Help for Young Life Leaders NOW

Talk Helps 3 of 6

Here is a tip…

Often a Gospel story will be a little too long to keep kids attention if you read the whole thing. Here are some ideas…

Find “break points”. These are places where you can stop to clarify what is happening in the story, any confusing terms (i.e. Pharisee, disciple, etc.), and to paraphrase it yourself. You can even draw a line in your Bible so you remember where to stop.
Find the key phrases and just paraphrase the rest. A great example of this is the cross story. It is simply to long to read in its entirety. Find the key phrases that you need to read out of the Bible. By the way, NEVER paraphrase the whole story, always read out of your Bible when giving a talk.
Read the beginning of the story early in your talk, then tell a personal story, application, etc and leave the ending for the end. This can build anticipation and draw more attention to the story. A good example of a story like this is the Woman caught in adultery. Leave them with people with rocks raised over their heads wondering what is going to happen next

Jesus feeds five thousand	Mt 14:13-21, Mk 6:32-44, Lk 9:10-17, Jn 6:1-13	Jesus feeds five thousand	Miraculous power
Jesus walks on Water	Mt 14:22-36, Mk 6:45-56, Jn 6:15-21	Jesus and Peter walk on water	Faith, miraculous power
Rich young ruler	Mt 19:16-30, Mk 10:17-31, Lk 18:18-30	Man not willing to give up everything for Christ	Faith, cost
Two men receive sight (incl. Blind Bart in Mk)	Mt 20:29-34, Mk 10:46-52, Lk 18:35-43	Have mercy on me… Jesus challenges … what do you want me to do	Challenge, miraculous power