In some cases, you may choose to read the entire story. So what if the reading takes 10 minutes! The biblical text is the source and centerpiece of the sermon! You might weave in explanatory comments along the way, or you might break up the reading into sections and offer your comments between sections. The challenge is to maintain a ‘story flow.’

It’s also legitimate, I believe, to summarize the story and then direct people to the biblical text to read specific verses or statements. Point your listeners to a key statement made by a character or to an important detail which the writer shares. Weave this into your re-telling of the story. When the sermon is over, people will not feel like the biblical text was peripheral.

If your tradition dictates that you or someone else reads the entire text before the sermon, then work hard during the sermon to re-tell the story in a way that captures the crisis and the resolution, as well as the uniqueness of the characters. Don’t fret that people will not listen to you because they already know the ending! After all, people will engage and re-engage in a well-told story even if they already know the ending. That’s why people can watch the same movie for a fifth time and yet enter into the emotional roller-coaster ride through the crisis and resolution.

Whatever approach you choose, make sure to read the story well! What’s your preference when it comes to reading the text of Bible stories or passages which are longer than the preaching texts you usually select?