Texts: Colossians 4:6 or passages that speak of evangelism or reaching out to others

Principle: Speaking to others with grace has great power

Objects: A bag of potato chips

Experience: Take an open bag of potato chips and start walking down the aisle, offering a chip to different people in the audience. As you begin to walk through the aisle, say, "To speak to unbelievers with grace is like sharing your potato chips with them."

Turn to one person: "Want one? Help yourself!"

Then say: "I've learned that one of the simplest acts of grace in meeting someone is to simply be interested in them. Just ask them a question about something they care about in life. It's like turning to them with a bag of chips and saying, 'Want one?'"

As you offer chips to more people in the audience, ask questions to serve as examples of what you mean: "Is that a good book you're reading? Want one?" "What's it like to deal with people in your job? Want one?" "Did you grow up around here? Want one?"

As you prepare to offer a chip to another person in the audience, say, "Or perhaps you can find a way to ask gently or discretely about deeper heart issues." Offer an example of what you mean: "How do you keep your balance with all this turmoil in your life? Want one?"

As you prepare to offer a chip to another person in the audience, say, "You know, there's a wonderful verse in the Bible that might encourage you. Want one?" To another person: "Let me tell you a story about a Father whose son broke his heart. Want one?" To another person: "You know what? I'm going to be praying for you. Want one?"

Then, return to the pulpit and offer a conclusion to the illustration: "Grace-accented conversations give people more than they deserve or expect. They are conversations rich in love and sincere interest, in unexpected sympathy and empathy, in undeserved hope and forgiveness. They are conversations which, by the Holy Spirit's miraculous help, touch something soul-deep—words that go where no one else has. Words like that are salty, tasty. They make a person want more. Though people may not realize it, you're grace-accented words are giving them a thirst for Jesus."