The point is

The long narrative in the background passage (Ezekiel 12-17) for this week’s lesson, “Acting on God’s Word”, has numerous possible interpretations and life applications. Which ones will you select to teach? Most often, my approach is to stick close to the focal verses and the LifeWay interpretation and application since some members in my class actually read the lesson in advance and come prepared for discussion. This strategy also allows me to leverage the great amount of preparation found in the quarterly material as well as commentary by others that can be found on the web.

But I try to avoid an aesthetic-like manner and just read the selected verses along with some anecdotal comments, or just offer canned illustrations. Neither do I like to insert emotionally charged music or use video just for the sake of inspiration that may have only some vague relation to the text. So where do I find balance in being creative and “owning” the lesson verses mechanically reading the LifeWay statements and following their suggested teaching plan?

As a teacher it encourages me when conversing with someone that recalls a lesson I have previously taught. God can and does use whatever preparation I put into the lesson, and knowing that, I try to be as creative as possible to make the lesson memorable. If it is memorable that’s a measure that indicates life impact. Prayerfully, God uses it to affect life change to become more Christ-like. With this in mind, watch the 40,000,00 Minutes video (see right hand side of the page), or the humor laden sample video “8 reason’s I don’t share my faith.” The first is on point to encourage us to act on God’s Word, and the second is just fun to watch!