Chuck E. Cheese

How do you illustrate a sermon on greed, selfishness, or original sin? How about a fresh story taken right from current events, like the fight that broke out over prizes at a Chicago Chuck E. Cheese? Our weekly News That Illustrates column highlights some of the most engaging, original, and highly preachable stories from around the world. So check out what the new film Gravity says about our spiritual condition, or how to deal with conflict from a classy football coach, or the kindness at a Chick-fil-A Drive-thru, or the beautiful story behind that CPR mannequin. One of our preachers called News That Illustrates "a must for my weekly preaching"—he even reads it when he isn't preaching.

Lee Eclove

Also, as part of our ongoing series, "Challenges Ahead: Preaching Tough OT Narrative Texts," we offer a classic sermon—"The Price of Pride" by Lee Eclov. King David's census in 1 Chronicles seems far removed from our lives, but Lee opens his sermon with a claim that his sermon will help people say, "That's the story of my life!'"

This week to help you in your preaching efforts we offer the following:

• Featured Illustration: The Third Stage of Prayer—Giving Thanks
• Preaching Skills: "Preaching Good News about David's Bad Idea," by Lee Eclov
• Video: We're All Pretty Smart

In Christ,

Matt Woodley
Managing Editor, PreachingToday.com
mwoodley@christianitytoday.com

Matt Woodley is the pastor of compassion ministries at Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois.