Lectionary Stories for Preaching and Teaching, Series III, Cycle A

Storytellers who excel at their craft can draw readers or listeners into the worlds they create, using characters and situations to entertain and enlighten us. Jesus, the Master Storyteller, often spoke using parables -- short stories that conveyed spiritual truths. By drawing his listeners into his stories, he unlocked their minds and hearts to hear the truth he was relating to them.



Asked about his style and direction when authoring this book, Keith Hewitt said, "I thought it would be interesting to look at the Biblical passages from a slightly different angle than we might normally see them. Some of the stories are set in the time and place of the passage, others are set in different periods, using different characters--but in all of them I try to humanize the events so that the reader can sense that they're happening to real people. I think this can help them to connect to the meaning of the story."



Some of the stories can easily be adapted as vignettes or monologues, to be performed during worship. Depending upon the age of the students, other stories could be used in Sunday School as alternative texts to get students thinking about a particular passage in different ways.