The Curious Case of the Illusive Illustration

“Mrs. Hudson, it’s missing!” shouted Holmes.

As she ran into the pastor’s study, Mrs. Hudson worried. “What’s missing?” she asked.

“The illustration I need for Sunday’s sermon,” Holmes exclaimed, “I can’t find it anywhere!”

“Did you look in the toe of your Persian slipper or in your file of past problems?” she inquired.

“Of course not,” Pastor Holmes replied. “My mind is usually the most orderly of filing systems. Given any topic, I can draw from countless cases of personal experiences, seminary lectures or Scripture references. It’s quite elementary. But I ran across the perfect illustration in a magazine a few months ago—no, not The Strand—and now for the life of me I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Well,” opined the faithful Mrs. Hudson, “I’ve been the pastor’s secretary here at Baker Street Baptist Church for 20 years, and every year I’ve suggested you get a real system for filing your sermon illustrations.”

“Quiet, please, let me think,” Holmes asked. “I wonder if that Methodist fellow—Moriarty—might know something? He did a good job in The Final Problem of the Purloined Poetry.”

“I don’t know,” Mrs. Hudson replied. “I’ve got to get back to work. By the way, John Watson called in sick. Something about a stomach bug.”

“That’s expected,” smirked Holmes, “With Watson, it’s always ailementary.”

If you can identify with Pastor Holmes as Sunday approaches, this monograph is your solution. Many pastors rely on personal experiences, church history tales from seminary or Scripture passages to illustrate their sermons. Some desperate clergy cling to 10,001 Illustrations from the Annals of the Dead Preachers’ Society or search Internet sites filled with tired old retreads or spurious stories of doubtful veracity. No wonder congregations cringe whenever the new pastor begins a tale they have heard time and again. They politely laugh at the right time to make him feel better, but privately they wish he would be more original.

Begin with a Database

Even with a superior memory, Holmes did not completely depend on his mental capacities for every fact and figure. He developed a filing system that allowed him to access information within moments. Modern preachers use a plethora of electronic gadgets to keep up with e-mails, text messages, Internet resources and daily appointments. Yet they fail to employ the most basic tools to store and retrieve vital illustrations, leaving them to a Saturday-night search through old Reader’s Digests for last-minute material.

While Microsoft Access, Logos software or other databases are excellent tools for categorizing sermons and illustrations, many pastors need something simpler and easier. Microsoft Excel is a fine alternative. Simple, easy to use, highly efficient. Excel uses rows and columns of cells into which any amount of text can be applied.