10 NEW

PREACHING
STORIES
YOU CAN USE
IN YOUR
SERMON
10 NEW PREACHING STORIES
YOU CAN USE IN YOUR SERMON

PASTORS AND COMMUNICATORS,

One tool to put in your pocket as you prepare to speak….

STORIES.

Stories are memorable.

Stories engage emotion.
Stories inspire action and belief.
Stories remind people that they’re not alone.
And if that wasn’t enough…

Jesus told stories.

A lot of them.

He would tell stories people understood to help them grasp something they didn’t understand.

Stories are a great teaching tool.

IToday we are giving your our top 10 preaching stories that you can use in an upcoming message.

WE’VE ALSO INDEXED THESE STORIES FOR YOU: INCLUDING A THEME, SCRIPTURE
PASSAGE, AND MAIN POINT.

Enjoy!

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STORY 1: ANXIETY

Story: A man named Jack was driving on a dark country road one night when he
got a flat tire. He saw a cabin in the woods and began to walk towards it. He told
himself that the person who answered the door would be angry and irritated for
the interruption. In fact, the person would probably harm him. He was probably a
truly terrible person. Who else would live out in the woods away from people?
Jack convinced himself that the person who lived in the cabin was a menace to
society, so when the door opened, Jack punched the man in the nose and ran
away.

Verse: "All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a
continual feast” (Proverbs 15:15)"

Point: We take situations and replay them in our minds. We have conversations
in our heads with people, and build a case against them, though we don’t really
know what they are thinking. We tend to “nurse, curse, and rehearse” stories like
Jack. What things do you play in your heard all day? What are you meditating on?
Get rid of the “oppressed and wretched” forecasts!

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STORY 2: ACCEPTING OTHERS

Story: Paul Tournier was a brilliant thinker and writer, and an influential
Christian therapist during his time. Doctors from around the world traveled to
his home in Switzerland to learn from him. He wrote, “It is a little embarrassing
for students to come over and study my ‘techniques.’ They always go away
disappointed, because all I do is accept people.”

Verse: “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above
yourselves” (Romans 12:10)

Point: Accepting is not the same as approving, condoning, or even tolerating bad
behavior. Acceptance is an act of the heart in which we recognize that, despite
someone’s behavior, he or she has value in God’s sight, and we honor that. But
this can be a hard thing to do! There are many ways to communicate acceptance
to people. One of them is to listen to them with patience and compassion and
receive them with love in the name of Jesus. Another is to refrain from mental
condemnation and judgments, from constantly evaluating and analyzing (those
things keep us from loving). We must take captive those thoughts of
condemnation toward others, and submit to God. As we draw near to Him, we
ask Him to love through us.!

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STORY 3: KIND WORDS

Story: Arthur Gordon was cleaning out the family home when he came across
something he found to be of great value. It was a trunk full of family letters. They
chronicled the events of past generations in expressions of loyalty and affection
and delight that were rarely verbalized in his immediate family. One writer said,
“Have I told you lately what a wonderful person you are? Never forget how much
your friends and family love and admire you.” Another letter said, “You don’t
know how much your visit meant to us! When you left, I felt as if the sun had
stopped shining.” Gordon said, “I don’t know what generation of my family put a
check on the release of such emotions. But I do know that it seriously interferes
with one of the deepest of all human needs—the desire for acceptance and
approval. Why, then, wanting to hear those words so much ourselves, do we
deny them so often to others?”

Verse: ”Pleasant words are a honeycomb; sweet to the soul and healing to the
bones” (Proverbs 16:24)

Point: Look at the verse at the top: “Pleasant words… are sweet to the soul and
healing to the bones.” That’s a lot of power, and it doesn’t cost anything.
Anybody can give words. Will you try it? Open your mouth and say the positive
things you are thinking. Bless someone today. Use your words to bring healing
and sweetness. We could all use some of that.

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STORY 4: NEGATIVE THINKING

Story: A Trappist monk was allowed to say only two words every three years.
After the first three years, he said to the Brother Superior, “Bad bed.” Three
years later he came back to say, “Bad food.” After three more years of silence the
monk said, “No TV.” Another three years passed. This time the monk appeared
with robes and sandals in hand and announced, “I quit.” The Brother Superior
answered, “It’s no wonder. You’ve done nothing but complain since you got
here!”

Verse: ”He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come
to ruin” (Proverbs 13:3)

Point: Instead of complaining, you have had to be retrained to think differently.

The Bible says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” It also says,
“Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, or admirable, think on these things.”
It doesn’t say, “Try to think on these things.” Would God tell us to do something
that is impossible to do? You can choose what you let your mind dwell on. Battle
the thoughts that don’t line up with Scripture through prayer, saying Bible verses
instead, and by speaking truth out loud when negativity, lies, and agreements
with untruth swirl in your brain. Try it. Don’t let things in your life “come to ruin.”
Pray this verse and begin to set up guards.

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STORY 5: PASSIONATE LIVING VS. FEAR

Story: Sarah Ban Breathnach tells of a business trip her husband took to the
beach, where she and her daughter enjoyed the mornings while he attended
workshops. One afternoon it was announced that there would be elephant rides
for the children in the hotel parking lot. Her daughter, Katie, was delirious with
excitement. Sarah told her, “Life is always full of wonderful surprises if we’re
open to them. Some mornings you get up not knowing what will happen, and you
get to ride an elephant that day!” When they got home, there was an invitation
for Sarah to join a group of journalists on a trip to Ireland. She was tired of
traveling, and not really a spontaneous person, so she told them she would
probably not go. Her husband, overhearing her, said, “So, you’re not going to ride
the elephant?” She decided to go.

Verse: “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fear
(Psalm 34:4).

Point: Living passionately involves a lot of pressure and risk. I mean, what if you
fall off the elephant? A writer named Ambrose Redmoon wrote: Courage is not
the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more
important than fear. You might be afraid of all kinds of things, but if one of your
kids were in danger, you’d be fearless. Also, don’t you want to live believing that
God is bigger than whatever you’re afraid of? You have to make a decision to
stop letting fear win: stop holding on to your blanket of insecurity and anxiety.
Show up with everything God has given you, and join the battle against whatever
opposes the redeeming work of God in this world. Take yourself less seriously
and God more seriously!

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STORY 6: GRATITUDE

Story: A few years ago, a commercial on television began with a black and white
clip of Lou Gehrig being honored by Yankee fans on his last day of play. His
career was shortened by ALS, which is now called Lou Gehrig’s disease, a
debilitating muscle disease that eventually stops the heart. What would you
have said in the face of this heartbreaking challenge? Amazingly, he begins:
Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” How could he
say that? Gratitude. Gratitude for all the gifts he had been given, for all the love
he had been shown by fans, for all the opportunities he had. He focused on the
joys not the losses. That’s cultivating thankfulness!

Verse: ”Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body
you were called to peace. And be thankful” (Colossians 3:15)

Point: Being thankful doesn’t come easy for some of us, but God says to cultivate
thankfulness. How do you cultivate anything? You work at it. You nourish it. You
do whatever it takes to make it thrive. Gratitude comes from humility. “A proud
man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he
deserves” (Henry Ward Beecher). God is good and merciful. The price that Christ
paid so that you could be redeemed is immense. His grace is so amazing. You
truly are the luckiest person on the face of the earth!

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STORY 7: JOY
Story: In her book Breaking the Power, author Liberty Savard says that she was
pretty rough in her youth, but when she became a Christian, God transformed
her and gave her a ministry. So she was excited to give her parents a 50th
anniversary party, because it would be an opportunity to show old friends and
family how she had become “an amazing woman of God.” She prayed that this
day would reveal to everyone in her family how God can change a life. Although
she lived over an hour away from the party venue, she got ready in plenty of
time. One last spray to her hair to set it, and she would be off … except that she
grabbed bug spray from under her sink instead of hairspray. Quickly she
showered again, but now there was no time to do her hair. She hopped in her car,
and it wasn’t long before she realized it was overheating. She turned off the air
conditioning but still, something was wrong. She had to keep adding
transmission fluid every few miles. She got to the party a tiny bit late—frizzy hair,
oily hands, red face. She would just take a few moments to freshen up. However,
there was a problem! In the heat her large jar of face cream had exploded and
everything in her overnight bag, including makeup and hair brush and hair spray,
was covered in white goop. Her only option was to just go out and enjoy the
party. There was nothing else she could do. She determined to have a great time
and laugh anyway! Later she told God she had covered the day with prayer, and
it felt like it all had gone terribly wrong. She had wanted to make such a good
impression. She felt like God said, “Most of your family and friends remember
how angry you used to be. They may never hear your testimony, but they saw
living proof today of My power to change a life by the way that you handled this
situation with humor and grace. I answered your prayers. Well done, daughter.”

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Verse: ”Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body
you were called to peace. And be thankful” (Colossians 3:15)

Point: Anybody can be joyful when things go well. Sometimes God “stirs things
up” so that, through our responses, we can showcase His transforming grace and
joy.

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STORY 8: DISCIPLESHIP/BELIEVING IN PEOPLE

Story: Writer Katie McCabe described her mentor, Charles Savedge, as a man

“who changed a room simply by walking into it. He believed so completely in his
many students and colleagues that we had no choice but to believe in ourselves.”
Inspired, encouraged, and challenged by her mentor, McCabe wrote that, even
though it was fifteen years later, everything she did was an attempt to find the
person he saw in her.

Verse: ”I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at

Cenchreae. Receive her in the Lord as saints ought to receive one another. And
help her in whatever matter she may require assistance from you, for she has
been a helper of many, including myself [shielding us from suffering]” (Romans
16:1-2)

Point: Open your eyes and look for a person who needs a little time, a little
friendship, and a little faith—someone to whom you can give the gift of being a
mentor or a supportive friend. Is there a person in your life who would be
encouraged if you let them know that you believe in them? It’s easy to get self-
consumed and run over by our to-do lists. And it’s easy to make excuses if we feel
we aren’t well-versed enough in spiritual matters to mentor others. But in this
Scripture, the Apostle Paul commends someone who helped others and gave
them hope. All of us are capable of that.

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STORY 9: BEING FAITHFUL

Story: In the book Second Calling, Dale Bourke writes that years ago, she
attended a conference. When it was over, her friend Bruce offered her a ride to
the airport. As they were about to leave, another man asked if he could join
them. As they drove away from the hotel, she and Bruce asked the man where he
worked, and he mentioned a Christian organization. Bruce said, “I have fond
memories of that group, because I attended a retreat of theirs one time, and
that’s where I became a Christian. It was in 1972 in New Hampshire.” Bruce
went on to explain that eventually his whole family became Christians and went
into Christian work. His sister was a Wycliffe missionary and Bruce himself
became publisher of a major Christian publishing house, which brought many
significant Christian books to the public. Bruce finished the story with a flourish
saying that the retreat had had worldwide impact when you think about it. The
man was silent. Dale and Bruce though that maybe they were boring him. Then
the stranger quietly said, “I led that retreat. It was my first time as a conference
leader, and I felt like a total failure. Until this moment, I have always believed it
was one of the biggest failures of my life.” Dale Bourke wrote, “What had seemed
like the simple act of offering a ride to a stranger had turned into a powerful
reminder that God uses our efforts whether we realize it or not. I may spend the
rest of my life doing things that don’t seem at all successful. Yet only God knows
the purpose. I am called simply to be faithful.”

Verse: ”It is required of stewards that a man be found faithful” (I Corinthians 4:2)

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Point: Right now, you may feel like a failure in what you’re doing. Just be faithful.
It’s not your job to figure out if what you do (or what you did in the past) matters.
That’s the work of the Spirit. Your job is to do your part. Doing what we are
called to do is the point.

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STORY 10: NEGATIVE WORDS

Story: Writer Katie McCabe described her mentor, Charles Savedge, as a man

“who changed a room simply by walking into it. He believed so completely in his
many students and colleagues that we had no choice but to believe in ourselves.”
Inspired, encouraged, and challenged by her mentor, McCabe wrote that, even
though it was fifteen years later, everything she did was an attempt to find the
person he saw in her.

Verse: ”I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at

Cenchreae. Receive her in the Lord as saints ought to receive one another. And
help her in whatever matter she may require assistance from you, for she has
been a helper of many, including myself [shielding us from suffering]” (Romans
16:1-2)

Point: Open your eyes and look for a person who needs a little time, a little
friendship, and a little faith—someone to whom you can give the gift of being a
mentor or a supportive friend. Is there a person in your life who would be
encouraged if you let them know that you believe in them? It’s easy to get self-
consumed and run over by our to-do lists. And it’s easy to make excuses if we feel
we aren’t well-versed enough in spiritual matters to mentor others. But in this
Scripture, the Apostle Paul commends someone who helped others and gave
them hope. All of us are capable of that.

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