Week 5

Question 1

What role does reflection play in preaching?

Answer 1

Reflection on preaching is important, along with preparation for preaching and preaching itself. Distance from the task of preaching helps reflection.

Question 2

There are two good reasons why not all sermons should be narration:

Answer 2

One is sometimes the narrative or story is not congenial to the experience you wish to create….

A second reason is there are times when the narrative is not congenial to the nature of the text

Question 3

What negative connotation is associated with “story”?

Answer 3

The word “story” can have the negative connotation “untrue.” To some people, a story is not serious (“just a story”).

Question 4

Craddock says a good story is …

Answer 4

1. “tailored and contoured to the audience…. It’s not instant replay.”
2. “(my story is ) set in the context of the story…. To be Christian is to be enrolled in a story.”

Question 5

Craddock thinks our hesitation in using stories is not that…

Answer 5

we are afraid they DON’T have power, but that we are afraid they DO have power.

Question 6

There are 2 kinds of preaching people will not listen to:

Answer 6

Poor preaching 
Good preaching (Some of us are more afraid of this kind)

Question 7

We can overcome the hesitation in storytelling in our preaching if…

Answer 7

we think about what goes on in storytelling

Question 8

Craddock lists four important guidelines for storytelling in the sermon

Answer 8

1. The storyteller recognizes that we don’t just speak to the people but we speak for the people
2. Don’t bend the story out of shape to fit some homiletic enterprise….make them realistic
3. We aren’t just transferring information, but we are also creating the experience of that information.
4. Storytelling is the creation of the experience of the substance of the sermon.

Question 9

According to Craddock, The first step in exegesis is

Answer 9

to read the text…no matter how familiar it is. Write down everything that comes to mind when you read the text

Question 10

Craddock says “Most of the power in a story is in”…

Answer 10

its appropriateness, not necessarily how it’s told

Question 11

What are two major sources of stories?

Answer 11

We get stories mostly from observation and experience.

Question 12

What practical advice does Craddock give in collecting stories from various sources?

Answer 12

1. Make notes

2. Keep a journal and enter the way you felt about those observations and experiences.

Question 13

Why does Craddock advocate the use of an economy of words in storytelling?

Answer 13

Overuse of adjectives can be insulting.

Question 14

What is the key to the telling of the story?

Answer 14

Movement

Question 15

What analogy does Craddock use to illustrate movement?

Answer 15

imagine an old man pealing an apple

1. Peels and peels taking his time and the kid waiting is salivating.
2. By the time he’s finished that apple is sooo delicious.

Question 16

Craddock’s exercise to be sure you’re in charge of the story:

Answer 16

Write on page: “What’s it like to be ___________.” Write around it everything that comes to mind. Spend 5-10 minutes, once or twice a week sympathetically, empathetically, with consideration, internalizing, etc

Question 17

What’s Thomas Long main critique of narrative preaching?

Answer 17

Narrative preaching helped us be engaged in the text, but now we’re missing a knowledge base sufficient for narrative preaching.