Introducing
On Preaching and Ministry presented by The Jenkins Institute
Thank you for the tremendous reception you gave the first edition of “On.” It was better than we anticipated. This month notice an added feature as we sit in on an interview with Bill Watkins and Andy Connelly. One thing every preacher learns early and lives with the rest of his life is that Sunday is coming! It’s coming. Sunday is coming, every 7 days and sometimes that feels like every 7 hours. Sunday is coming, in that week where you had two funerals and a wedding. Sunday is coming, whether you feel great or awful. Sunday is coming, in times of peace and times of conflict. Sunday is coming, even if you had a major blowout with your wife. Sunday is coming, if your elders like your series or not. Sunday is coming - are you ready? We hope to hear much from you on potential themes and topics, as well as suggestions and ideas for improving this publication. We encourage you to use these freely - to print them off and share them with others. We do ask that you at least cite the author and TJI as the source. With that you have our permission and blessing. We also hope you will share this with others and share email addresses of others in ministry with us. May God bless you in what you do in His service toward glorifying His name. We believe preaching to be the greatest work in the world and we hope to strengthen both your preaching and your resolve. - from The Editors, Jeff and Dale TheJenkinsInstitute@gmail.com
Staying Relevant: The Importance of Current Literature in Study by CHUCK MONAN, chuck@pvcc.org
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). Of paramount importance here is our knowledge and treatment of scripture. But of secondary importance is our study and awareness of a broad range of knowledge. The apostle Paul’s familiarity with the Gentile world and their poets earned him a hearing in Athens (Acts 17:16-34). The old English word parson literally meant “the person.” He was called this as by his person the church was represented, but also because he was the person to whom you would go for answers. In a time where fewer are coming to us for answers, it is crucial that we study to show ourselves approved. John Buchanan, editor/publisher of The Christian Century, writes “Reading is the necessary backdrop to
relevant 21st-century preaching. There is no shortcut or substitute. When the gospel and the preacher’s personal faith and experience are informed by wide, disciplined, varied, and sustained reading, lively and compelling sermons will be the result.” Karl Barth advised preachers to wo r k u p t h e i r s e r m o n s w i t h a newspaper in one hand and a Bible in t h e o t h e r, b u t t o i n t e r p r e t t h e newspaper with the Bible. The minister must be a student of culture, able to understand the zeitgeist, or the spirit of the age. Preaching is compelling to young secular adults not if preachers use
video clips from their favorite movies and dress informally and sound sophisticated, but if the preachers understand their hearts and culture so well that listeners feel the force of the sermon’s reasoning, even if the end they don’t agree with it. —Tim Keller In addition to this connection to current events, preachers must be able to meet the forces arrayed against God’s truth. Today, this is the use of science as a cudgel to batter faith and the Bible. But we are prepared, it is not difficult to use science to prove there is a Creator and that life could not have arisen by mere chance. Still another benefit of reading is the nuance, perspective, spice and flavor it adds to virtually every sermon or lesson we present. Illustration is essential in teaching. Mark Twain said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter ― it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” So it is with the right story, anecdote or illustration. Good reading generates delight, and the preacher should enjoy it without guilt. Delight is a part of God’s
shalom and the preacher who enters the world of delight goes with God. But storytellers, biographers, poets, and journalists can do so much more for the preacher. Good reading can tune the preacher’s ear for language… A preacher who absorbs one poem a day (perhaps from Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac) will tune his ear, strengthen his diction, and stock his pond with fresh, fresh images. That’s before breakfast: after it, there’s a day’s worth of rumination on whatever the poet has seen of the human condition. General reading can, moreover, provide the preacher with some of the choicest sermon illustrations in the land, and especially as a fruit of the preacher’s practiced attentiveness to everything going on around him, whether or not printed on a page. Illustrations can be tricky, and reading expressly for them is probably not such a good idea. Nonetheless, the alert preacher is likely to come away from a stirring piece of writing with some things striking enough to save for the day he will need them. Above all, the preacher who reads widely has a chance to become wise.
Few people grasp the preacher’s challenge. Where else in life does a person have to stand weekly before a mixed audience and speak to them engagingly on the mightiest topics known to humankind ― God, life, death, sin, grace, love, hatred, hope,
d e s p a i r, a n d t h e p a s s i o n a n d resurrection of Jesus Christ? Who is even close to being adequate for this challenge? ―Cornelius Plantinga, Reading for Preachers
Why Preparing is Essential: The Necessity of Study for Preaching by LARRY ACUFF, lacuff@mindspring.com
I quit! Doing this every Sunday is a burden. For eight years I quit preaching every Sunday. Oh, I know the scriptures teach us “to preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:1-4), but it was hard to come up with a new sermon every week. So I quit. I went to my elders (this was in 1970, and I was preaching for the Allen Park church of Christ in Allen Park, MI) and submitted my resignation effective in ninety days. I had a job teaching school in another state. The elders, of course, said they did not want to accept my resignation, but it was my decision. Their only request was, “Wait until our meeting is
over.” The meeting was scheduled to begin in two weeks and they did not want a preacher’s resignation hanging over the meeting. I agreed. On Saturday afternoon (two weeks later) I go to Detroit Metro Airport to pick up the visiting preacher. He would be staying in our home for the week. That was Saturday. Five days later I called the elders and asked if I could withdraw my resignation. What changed in five days? My meeting a brother by the name of Charles Hodge, who preached for the Rosemont Church of Christ in Fort Worth, TX. What did he say to me to make me
change my mind? Nothing! It was what he did during that week that made me change my mind. Preparation! When he got off the plane he was talking about articles, books and sermons. I learned that he read a book a day. By Tuesday of that week, I had purchased over fifteen books and had started getting up at five a.m. to read. It was exciting and has been ever since. Before, I had to get up a sermon. Now, I had more ideas for a sermon than I could get to in a year. Here is what preparation will do. One it will give you confidence. Paul said, “When you read, you may understand” (Eph. 3:4). Also he wrote, “Study to show thyself approved…” (2 Tim. 2:15). Preparation gives you confidence. My college English teacher, Bro. Jim Massey, would say, “Know and know that you know.” Spending time with your message is like cooking soup. It takes time to simmer. The longer it simmers the better it is. The ingredients mix. Second, preparation will let you sleep on Saturday night. Having done your preparation allows you to rest more comfortably because you do not have to lie awake wondering what you are going to say. It allows you to preach
from the overflow. In Mark 12 when Jesus sat over against the treasury and saw the rich cast into the treasury, said t h e y g ave o f t h e i r a b u n d a n c e . Preparation helps you to preach from abundance. Third, preparation keeps your audience alert. Preparation helps you be fresh. The audience stays alert because they are ready to listen to a message that will challenge them. A lack of preparation will cause your congregation to preach ahead of you. “We’ve heard that before.” Preparation allows you to be fresh. Isn’t it great when members come out of the service and greet you and say, “Wow, I had never thought of that before?” Fourth, preparation helps you avoid mistakes. By utilizing the existing resources, weighing illustrations, assessing the needs of the congregation you can preach with great strength and confidence. Finally the most important part of sermon preparation is saturating the sermon in prayer. The scriptures tell us, “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve,
whom he named apostles” (Luke 6:12-13, ESV). Read! Read! Study! Study! Pray! Pray! CONCLUSION A preacher was being invited to speak to a congregation and was ask, “How much preparation time do you need?” He replied, “If you want me to
speak ten minutes I need about thirty days; if you want me to speak twenty minutes I need about two weeks but if you want me to speak thirty minutes I’m ready right now.” Don’t be ready right now.
What do you guys at TheJenkinsInstitute do?
Word Studies: Using the Original Languages in Sermon Preparation Denny Petrillo, dpetrillo@WeTrainPreachers.com
Paul proclaimed that he was “not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation� (Rom. 1:16). As preachers, we recognize that the power lies in God and in His word. This truth, however, does not change the importance of the proclaimer. Solomon noted centuries ago: In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the
people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly. The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like welldriven nails; they are given by one Shepherd (Ecc. 12:9-11).
The fact is, God has chosen to use “earthen vessels” to proclaim the “treasure” of His word (2 Cor. 4:7). As earthen vessels, we recognize our weaknesses. Yet those weaknesses should be our greatest motivators. We want to do our best when it comes to proclaiming the saving message of Christ. We should seek to present God’s word accurately and powerfully. This being the case, it makes sense that studying the languages God originally ch o s e wo u l d b e a p a r t o f t h e proclaimer’s preparation. Can a preacher preach the truth without appealing to the original languages? Of course he can. Men have done it for centuries. Through the ages there have been preachers who had access to neither original language texts nor education on how to read them. Today, however, we are without excuse. We have at our disposal dozens of ways to learn Hebrew and Greek, and dozens of Bible software programs. Even those who have had little training in biblical languages can do quality studies. There are numerous advantages to doing this. In this article we will consider two:
First, word studies provide depth. Translators do their best to convey the meaning of the original word in English versions. Yet there is a richness and depth to the words God chose. When preachers do word studies, they discover those amazing depths. It helps them better understand the original word, and enables them to communicate those intricacies to their listeners. Consider how our studies have deepened our understanding of words like inspiration (2 Tim. 3:16), grace (Eph. 2:8), attitude (Phil. 2:2-4), Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16), mercy (Titus 3:5), or sincerity (2 Pet. 3:1). What does the word regeneration mean in Matt. 19:28? In the Old Testament there are dozens of rich Hebrew words that bring us to a greater understanding. These are words like righteousness (Prov. 1:3), fear (Ecc. 8:12), or glory (Ex. 33:18). Second, word studies provide clarity. I’ve heard people argue that we shouldn’t do word studies because “Paul was against them.” They are referring to passages like 2 Timothy 2:14 where Paul says not to “wrangle about words,” and 1 Timothy 6:4 where Timothy is told that it is the ungodly that engage in “disputes about words.”
Yet Paul is not arguing against word studies. Rather, he is telling the young evangelist not to debate the meaning of words when those meanings are clearly established. The word for baptism means “immersion.” The word for “adultery” refers to sexual unfaithfulness (Matt. 19:9). Studying these words brings the meaning to the forefront. When the older women teach the younger women to “love” their husbands (Titus 2:4), Paul does not use the common word agapao, but uses the word phileo. When Jesus said that our salvation was based upon our “knowing” Him and the Father (John
17:3), He didn’t use the word that means basic knowledge (oida) but one that refers to experiential knowledge (ginosko). These verses, and hundreds of others, come into view when we understand the words used. As we prepare our sermons, let’s take advantage of word studies. They will give us both the depth and clarity. They give us the confidence that what we are saying is accurate, and will provide a satisfaction that we have treated God’s inspired worth with love and respect.
STUDYING THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT IN SERMON PREPARATION by Hugh Fulford, huford@comcast.net
The sixty-six divinely inspired documents that constitute our Bible are the totality of God's revelation to mankind. Every specific text of Scripture must, therefore, be studied in the light of the larger context. No immediate text is to be understood in such a way as to conflict with the larger text. The faithful preacher will spend careful time with the immediate text of his sermon to discover its meaning. He knows that a text taken out of context becomes a pretext! He will determine the author, the original recipients, the time and place of writing, and the
purpose for which it was written. The text may be read from several versions, parallel or closely related passages in other portions of the Bible will be considered, word studies will be done, and reliable commentaries may be consulted. The only agenda with which the man of God approaches any specific text is to determine, "What is G o d s ay i n g i n t h i s p a s s a g e o f Scripture?� Immediate context is shown to be extremely important when we see that Matthew 18:20 is a wonderful text, but that it is not about the Lord's presence when only two or three are present for worship! Likewise, I Corinthians 2:9 is an amazing text, but it is not talking about heaven! In context, the first passage is talking about Christ being present when two or three are agreed with reference to the discipline of a sinning brother. The second passage is talking about the unveiling of God's
grand scheme of redemption, which, in the days of the Old Testament prophets, consisted of matters which "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man . . .," and needs to be studied in the light of the verses that precede it and follow it, along with such passages as I Peter 1:10-12 and Ephesians 3:1-13. The context of the passages is not about worship and heaven, and the words should not be taken out of context and applied to these matters! As an example of how an immediate text should be "unpacked," consider Peter's quotation of the prophecy of Joel on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21; cf. Joel 2:28-32). Look at just a few statements from that quotation. First, "And it will come to pass in the last days . . ." To determine the meaning of this phrase compare it with Hebrews 1:1-2 and Isaiah 2:2-4. Second, "I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh. . ." In the light of Luke 24:44-49 and Acts 1:1-8, along with the events that transpired at the household of Cornelius (Acts 10:1-48; 11:1-8), what does this statement
mean? It cannot mean that every single person in the entire world from the Day of Pentecost onward, irrespective of their quality of life, will have the Holy Spirit poured out on them. Third, "And your sons and your daughters will prophesy. . ." That there were women prophets in the first century church and that women may teach the word of God is unquestioned (see Acts 21:9; Tit. 2:3-5). But in what sphere did they do this work? What restrictions were placed on them? (cf. I Cor. 14:34; I Tim. 2:11-15). Too, with reference to prophetic teaching, I Corinthians 13:8-10 must be brought to bear on this text. Remember that no immediate text may be interpreted in such a way as to conflict with the totality of God's revelation! Fourth, "whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." When seen in the light of Acts 2:38, 22:16, Romans 10:11-17, and Matthew 7:21, is it difficult to determine what it means to "call on the name of the Lord"? As preachers of the gospel, let us be faithful to the context of Scripture and present the word of God in all its radiant splendor and convicting power! 
STUDYING THE REMOTE CONTEXT IN SERMON PREPARATION by Sellers Crain, SSCRAIN1@aol.com
When I began my ministry, I was an 18 year old high school dropout. Since I had no training of any kind, I preached mostly topical sermons because that is the kind I heard most growing up. They still have a place since some subjects can be handled much better that way. The problem is that the context is often forgotten. Most preachers realize the importance of the immediate
context in a passage. One of my teachers often said, “A text without a context is a pretext.� Over time I began to see that the remote context is also useful in understanding the meaning and purpose of a text. Many examples could be given, but allow me to focus on John chapter 4. Ever wonder why there was so much bitterness between the Jews and the Samaritans? It has
been said that a Jew traveling to Jerusalem would go several miles out of the way, cross over the Jordan and go through Galilee to avoid going through Samaria. If a Jew was walking down the street and a Samaritan was approaching, they would cross to the other side. However, the hatred was not one sided. The Samaritans had equal hatred for the Jews. In Jesus encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob, the remote context is very important in understanding much of their discussion. Who were the Samaritans, and where did they come from? When the Assyrian king, Esarhaddon (Ezra 4:2), came to power he brought in people from various parts of his kingdom and settled them in Samaria which had been the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. These people did not respect the law of God (2 Kings 17:24-25). They intermarried with Jews who were left behind, and the children from those marriages came to be called Samaritans. When lions began to kill people in that region, the Jews insisted to the king that it was because the people brought in from other nations did not fear God. He asked them to
bring in one of the priest who had served them before the captivity. When Jereboam broke away from Judah, he made his own priesthood, but it was a corrupted religion. This provides us with two reasons why the Jews did not have anything to do with the Samaritans (John 4:9). To the Jews they were half breeds and apostates. One reason for the Samaritans hatred for the Jews is most likely related to what happened when the Jews returned from the Babylon to rebuild the Temple. Sanballet a Samaritan leader came with others to Zerubbabel asking if they could help with the construction, and he refused them saying, “You may do nothing with us to build the house of our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us to do (Ezra 4:1-3). That rejection so incensed Sanballet and those with him that they began efforts to cease the rebuilding project even to the point of threatening armed conflict and by attempting to assassinate Zerubbabel. Another reason, but one that is questioned by some, is related to the woman's statement, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain
(Gerizim)...� (John 4:20). The question is why? According to Josephus (Antiq. XI.viii.2, 4) after the Samaritans had been denied the opportunity to help rebuild the temple, Sanballet built a temple on Gerizim for his son-in- law who was a renegade priest of the apostate religion. The problem is that Josephus places this event in the time of Alexander the Great when it would have to had been more than a century before him. Josephus is also the source
for the tradition that John Hyrcannus during the Maccabean Revolt tore down that temple and forced the Samaritan males to be circumcised. This would certainly have created a lot of hatred for the Jews by the Samaritans. Jesus conversation with Samaritan woman, and the parable of the Good Samaritan are both designed to show Christ's kingdom would include all people Jew, Gentile and Samaritan. 
STUDY THAT WILL HELP US CONNECT WITH THE LISTENER by Robert Hatfield – robert@thelightnetwork.tv
How can we study to connect with our listeners? I believe the secret is in the definition of these three terms: study, connect, and listeners. We’ll consider them in reverse order. Think about your listeners this Sunday. What’s going on in their lives? What questions do they have? Are they Christians? Are they older, younger, or middle-aged? Are they experiencing sickness? Loss? Are they searching for a job? In broadcasting, show hosts are trained to picture their ideal listener or viewer, and to speak on the air as though they are speaking to that person. As we prepare our sermons, perhaps it would be good for us to consider people in our congregations who struggle. How would I say this to them if they were sitting across from me? Will my approach bring them
closer to Jesus or push them farther away? This thought brings us to our second word. We connect with our listeners when we establish a rapport with them. We’re talking about relationships. I’ve heard David Shannon say that people are looking for two things: relationships and relevance. Do you highlight these in your sermons? Are you building these outside of the pulpit? Here are four ways we can connect with people. First, care about them. Some preachers preach as though they don’t like anyone. It seems that they sacrifice building relationships in the name of preaching with boldness. Biblical preaching, however, is balanced. Boldness and love are not mutually exclusive (Eph. 4:15). You can show that you care in a variety of ways. Be sensitive to those who are weak,
and to people whose backgrounds are different from yours. Be patient as people grow. Remember that you are a servant of God and of the people to whom you are preaching (1 Cor. 9:19-23). Hold yourself accountable just as you hold others accountable. Second, speak to them. That is, speak to their needs. Paul’s epistles were customized for their recipients. When he wrote to Christians in Rome, Paul was ready to preach to them (Rom. 1:15) because he was aware of their struggles and their successes. If you preach to the same group of people every week, learn their needs and tailor your messages to fit those needs. Third, show them. Connect with people by letting them see you live your sermons. Let them see you distilling your sermons from the “academic discussion” realm to the practical realm. Paul’s godly example preached even when he wasn’t delivering an oral presentation (1 Cor. 11:1). Fourth, walk with them. Jesus’ compassion is often emphasized in the New Testament. Compassion has been defined as “your pain in my heart.” Compassionate people empathize with
others, and treat them the way they would want to be treated (Mat. 7:12). Walk with people through laughter and lamentation (Rom. 12:15). Study, our third and final word, involves the acquisition and contemplation of knowledge. Obviously, preachers should study the Bible (2 Tim. 2:15). Those to whom we preach need to hear the pure word of God. Modern gimmicks are unnecessary in the preaching of the Gospel, for the Bible is inherently powerful (Rom. 1:16), and marvelously applicable (Heb. 4:12). Study the Bible! Preachers must also study culture. Sometimes we can get so caught up in writing sermons between Sundays that we neglect to study the culture outside of our offices. Paul’s sermons and writings were filled with cultural references, evidencing the fact that he was an avid student of both society and Scripture. We prepare to preach sermons that connect when we study the Bible and the people in our congregations. The issue is not whether the Bible can connect with people, it is whether the preacher is willing to connect with people.
An
You’d be hard pressed to find two more passionate guys than Bill Watkins and Andy Connelly. We love any time we get to spend with these guys. Recently we asked them about illustrations. TJI: Where do you look for illustrations? BILL: Movies, Books, Encyclopedias, History, People, Nature, Everywhere! ANDY: We can find potential illustrations almost anywhere. Since we are speaking to people of varied backgrounds and interests, we should seek out possible examples from as many sources as possible. While most of us have our personal “go to” categories, we should avoid the
temptation to utilize illustrations from the same areas of life all the time. BILL: It’s helpful to develop a homiletical habit. Everything you see, everything you experience, everything you read - becomes a source of illustration. The wider-ranging your experience, better. TJI: What are your favorite sources for illustrations? ANDY: Some of my favorite sources have included athletics (because of how often scripture pictures a struggle or a race), history, statistics, current news, and human interest stories.
BILL: My family and my observation of people. I do not have any illustration books or sources of that nature.
TJI: How many illustrations do you recommend using in a sermon? BILL: At least one - often more. ANDY: We can certainly use too many illustrations, endangering what we are really called there to do. When the illustration is “propped up” to become the main point and the speaker then slides some verses under it to support it so as to have a “sermon”, I fear the intended use of God’s word is potentially inverted. The right number of illustrations will vary lesson to lesson, but I suppose one solid illustration for each main point, combined with either an opening or closing one makes sense. TJI: Is there a strategic place in the sermon to use illustrations? ANDY: I certainly think there can be a “strategic” consideration in where to place illustrations. It makes sense to me to look for possible use at the start, to grab attention. Somewhere in the middle of the lesson, as attention spans
may begin to wane a bit, an illustration may be just the thing to keep them listening. In my mind, without any doubt, a strong closing illustration can not only “tie down” the main thrust of the lesson, but can also powerfully call for action from the listener. BILL: Yes. In the introduction and in the conclusion. An illustration that the introduction has the advantage of gaining the audience's attention and interest. And illustration at the end can summarize the point you were trying to make with an emotional impact. It is often helpful to have an illustration for each point of the sermon. TJI: How would you respond to someone who says you should only use biblical illustrations? BILL: The illustrations that Jesus used were not biblical until the scriptures were written. His illustrations came from daily life, not from the Old Testament in general. Illustrations, in order to be effective, must be within the framework of the listener's experience and knowledge. Of necessity this means that the illustrations must in some way be more
connected to the listener than to the scripture. ANDY: The call to only use “Biblical” illustrations ignores the fact the very writings of the Bible show Jesus himself using illustrations apart from the known law of God in His day. BILL: The point of an illustration is to clarify or illustrate the truth that already exists in Scripture. Illustrations are not truths. Truth comes from scripture. Illustrations simply make the truth more connected to life in the mind of the hearer. ANDY: Jesus gives examples of drawing pictures to the minds of the hearers, using a humorous or ludicrous depiction throughout his ministry. The Bible is the most practical book going not only for how to restore union with God, but for “daily life” life issues as well. Both Christ and the apostles wrote in a fashion to both draw and hold the reader to a main lesson. TJI: How do you credit sources of illustrations you use? ANDY: I don’t think every illustrative source needs detailed credit, but some
certainly should get it. It would be quite practical to give credit, when appropriate, if the source of the information used was a member of the congregation. That allows for some sense of participation in the lesson itself. It never hurts to allow our fellow members to involve themselves and be trusted to aid in the lessons. Also, I certainly would make the attempt to cite sources from direct quotations or studies from published articles or books. BILL: When you are preaching, it is important to keep people focused on the truth of what you were saying. If you spend too much time telling author, book, page number, publisher, etc. for each of your illustrations, then you actually take away from the sermon rather than add to it. I believe that is best simply to say who you got the illustration from and then go on with the illustration. If someone wants to know all of the details, give that to them afterwards - not during the sermon. TJI: What do you do to keep illustrations from taking away from the text?
BILL: Always remember that the illustration is simply to illustrate the truth of the text. It is not the truth. Illustrations prove nothing. They simply help us to understand the truth. Humor is good, as long as it illustrates the truth. Humor as an end in itself takes away from the text. Never forget that your main purpose is not to tell a good story, but to communicate truth in a way that changes people's lives. Too often, people and preachers are more convinced by the illustration than by the truth. Truth is the main thing. Never forget that, and then illustrations will tend to be subservient and do their job. TJI: How do you gauge the effectiveness of an illustration? ANDY: The effectiveness of an illustration can certainly vary listener to listener. Studies in human perception have regularly shown that people often perceive things based on a past experience, a present desire, or both. We also don’t always know how effective something will be immediately as compared to hitting further down the road. In general, if uncertain, I would consider trying to gage likely effectiveness as much as I
could ahead of time, by asking a trusted member friend, elder, or fellow minister if it seems understandable or sensible for use. Often, when we have preached somewhere for a while, we can get a “feel� for the types of things that resonate better than other things. Know and read your audience. BILL: Did it actually illustrates the truth that God wanted people to see? Did It capture the attention of the audience? Depending on the illustration, did it touch their emotions? Did it help connect the dots in their minds to the truth of God? Did the illustration illustrate the truth, instead of becoming the truth in the minds of the audience?