How to Use Sermon Illustrations Without Losing Your Message

How to Use Sermon Illustrations Without Losing Your Message

A great sermon illustration does more than entertain. It helps people see the truth of Scripture clearly enough to carry it out the door. This conversation between two campus and teaching pastors covers what separates an illustration that serves the text from one that just serves the moment, what one guest calls a boneless chicken trying to walk: fun to watch, but it isn't moving anyone anywhere.The episode breaks down a simple, repeatable framework for building illustrations that land: aim at the point being made, focus the story on that point, and take the picture by tying it back to the truth. It also covers when an illustration is actually needed, weighing the pace of a sermon, the people in the room, and the point being made, plus how personal stories can build trust with a congregation without turning the sermon into a memoir.The conversation closes with habits any preacher can borrow: journaling ordinary moments before they're forgotten, keeping a searchable database of stories and Scripture, and using the natural plot arc, rising action, conflict, and resolution, to spot a sermon illustration hiding in an average Tuesday.In this episode, you’ll learn: * The three-step framework for building an illustration that clarifies instead of distracts: aim, focus, and take the picture. * How to tell when a sermon actually needs an illustration, based on pace, people, and the point you're making. * Why personal stories build trust with a congregation, and how to keep them from becoming self-serving. * A simple test for whether a personal illustration has crossed a line: does it elevate you, or does it elevate the truth you're preaching? * How to build a habit of noticing illustrations in daily life, through journaling, photos, and a simple database. * Why bookending a sermon, opening and closing with the same illustration, can bring a whole message home, as long as you don't force it. * Where to find illustrations you can trust, from personal experience to historical events to AI-assisted research, and how to verify each one before you preach it. Meet the GuestsBrandon Abbott serves as campus and teaching pastor at The Church at West End. He has spent years studying the craft of storytelling, from competitive public speaking in high school to a running database that tracks every illustration he has ever preached, tagged by tone, text, and last use.

Application That Sticks: A Guide to Preaching That Transforms, Not Just Informs

In this episode, Brandon Hays continues his monthly conversation on preaching with Jay Strother, senior pastor of Brentwood Baptist, this time zeroing in on application: the moment a sermon has to leave the worship center and start showing up in someone's Monday morning. Jay walks through the "hook, book, look, took" outline he's used since seminary, and the head, heart, and hands framework he writes out before he ever starts a sermon, to make sure a message doesn't just inform people but moves them to respond. The conversation also gets honest about where application goes wrong. Jay talks through the temptation to turn a text into a moralistic checklist, using the David and Goliath story as an example of application that misses the gospel underneath it, and shares Charles Spurgeon's image of every village road eventually leading to London to explain why every passage should lead somewhere near the cross. Jay and Brandon also swap real stories, from a whole church setting phone alarms for 1:14 as a daily prayer reminder, to a Revelation 4 sermon that ended not with a to-do list but with a room full of grieving people standing to worship because God is still on his throne. In this episode, you’ll learn: * Why preaching information without transformation leaves people with knowledge but not wisdom * The hook, book, look, took outline, and how "took" is where most sermons run out of time * How the head, heart, and hands framework shapes application before a sermon is even written * Why application built on moralism instead of the gospel eventually falls apart, using David and Goliath as an example * How to write application for a whole spectrum of listeners, from the person new to church to the retired pastor in the back row * Practical ways to make application memorable, including a citywide prompt built around one verse and a phone alarm * Simple habits, like a running story file and a nightly journal, that help a pastor build a stockpile of application over time * Meet the Guests Brandon Hays is the Campus and Teaching Pastor at Harpeth Heights, one of Brentwood Baptist's nine campuses. Jay Strother is senior pastor of Brentwood Baptist, where he's served for 24 years across churches of every size before leading the congregation's nine campuses today.

From Vision to Sunday: How to Plan a Year of Preaching

In this episode, Brandon Hays sits down with Jay Strother, senior pastor of Brentwood Baptist, to talk about something every preacher wrestles with: how far ahead to plan a sermon calendar. Jay walks through why Brentwood Baptist plans its preaching 12 to 14 months out, starting with Easter as the anchor point, and how a team of pastors gathers for a planning retreat that includes prayer, an honest look back at the past year, and a Shark Tank-style pitch session before anyone puts a series on the calendar. The conversation also gets practical about what happens when life doesn't cooperate with a plan. Jay shares stories of calling an audible during a season of grief, letting a preaching calendar simmer for months before locking it in, and aligning kids ministry, students, and worship around the same sermon series so families hear one message instead of several disconnected ones. For pastors who have never planned more than a few weeks ahead, Jay's encouragement is simple: start small, and let the process build from there. In this episode, you’ll learn: * Why stepping back to plan a year of preaching creates more room to follow the Holy Spirit, not less * How Brentwood Baptist plans preaching 12 to 14 months out, and why Easter is the anchor point for the whole calendar * What actually happens at a preaching-team retreat: prayer, a look back at the past year, a Shark Tank-style pitch session, and a vote * How to build in accountability for calling an audible on a planned series without preaching on impulse * How aligning kids ministry, students, groups, and worship around the same sermon series deepens discipleship in the home * Where to start if you've never planned more than a few weeks ahead Meet the Guests Brandon Hays is the Campus and Teaching Pastor at Harpeth Heights, one of Brentwood Baptist's nine campuses. Jay Strother is senior pastor of Brentwood Baptist, where he's served for 24 years across churches of every size before leading the congregation's nine campuses today.

Finding Your Voice in the Pulpit

Every preacher starts by sounding like someone else. The slow, winding work of ministry is learning to sound like yourself.In this episode, Brandon Hayes sits down with David Hannah to talk about finding your voice in the pulpit and why that work is about far more than communication style. David brings an unusual path to preaching, from preacher's kid to attorney to Bible teacher to pastor, and he's honest about what it has taught him: your voice is shaped by the people you actually know, your confidence rests in who God made you to be, and authenticity is no longer optional for a generation that can see through a facade in seconds. They get practical, too, on outlines versus manuscripts, understanding your sermon rather than memorizing it, watching game film, and receiving feedback without losing your nerve.In this episode, you’ll learn: * Why finding your voice starts with confidence in who God made you to be, not in copying a communicator you admire * How your context and your congregation, the people you actually do life with, shape the way you preach * The difference between memorizing your sermon and understanding it, and why that's where natural delivery comes from * How to grow as a communicator without getting trapped in comparison * Why authenticity and a willingness to say "I don't know" matter more for this generation than any before it * What appropriate vulnerability looks like in the pulpit, and who to run it by first * How to receive hard feedback with humility instead of defensiveness * The two things David tells every newer preacher: trust the voice God gave you, and watch the game film Meet the GuestsDavid Hannah is Campus and Teaching Pastor at The Church at Lockeland Springs, an East Nashville congregation where, in his words, it's "impossible to not know and be known," and his road to the pulpit ran through law school and years in litigation before ministry.Brandon Hayes is Campus and Teaching Pastor at The Church at Harpeth Heights, a preacher honest enough to admit he still goes back and forth on whether to use notes, whose advice to anyone nervous about preaching without them is simple: leave the iPad on the pew and just go do it.

From Pew to Purpose: Cultivating Gifts in the Body

What does it really look like to help someone move from sitting in the pew to serving the body? In this episode, Stephanie Prince sits down with Michelle Dyer to talk about identifying gifts and helping people use them well in the life of the church. Michelle makes the case that calling is terrain we have to tread, and that church leaders owe their people more than a vague encouragement to "get out there and serve." They dig into the practical tools, assessments, and coaching relationships that turn good intentions into real engagement, and they share stories of what happens when a leader takes the time to see a gift in someone and call it out.This conversation is part of our month on connections, helping churches build pathways for people to belong, serve, and grow. It's all leading up to the Elevate Church Conference on September 21 and 22, 2026.In this episode, you’ll learn: * Why helping people find their gifts changes the culture, passion, and mission of the whole church, not just one volunteer slot * What happens to a church's vibrancy when people never discover where they're meant to contribute * How to pair the concept of calling (Ephesians 4) with practical tools so people aren't left high and unclear * The four lenses Brentwood Baptist uses to help people explore who they are in Christ: spiritual gifts, personality, passion, and skills * Why the Discover coach relationship, led by lay leaders rather than staff, is a key piece of the membership process * How clear on-ramps, defined roles, and diligent follow-up move people from interested to involved * Why training lay leaders to see behind the curtain deepens their own sense of belonging and discipleship * How intentional leaders spot a gift in someone and shepherd it, and the fifteen-year volunteer story that started with picking up trash * What an empowered culture looks like when every member is a minister Meet the GuestsStephanie Prince is the Connections Minister at The Church at Station Hill, where she helps people find their place to belong, serve, and grow. Michele Dyer is the Connections Minister at Brentwood Baptist, where she's spent years developing tools, assessments, and coaching pathways to help members discover how God has wired them to serve.