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Personal Illustrations: Defining the Boundaries

Personal Illustrations: Defining the Boundaries. By Greg Penna Church Planting Strategist Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. Most Preachers Use Personal Illustrations Because:. They are the easiest to develop. They can be fresh. They are the easiest to make application.

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Personal Illustrations: Defining the Boundaries

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  1. Personal Illustrations:Defining the Boundaries By Greg Penna Church Planting Strategist Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma

  2. Most Preachers Use Personal Illustrations Because: • They are the easiest to develop. • They can be fresh. • They are the easiest to make application.

  3. Common mistakes with personal illustrations: • They use them too often. The church family doesn’t want a play by play of your child’s life. • They go too far! Many times the minister will create a divide impossible to bridge inside the family by telling stories that should remain in the family.

  4. Common mistakes with personal illustrations: • They exaggerate the truth. “Speaking evangelistically,” is not something that a 21st century crowd will tolerate, they will call that lying. • They make themselves the hero. What motivates a minister to tell a story from their personal life? Many pastors already receive their reward while preaching.

  5. Common mistakes with personal illustrations: 5. The stories demonstrate how different the pastor is from the congregation. Illustrations should seek to find common ground, not hopelessly separate the minister from the congregation.

  6. Seven Ground Rules For Sermon Illustrations Follow Them!

  7. Ground Rules: • Always seek permission when telling a story about a family member. • Keep track of how often personal and family stories are used in sermons so that the congregation doesn’t feel overloaded.

  8. Ground Rules: • Check your ego at the door. Be careful not to tell any story just to build yourself up. • Check your facts. Be sure that there is no hint of exaggeration. If you have to estimate, go lower.

  9. Ground Rules: 5. Obey Christ’s command not to let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. If an illustration will break that command, keep it to yourself. You want your reward in heaven.

  10. Ground Rules: 6. Seek common ground. Use the stories and illustrations that point out and bring home the things you have in common with the congregation. “I was at the grocery store the other day…” builds more community than, “While meeting with a group of pastors in an all day prayer meeting.”

  11. Ground Rules: 7. Always ask permission before using any story from your personal life. I know this is a duplicate! However, it is the number one thing rule that pastors break and it causes much pain in the home of minister’s families.

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