Using introductory stories to grab people’s interest

This is something I did with a group of fisherman that I didn’t feel were quite ready to start the Bible overview set of stories. I decided to tell a ‘tall story’, or one that seemed like that. I asked them, “When you were out on your boats did you ever experience a typhoon?” We discussed their experiences. “Did you ever see anyone tell the wind and waves to calm down and they did?”

“Of course not,” they said.

“Let me tell you a story about a group of fisherman in a boat. One day there was a man in a boat with his fisherman friends. He lay down and went to sleep and the fisherman sailed the boat on their home waters. A huge storm came up and they thought that they would drown. They desperately tried to save themselves but eventually woke up their friend and said, ‘Don’t you care that we are about to drown?’ Their friend stood up and said to the wind and the waves, ‘Be calm!’ and they were. The fisherman were terrified and said, ‘Who is this man, that even the wind and waves obey him?’ ”

I closed by saying, “I have many more stories that will explain who this man was. Let me know when your hearts are ready to hear more stories.” Several weeks later they said they were ready, and so we started through a Bible overview set (see videos).

This approach could be used with any special interest groups – carpenters, boat builders, farmers, women struggling with injustice, old people. There are stories in the Bible about all these people.

Who might you try this approach with?