Like any illustration it should help to clarify a point and at the end people should remember not so much the illustration but the point the illustration was making. It should also be an illustration appropriate for the occasion. Similarly if a personal experience of the preacher is used to illustrate a point it should likewise be appropriate. A preacher is not just a voice but a person and people can identify and be helped when they hear how the preacher has learned a lesson, dealt with a situation etc. Personal illustrations that are used to focus on the preacher rather than the the preachers Lord are a bit like the hyopcrites who made a show of fasting or giving alms in public: they have already received their reward (Mt 6.2)


I have always noticed that at times when you see that some in the congregation are not with you, when you give a personal illustration every eye is upon you. I am not talking about anything emotional or dramatic but people are interested in how

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Stuart
Elder, Lambeg Baptist, Northern Ireland, UK

In Him the fulness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form and in Him you are complete (Col 2.9-10)

The sacrifice of a broken heart doth please Him but the sacrifice of a broken Christ alone doth satisfy Him (Richard Steele)