I’ve been guilty of it. Probably more times than I’ve realised. And so have you, I’m guessing, if you’re a preacher who has ever tried to be creative; who has tried to do something different in order to captivate the congregation with the truth of Scripture. At some point, we’ve all fallen into the error of allowing our sermon to serve a creative idea, rather than the other way around.

Most people don’t remember anything that happened to them before the age of two. Which, as a parent, makes you wonder why you bother. Feeding, changing, bathing, going to the park, pretending you can’t see them when they put their hands over their eyes, and reading the same story over and over again – none of it gets remembered. So why do it? Why not take it easy for a couple of years, then start to be nice just when you think they’re ready to remember? You know, like politicians do in an election year.