Stories That Serve: Using Illustrations in Expository Preaching

By Ed Moll

Stories are a powerful tool in the hands of a preacher. Used poorly, they can become the central focus of a sermon, usurping the rightful place of God’s word as teacher and guide. Used well, they support the cause of truth, bringing the word of God to life with fresh clarity, relevance and power.
This concise book serves as an excellent introduction to the role of storytelling in expository preaching. Ed Moll, a seasoned preacher and preaching trainer, offers readers a comprehensive guide to the types of stories that can support biblical teaching, from simple images and metaphors to full-fledged narratives, illustrating how each type can best aid the preacher in teaching the word of God. An excellent resource for both experienced preachers seeking to grow their skill and new preachers just starting out on their journey, this book provides practical exercises to put learning into practice and includes reading lists for those wanting to dive deeper into the topics raised.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Langham Preaching Resources
• Release date: Aug 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781839737015

Book preview

Foreword

Ed Moll’s Stories that Serve is not only a compelling guide to understand the affinity between our own stories and God’s big story but also a great help on how to avoid common mistakes in relating or applying our own stories to sermons as we preach God’s word.

Long before there was literacy or any form of writing, most parts of the world were used to storytelling. This is particularly true for the African context. We love oral stories and storytelling was the primary means of passing on information or knowledge about various life issues from generation to generation, be they in form of fable, folktale, myth or legend. Our identity, culture and response to issues of daily life are shaped by accounts of what happened in the past, which also have implications for the present and future. Accounts of heroes, events, history of clans and of nations as well as entertaining stories from the world of animals are often compelling

The beauty of Stories that Serve is the skilful reminder of the relationship between our own stories and the bigger story of God as recorded in the Holy Scriptures. Scripture as God’s big story addresses all aspects of life and it is important to pay close attention, not only to how we read and interpret it, but also how we connect our own stories to it.

Moll affirms that there is a place for storytelling in preaching, provided that stories are rightly used. After all, the Lord Jesus Christ was the master storyteller, often teaching people through parables that relate to everyday life. Our challenge is often how to relate or apply the stories we love to God’s big story in expository preaching. Our love of stories, as good as they are, need some boundaries when it comes to preparation of sermons and biblical preaching. Many of us must have experienced situations in which a preacher’s story is so compelling that it overshadows the content and meaning of the biblical text being preached on. Rather than what the text is about, listeners often leave the service knowing more about the preacher’s big story than the message and the meaning of the biblical text.

In the light of this Ed Moll warns us against using our own stories to overshadow God’s word as revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures. However interesting or important our stories are, they must not become so big as to overshadow the biblical text or to impose various meanings contrary to that originally intended. Stories used in preaching must not become big stories that swallow up the sermon but remain little stories that serve the sermon and allow the text to do the work. Moll also cautions us against using no stories at all in sermons, which may stifle preaching.

The use of stories in sermons, as good as they are, should also not mean doing away with structures. The discipline of adequate preparation with clear structures and well laid out points for sermons remains important. Moll’s emphasis that stories used to illustrate any aspect need to fit into the structure of the sermon, should not be taken lightly.

Stories that Serve is so well written and illustrated. I wholeheartedly commend it to all preachers as a helpful tool on the use of stories as a bridge of connection between our day-to-day lived realities and the world of biblical texts; connection between preacher and listeners, as well as more, opens doors to clarity in biblical preaching.

Femi B. Adeleye

Director, Langham Preaching, Africa

Peduase, Ghana

Glossary of Terms

Expository preaching aims to explain and apply a single passage, with the theme determined by the text. Sometimes also called expositional preaching.

Thematic preaching takes a theme and develops it with reference to one or more biblical passages. The theme is taken to the passage rather than from the passage.

A theme sentence summarizes what the passage is about.

An aim sentence summarizes what the sermon invites people to do.

Big stories are longer stories which teach a moral or value through their plot and development and by their own authority.

Little stories are any of the following which support the teaching of the Bible:

• Image: a simple word picture.

• Simple parable: a word picture with a small amount of action.

• Narrative: a longer story with a beginning, a middle and an ending. Fables and longer parables are counted as narratives here.

• Metaphor: a mind picture that can draw together several ideas. Image rather than plot is central in a metaphor.

• Explanatory story: a little story that helps with understanding.

• Motivational story: a little story that moves us to action.

• Exemplary story: an example where the truth has been put into practice.

To illustrate means to use a little story for any of the above purposes. We have tried to avoid the noun illustration as it can mean either little story or explanatory story.

Introduction Big Stories and Little Stories

The north wind and the sun argued which was the stronger. On seeing a traveller they agreed a suitable test would be to strip him of his cloak. First the wind blew with all its might, but the more it blew, the more tightly the man wrapped the cloak around himself. When the sun’s turn came, it gently beamed at the man, who loosened his cloak. The sun shone brighter still, and the man threw off his cloak.

That story is a fable ascribed to the ancient Greek storyteller Aesop and teaches that persuasion is more powerful than force. This tale is a starting place for our discussion about using stories in expository preaching, a practice that will greatly help our clarity, faithfulness and