I had the privilege to be with all of the camp speakers this summer. As part of this time they compiled their best talk illustrations. Many of them are time-tested ones many are familiar with. There were dozens of these. There were five that really stood out to me and I want to share them with you in this series of posts. I am also trying them in my club so I know how they work. I’ve used two so far, I’ll be using more soon.
Blood Diamond – I am your father who loves you
This clip needs some setup. Blood Diamond is a movie that highlights the illegal trade of diamonds. In the midst of chaos, rebels abduct children and brainwash them to kill people. In this scene the son is supposed to shoot his father. Then the father says these words:
What are you doing?
I know they made you do bad things.
You are not a bad boy.
I am your father
Who loves you
You will come home with me and…
be my son again
I am not a crier, but this one gets me every time. The richness of those words minister to me. Our job is to translate this to our friends. This could be part of a sin message or a cross message or an appropriation message.
Next week I am doing a person of Christ message. I might do the woman caught in adultery (John 8). I’ll let you know how it goes.
7 thoughts on “The BEST Talk Illustrations (3 of 5)”
I am gonna use this tonight. Hope we have some wheels that start to turn. Thanks for the suggestion.
Laura
Laura, I hope it goes well. I’ll shoot up a prayer.
If you have any feedback, let us know. 🙂
I used this illustration tonight with the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15) for the sin talk. It was an incredible tool to describe the separation and the consequences of sin concluding with a message of hope that will transition us smoothly into the Cross. I would also use this for an appropriation talk!
Thank you for the great tool!!
Here is another link that looks a little better…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_ROOI3bJa4
Hope that helps. Thanks for the tip Aron!
Thanks for this… going to use it in both our younglife and wyldlife clubs over the next week. D
i remember seeing this at camp once but do not remember the outline of the talk in general…would you be able to share how you would set the talk up as far as the best time to show the clip in a talk coupled with the prodigal son?
I think there are a ton of ways to use this clip.
For the prodigal son I would use it for when the son returns. In Luke 15:17 it says the son “came to his senses”. To me this is a key phrase of the story about repentance and “return”. The question that remains, is “how is the father going to respond”. This clip shows the heart of God the Father toward us His children. I could see using this clip in the middle of the talk, or when you get to Lk 15:17.
Sometimes using a powerful clip at the end can distract from the main point. That is why I suggest using it in the middle, or near the end, but not at the very end.