Grade School Homiletics

I spend half a day at the school every week volunteering in a couple of classrooms and playing with the kids during lunch. This year, I have the pleasure of serving in Isaiah's classroom with Ms. Scottel, and on my first day she asked me if I would make a presentation on sermon writing.

I was a little surprised.

This is a public school. A fourth grade class. And it is today. And you want me to make a presentation on sermon preparation? I could tell by the look on her face that she was serious, so after grading a number of the students' math quizzes, I grabbed marker, and got everyone's attention. And then it hit me.

What I do every week is write and present a book report.

Every week, I focus on some section, aspect, or theme of the Bible, and I report on it. Book reports are things that fourth graders know all about. In fact, it didn't take long before we were in it up to our elbows. I decided (for the purposes of honoring the First Amendment) that we would write a sermon on the book Green Eggs & Ham. We discussed the premise and main point of the book; we developed major supporting points, and we drew examples from personal experience. When we were finished, we had a well-rounded persuasive sermon on the importance of trying things that are potentially good. When we were done, any one of those kids could have had you coming up the aisle for breakfast.

It amazes me what God is up to sometimes.