Illustration Appreciation - part 4

“I need a good illustration for this class – somebody help!”

Have you ever felt like that? We know the value of using good illustrations to inspire and motivate our students, but it’s not always easy to come up with just the right story, statistic, testimony, poem, song or other item that will say exactly what we want to communicate.

Pastor Leslie Flynn says there are lots of good illustrations out there: "The aspiring communicator must be a close observer of life. An inexhaustible store of illustrations abounds everywhere, even in the common things of life." The trick, of course, is knowing where to find them—and what to do with them!

In our previous three posts on the subject, we discussed why we use illustrations in our teaching, what makes a good illustration and what to avoid in choosing and using illustrations. In this final post, let’s consider where to find illustrations and how to organize them.

Finding Illustrations

 Personal Experience There is no better illustration than that which comes out of your own experiences. When you draw stories and examples from your life, you are sharing more than just a good illustration—you are giving your students a glimpse into your world. Think of the lessons God has taught you in everyday experiences, in your family, in your travels and in your ministry. Chances are many of your students have had similar experiences and can relate to your example. Get into the habit of writing down the lessons God teaches you so you will have them to draw from in your teaching.

 Reading Keep illustrations in the back of your mind when you are reading books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, blogs and even cartoons. Historical and biographical reading can provide a rich source of illustrative material. News articles can offer statistics and stories that are localized and current. If possible, clip or highlight material that can be used as illustrations. Try to get those illustrations into a file as soon as possible before they are lost or forgotten.

 Observations Look around you! Life is full of things from which illustrations can be drawn. There are illustrations to be seen in nature, in the animal kingdom and in the lives and experiences of others. Think of all the illustrations the Lord Jesus drew from the natural world (seeds, fish, the wind, birds, etc.) and from people (the prodigal son, the woman with the lost coin, the shepherd searching for his lost sheep, etc.). Jesus used what His audience was familiar with to get His point across.

 Children Since we are a children’s ministry, you should definitely be aware of children around you and be watching and listening for things they say or do that could illustrate a point. The Lord Jesus did this too, as we well know, in Mark 10 and Matthew 18. What better way to illustrate content in your TCE classes than to draw those illustrations from the lives of children!

 Resource Material There are an abundance of resources available that provide quotes, stories, testimonies and other illustrative materials. You can purchase many good illustration books at Web sites such as http://www.cbd.com/. Just type “illustrations” into the search box and you will get pages of resources. Following are four examples from the CBD Web site.

To make it even easier, we placed the covers of these four books in the sidebar on the right under "Illustration Resources." Just click on a cover and you will be linked right to its page on the CBD Web site where you can get more information or even order it at CBD discounted prices.

• The Story File: 1,001 Contemporary Illustrations, by Steve May, Hendrickson Publishers, 2000. (includes book and CD-ROM)

• Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes, by Charles R. Swindoll, Thomas Nelson, 2009

• 1,001 Quotes, Illustrations, and Humorous Stories for Preachers, Teachers and Writers, by Edward K. Rowell, Baker, 2004

• Practical Bible Illustrations from Yesterday & Today, by Charles H. Spurgeon, Amg Publishers, 1997.

There are also Web sites where you can download free illustrations. Most of these sites have illustrations arranged alphabetically by topic. You may want to bookmark a few of them for quick reference when you need to find an illustration.

www.bible.org/illus.php

http://www.sermonillustrations.com/

http://www.preachingtoday.com/

http://www.sermoncentral.com/

www.higherpraise.com/illustrations/a.htm

www.geocities.com/christianillustrations

http://www.sheepcribone.blogspot.com/


Organizing Illustrations

How many of us have heard a good story or testimony, jotted down a key word or two on a scrap of paper, then either lost the paper, or couldn’t remember what the story was from our sketchy notes? How frustrating! Once you find a good illustration, you need to record it in a way you can easily retrieve it when needed.

 Write it down Keep a small notebook or voice recorder handy to make note of illustrations when you spot them. Be sure you record enough information so you will remember the key thought. Even if you don’t know how you will use it at the time, a good quote or story is always worth writing down for future use.

 Keep a file You need to develop a system that works for you. If you know the particular class in which you want to use the illustration, either file it in a folder for that class, or type it into your lesson plan as soon as possible.

If you’re comfortable with the computer, you probably already have a folder for each of your TCE classes containing your lesson plan, PowerPoint and other materials. You can put an illustration file in each class folder or just enter the illustration directly into your lesson plan. You might also want to keep a general “Illustration Pool” folder, where you can accumulate illustrations for future use.

If you’re not that comfortable on the computer, keep a file folder in your office for each of your TCE class sessions and deposit illustrations in the appropriate folder. You can also have a miscellaneous folder for illustrations you’re not sure where to use.

However you choose to organize your illustrations, try to make regular deposits in your illustration files. Occasionally, you need to go through your lesson plan and consider adding a new illustration, or changing out an old one. Updating your illustrations keeps your teaching fresh and current. Leslie Flynn says, “Illustrations stored for ready withdrawal will make us richer communicators of the Word.”

We trust this series of posts has been helpful in reminding you of things you already knew about illustrations, and perhaps challenging you in areas you had not considered. If you have further suggestions or ideas about finding and using illustrations, click on the Comment link below and let us know!