Air Ball (Mark 14:66-72) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26. Celebrate Good Times, C’mon! (Luke 2:8-20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27. The Business Deal (Luke 2:41-51) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. 2.
xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx
Think Outside the Mat (Luke 5:17-26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx Minty Fresh and Clean (Luke 7:36-50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 30. Bigger and Better (Luke 8:4-15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 31. When God Was Sleeping (Luke 8:22-25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 32. Do You See What They See? (Luke 9:28-36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 33. Don’t Call Us . . . (Luke 10:25-37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 34. Odd and Even (Luke 15:11-32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 35. Thank You (Luke 17:11-19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 36. A Most Unusual Sight (Luke 19:28-40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 37. Famous Lasts (Luke 22:14-20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 38. Light the Dark Places (John 1:1-18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 39. A Dirty, Pretty Act (John 13:1-15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 40. The Mentalist (John 13:34, 35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 41. Going the Wrong Way (John 14:1-7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 42. Memory Maker (John 14:15-31) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 43. Naming Rights for Sale (John 18:1-13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 44. The First Last Lecture (John 18:28–19:16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 45. What Are the Odds? (John 19:17-37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 46. The End of the World as We Know It (John 19:28-42) . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 47. The Beginning of the World as We Know It (John 20:1-9) . . . . . . . xx 48. Surprise! (John 20:10-18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 49. Do You Believe in Miracles? (John 20:24-29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 50. Popcorn in the Pews (John 21:15-19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx 28. 29.
Indexes: Scriptures Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xx
Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx Audience Comfort Rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx Also Appropriate For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx
Introduction
W
elcome to your secret weapon. At least this book can be your secret weapon, if you use it. But first you must be (a) someone who loves to teach the Bible to a group of people, and (b) someone who likes for people to actually remember what you teach them about the Bible. If that describes you, then Interactive Illustrations: The Gospels is just what you’ve been looking for. You’ll discover fifty unforgettable, audienceinvolving sermon illustrations that communicate truth about specific Bible passages from all four of Christ’s Gospels. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill, recite-a-poem-tell-a-funny-story-orread-a-pithy-quote type of illustrations. They’re innovative learning experiences for adults, carefully designed to get your people thinking—and talking—about the gospel truth. They are powerful tools to help you unleash the Sermonator within, and to help your listeners experience Speaker Tip People remember only real, lasting learning from your teaching. about 10 percent of The ideas in this book are short (generally what they hear, but up to 90 percent of what ten to fifteen minutes or so), attentionthey experience.1 grabbing experiences you can use to creatively highlight a sermon point, to introduce a
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Interactive Illustrations: The Gospels
theme, or to close out a talk in a powerful, memorable way. And they’re all packed into this little book that you can easily tuck in your back pocket. You hold in your hand your very own secret weapon for teaching the Gospels to audiences of any size. Go ahead and use it today. When people start telling you how much they learned from your last teaching, there’s no need to reveal that you got the illustration ideas from in here. We’ll let Interactive Illustrations: The Gospels be our little secret. Of course my publisher wants you to shout from the rooftops where you got these great ideas. Your partner in ministry,
Mike Nappa
5
Matthew 7:13, 14 Heavenly GPS The gateway to life is very narrow, and the road is difficult . . . — M a t t h e w 7 : 1 4 ( N LT )
Theme: Direction Audience Comfort Rating: Gently Rockin’ the Boat Also Appropriate For: Sunday school, mission fairs, retreat programs Summary: Audience members will test their senses of direction by trying to face north, south, east, and west.
Preparation: You’ll need to know which way is north, south, east, and west from inside your auditorium.
S
ometime early in your message, ask audience members to number off from one to four within their respective rows. Have the person at the far left end of each row start this by taking the number one. The next person in the row is number two, and so on, repeating the process until everyone in each row has been assigned a number from one to four. Say: On my signal, I want everyone who is a number one to stand and face east, all the twos to stand and face north, all the threes to stand and face west, and all the fours to stand and face south. No slacking
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Interactive Illustrations: The Gospels
or dilly-dallying or peeking at your portable GPS system allowed! Just jump up and face your assigned direction. Ready? Go! There will likely be some confusion, as not everyone will immediately know which direction is which—and that’s OK. Before people can get their bearings, shout out: OK, now switch! Number ones should now face south. Twos, you face west. Threes, you face north. Fours, you face east. Ready? Go! Again, there will likely be some confusion, though more people in the audience will start to orient themselves by now. After a moment, have everyone switch directions again, and then one final time after that. Tell the audience to applaud themselves for their efforts and then return to their seats. Point out which directions are north, south, east, and west in your auditorium, and then ask if anyone was able to get all four correct. Congratulate those who did. Then say: Just as many of us experienced some confusion here in this auditorium, sometimes on our journey to Heaven, it can be easy to get disoriented and lose our sense of direction! We need to always keep our “spiritual GPS” locked onto the narrow road to eternity. Let’s explore this idea more today as we look at Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:13, 14.
Date Used Where Used
Things That Make God Go “Grr”
23
19
Mark 11:15-18 Things That Make God Go “Grr” He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. —Mark 11:15
Theme: Anger Audience Comfort Rating: Get a Life Jacket! Also Appropriate For: Sunday school, retreat programs, youth group meetings
Summary: Audience members will identify things that make them feel frustrated and angry.
Preparation: None
Speaker Tip Reason for the Rating Some audience members will feel a little stressed and vulnerable about revealing their opinions in such a public way—outside the safety of their seats! If you want to lower the audience comfort rating on this illustration, consider having people simply stand and face left or right to communicate their opinions. This will lessen the emotional impact of the experience, but will also make some in the congregation who are older, or more shy, feel just a little bit safer during the activity.
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Interactive Illustrations: The Gospels
A
t an appropriate moment during your sermon, tell the congregation that you are going to put them on the spot for a few minutes. Advise them that you’ll expect them to get out of their seats and move around a bit. Designate the left wall of your auditorium as “10” and the right wall of your auditorium as “1.” Then say: In just a moment I’m going to read a list of potentially frustrating situations. I want you to think about each situation and then rank, on a scale of 1 to 10, how angry that situation makes you feel. A ranking of 10 means “That really makes me mad!” A ranking of 1 means “I couldn’t care less about that.” The only number you are not allowed to use in your ranking is 5—no bland halfhearted feelings today! Explain that after you read a situation, each person should choose his or her ranking and then go stand somewhere in between the 10 wall and the 1 wall to indicate the appropriate feelings. For instance, if a situation makes someone feel like a 9, he’d go stand just a few feet away from the left wall. If it makes someone else feel like a 1, she’d go lean on the right wall. When everyone is ready, spend the next several minutes reading from the list of situations below. Try to use a variety of items from the list, some lighter in tone, some more serious. Also tell people that if a situation doesn’t apply specifically to them, imagine how they would react if it did—and choose their rankings accordingly. Read as many situations as time allows (there are more listed here than you will likely be able to use), and feel free to add situations of your own to the list. After reading each situation, give congregation
Things That Make God Go “Grr”
21
members time to position themselves across the auditorium. If time allows, ask a few people at either extreme (close to the 1 wall or close to the 10 wall) to explain why they feel the way they do. Here are some situations you can use during this illustration: • The person in front of you at the grocery store has thirty-five items in the fifteen-items-or-less checkout line. • Another driver honks his horn and gives you a rude gesture as he passes by. • Your morning newspaper is in the street instead of on your front porch. • Your computer freezes up at work, and no one will help get it restarted. • You can’t find a parking place at church. • A TV show mocks Christians as ignorant and hypocritical. • You spill a cup of coffee on a new outfit. • Your kids are cranky and whiny after school. • Your teenager lies to you about staying out after curfew. • Your boss chews you out for something that wasn’t your fault. • A movie you really want to see is sold out. • You dieted for two whole weeks and actually gained a pound. • You prayed for something very important, but your prayer went unanswered. • A terrorist organization blew up a bus station full of civilians, and then claimed they did it to glorify God. • A Christian leader was caught in sexual immorality. When you are ready to move on, thank everyone for their participation and have people return to their seats. Then say:
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Interactive Illustrations: The Gospels
There are many situations that frustrate us and make us angryâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; some that are seemingly insignificant and some that are very serious. Scripture reveals that there was something serious that made Jesus very angry as well. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s read Mark 11:15-18 together now to discover more about that.
Date Used Where Used
Chapter Title
29
23
Luke 7:36-50 Minty Fresh and Clean Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven. —Luke 7:47
Theme: Forgiveness Audience Comfort Rating: Smooth Sailing Also Appropriate For: Intergenerational or family gatherings, leadership training events, women’s ministry events
Summary: Audience members will enjoy a piece of gum—and the fresh breath that comes along with it.
Preparation: You’ll need enough mint-flavored gum for everyone in the congregation to have a piece, and (optional) a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records.
A
t an appropriate point during your message, hold up a pack of gum and (optional) a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records. Say:
I have a new goal for us today: minty freshness! In just a moment the ushers are going to give everyone in this auditorium a piece of gum. When I give the signal, let’s all pop the gum into our mouths and chew it for thirty seconds to see if we can set the world record for the church with the cleanest, freshest breath!
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Speaker Tip
At the end of your illustration, you may want to ask people to cover their chewed gum with the gum wrappers; then have ushers walk up and down the aisles with buckets to collect any gum that people are ready to throw away.
Interactive Illustrations: The Gospels
Have ushers distribute the gum; then tell everyone to enjoy chewing it. After thirty seconds or so, have everyone stand up and exhale their minty fresh breath into the air! Then allow congregation members to return to their seats while you say:
OK, I don’t think we set any world records today after all, but I’m betting your neighbor likes you more now than he or she did a few minutes ago! So go ahead and turn to your neighbor now and discuss these questions: • What do you like best about chewing a fresh piece of gum? • How might the fresh taste of gum in your mouth be compared to the freshness of a life that’s been renewed by the power of forgiveness? Give an example if you can. Give pairs a few minutes for discussion, and then call everyone’s attention back to you. Comment: Gum can, temporarily at least, wipe clean the palate and give us fresh, pleasant breath. But only the power of Christ’s forgiveness can wipe a life clean of sin and give it a fresh, new start. Let’s discover more about one woman’s experience with that kind of lifechanging, soul-cleansing forgiveness in Luke 7:36-50. Date Used Where Used