Some advice on how to add Magic Tricks to your Sermon/Lesson

 Here is a few practical tips on putting Magic tricks as an illustration in your sermon/lesson for Sunday School, Youth and Children:

• Base your lesson on the bible and where the spirit is leading you. (I am assuming you have already prayed about it) Don't start with a cool trick and throw a bible versen on it....Start with the bible and see if your Magic trick will help you illustrate Gods word. 

     Remember the parable of the sower that Jesus told? In that parable the bible is the seed. The Word of God is our seed, and it works it never turns back void!! This seed WILL do what it's intended to do - change lives - . As long as there's a sower spreading the seed, the Spirit that empowers the Word and will do a supernatural work...start with scripture then add your magic illustration!

•  You need to think if it is appropriate to use the magic in this case to illustrate the point. Sometimes magic tricks are great ways to illustrate Gods wonders. Other times they can be too distracting.

 An example of magic being too distracting might be using a razor blade to cut through your finger and using fake blood (to make it seem more real) to illustrate Christ being pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our sins. The reality is if you use a illustration like this people most likely will be grossed out about the fake blood and will be too busy soothing their scared child because you made fake blood go everywhere.

• Look for ideas from sites like You Tube, your favorite search engine, or from this blog and other sites like it to get ideas. Once you have your scripture and have prayed about it...see if there is a magic trick that will help you illustrate Gods Word. (I will later make a new post about websites and places I use to get ideas)

I use these magic tricks just as I would use a illustration. Illustrations like magic tricks serve dual purposes. The first purpose is to help bring your audience back (aka get their attention) (I have heard some say after 7 min peoples minds can wander...if you use a illustration it helps bring their attention back to the sermon) The second use of illustrations/magic tricks also can help you better explain the point of the message. 

•  Be a rifle...not a shotgun! This applies to putting together a sermon/lesson and when hunting deer. When you are hunting a deer you want to use a rifle instead of a shotgun. The main reason you want a rifle is you want your bullet to go the distance. The same applies to your lesson.  

When I was first starting out in ministry I was given the opportunity to preach a sermon one Sunday morning. I took everything I knew(including a magic trick as part of the invitation) and threw it all together and thought I had the perfect sermon...what I really had was a big mess of thoughts that didnt really apply to each other. I tried to throw all my knowledge into one sermon.(if you know me I am kinda scatterbrained) FYI everyone was confused that Sunday.... So my advice is to focus on one theme that God has laid on your heart and integrate it throughout the lesson/sermon and go from there. 

Leave a comment if this article was helpful or if you have any ideas or questions.