Chuck Swindoll says: “If you think that the gathering of biblical facts and standing up with a Bible in your hand will automatically equip you to communicate well, you are deeply mistaken. You must work at being interesting. Boredom is a gross violation. Being dull is a grave offence. Irrelevance is a disgrace to the Gospel. Too often these three crimes go unpunished and we preachers are the criminals.”
After I have the basic sermon down, I try to flavour it with three things:
1. Illustrations: Jesus was the master of this. Matthew 13:34 tells us, “Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when he was speaking to the crowd. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables.” Never make a point without a picture.
Throw away your old illustration books. They are filled with stories by guys you’ve never heard of who died 100 years ago. The best sources for illustrations are television, magazines, newspapers, the Internet and, of course, everyday life experiences.
2. Humour: One of my favourite verses is Luke 7:34 (Phillips), “The Son of Man came enjoying life.” Humour really is the spice of life.
3. Special features: There are many different “special features” you can insert into your message to add just a little bit more and capture the attention of the people. I have learned you can preach much longer when you use features interlaced in your messages. These features can include:
