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In this episode, Smith and Southerland walk backward to the beginning point for creating powerful, high-impact illustrations.  We give 2 audio examples of our own attempts from live sermons.

An illustration (as used in a sermon) is "a concrete analogy of an abstract spiritual truth."  An illustration appeals to the imagination of the listener because it, by its very nature, contains imagery.  That’s why illustrations are often given in the form of a story — a favorite technique of Jesus Himself.

A good illustration has a high "correlation factor" to the abstract principle that it illustrates.  We discuss how to insure that the picture you paint in the concrete analogizes well (man, we hope that’s a real word) with the principle that you’re illustrating.  It has to correlate as much as possible. 

Mentioned in this show:

• 12 Essential Skills For Great Preaching by Dr. Wayne McDill

Download the mp3 or click the play button above to stream.

This is our pre-launch episode to introduce the format of The Sermonators Internet Radio Show (a.k.a. podcast) as well as introducing the hosts, Smith and Southerland, (a.k.a. Scott and Joel).  You can read about the guys on the Smith&Southerland page (a.k.a. the re-labeled "about us" page). 

Bottom line: Scott Newton Smith is the itinerant preacher; Joel Southerland is the pastor. 

Together we want to bring our unique and shared perspectives to the table in an effort to bring solid value to the lives and ministries of pastors everywhere.  We really believe the Lord put us together for this purpose:  to provide ongoing support to busy pastors in order to help them preach with ever-increasing effectiveness and live with ever-increasing balance and productivity.

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