Telling the Gospel Through Story: Evangelism That Keeps Hearers Wanting More
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
The 2013 Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year in Evangelism
Everybody loves a good story.
In an age when prepackaged gospel formulations leave people cold, well-told Bible stories can be used powerfully by God to touch people's hearts and draw them to himself.
After ministry in both Western and non-Western contexts, church planter Christine Dillon has discovered that Bible storying is far more effective than most other forms of apologetics or evangelistic presentations. In fact, non-Christians actually enjoyed storying and kept coming back for more. Storying provides solid biblical foundations so listeners can understand, apply and respond to the gospel, and then go on to fruitful maturity in God's service.
This book includes practical guidance on how to shape a good story, how to do evangelism through storying and how to lead Bible discussions. With particular insights for trainers and those working in crosscultural contexts, this guide provides you with concrete steps for sharing the Story that everyone needs to hear.
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- Provides Reflection questions at the end of each chapter
- Explores the usefulness of storytelling in the work of evangelism
- Uses real-like examples to demonstrate how storytelling can be a strategic tool while sharing the Gospel
- Introduction: The Power of Story
Part One: Foundations
- Why Storying?
- Learning from Biblical Models
Part Two: Preparing a Basic Story Set
- Choosing Suitable Stories
- Preparing Stories from the Biblical Text
Part Three: Sow and Tell: Getting Out and Using Storying
- Getting Started
- Leading Discussion: The Why and the How
- Discussion Dynamics: More Hints
Part Four: Pass it On: Training Others
- The Basics
- Motivating Trainees
Part Five: Adapting for Specific Contexts
- Evangelistic Storying with Different Audiences
- Storying for Christian Teaching
- Epilogue
- Appendix A: Extra Discussion Questions
- Appendix B: Different Storying Methods
- Appendix C: Training Checklist
- Appendix D: Sample Stories
There are many subjects that can be discussed and understood at primarily an academic level. Orality is not one of them. Christine Dillon understands this distinction and has treated the topic of storying in a practical and hands-on fashion in elling the Gospel Through Story. Her journey into orality has been bumpy, like my own, and has been hammered out through years of both firsthand experience and hosting training seminars in numerous contexts. One sentence in the book sums up her overall philosophy: 'Nothing beats hearing the stories being told in a real situation.' I appreciate her willingness to glean from other practitioners and even to plug the approach that has most resonated with me personally--Simply The Story. If you find that the exegetical tool in your communication tool belt is like Thor's hammer, but your narrative communication is more like a pair of tweezers, then this is the book for you.
--Dr. Larry Dinkins, Th.M., Ph.D., OMF International missionary to Thailand for 32 years
Christine has given us a most welcome introduction and primer in her book elling the Gospel Through Story. While her context is crosscultural, she makes a strong case for pastors and evangelists everywhere to understand the importance of, and the ways and means to share, biblical narratives. This book will be helpful in all gospel preaching and homiletics in general.
--Lon Allison, executive director, Billy Graham Center, Wheaton College
We live by stories. Family stories. Celebrities' stories. Historical stories. Something happens. And then--? We stop to listen. We can't help it. The story pulls us in. Much of God's revelation is story. People act, but even before that, God acts. Christine Dillon knows the power of God's never-ending story. In this book she shows us how to tell it so as to transmit truth that will transform the listeners.
--Miriam Adeney, author of Kingdom Without Borders: The Untold Story of Global Christianity