Let me give you an example of a time when I felt that a presentation added a lot to a sermon. Several years ago, I was preaching through Luke. When dealing with the first part of chapter 15, I used some visuals at the end of the sermon to try and communicate the main point.
First, I showed an image of the inside of a discotheque:
I talked about how that wasn’t my world, that I wouldn’t feel at all comfortable there. I then inserted “my island” over the image of the disco, my island being the church:
I then talked about some of the people that I kind of didn’t want at church. If they came, I certainly wouldn’t want them sitting next to me and my kids:
I talked about how I saw those people: drunks, hookers, addicts, hoboes. I looked on them like the Pharisees looked on the tax collectors and prostitutes that flocked to Jesus. But how does God see them? I said, “When God looks at these people, He sees…”
Sure, I could have easily said, “God sees a lamb.” But it wouldn’t have had the same impact. There were “ohs” from some of the young girls. This picture showed something to be taken care of and protected (fortunately, no coyotes were present that day). The photo of the lamb had a much stronger impact, just as some of the people commented on the impact the picture of the disco had on them. All of this could have been done with words alone. But more people “heard” the message because they saw it.
[No, I don’t know how to do this in PowerPoint, so don’t ask. It probably can do it. Keynote does it easily, but you have to own a Mac.]
UPDATE: If you read the comments below, you can see that Robert Smelser had a different idea as to how he would use images at the end of this sermon. He sent me the images, so I’m posting them below:
It’s not really my style, but your illustrations do make the point of how imagery is more effective than bullet after bullet. People have gut reactions to imagery that they generally don’t have to mere words. They engage the emotions more strongly than many of us are able to do verbally (few exceptions aside).
Stylistically, instead of placing Clip Art on top of the image of the disco. I would have created separate slides with a photograph that unmistakeably depicted the “unsavory” types. (Of course, that could have been tricky with the prostitute.) I might just have to try that! I’ll share the results when I get done!
Actually, the use of cartoon images was intentional. To me the use of photos of real people could be a bit degrading for them, going against the message of the sermon. Some would debate that, of course.
And I guess you’re right; it was especially the image of the prostitute that stumped me.
I see your point with the photos. Here’s what I came up with. (Mind you, I didn’t spend long on this, so these slides are far from polished.)
At the disco, but I skipped the church/island:
A little text, “I see…”
Which builds into these images:
There’s only one photo of a person involved. The others are emblematic of the poor choices that would happen in such a setting, and I think I found a nice image implying a prostitute without being too suggestive!
A little more text, “God sees…”
Wrapping up with:
“Awww!” Actually, I think I like your lamb better, but I was just skimming for images!
So there’s how I would have presented the same point. I’m not suggesting one approach is necessarily better, but I always find it beneficial to see how others would tackle the same content. Best regards!
Well, drat! Apparently the comment system doesn’t allow for embedded images, probably a good choice. Now you’re just going to have to use your imagination!
Wish I could have seen them. Thanks for putting in the effort.
Should you be interested, the sermon outline is here:
http://sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=65410
(Can’t believe it’s been 5 years since I preached that!)
I really like that you use visuals! For sure, something like that would help keep the youth group interested, but I suspect quite a few others would get the message better than they would otherwise as well. For those who really couldn’t care less about visuals, they still hear the words. Good learning theory says do everything you can to reach your entire audience. And you do that. Keep up the good work, Tim.