Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, Mark 4:1-2

This is the second time Mark points out to us Jesus’ predicament of being crowded out of a teaching space. It’s certainly a nice problem to have but it also tells us people were hungry for the truth. A few were probably eager to hear how Jesus would handle the confrontation with the religious leaders he would certainly encounter. But He taught to as many who would come. They also figured out acoustics and quickly how to make the most noise with what they had, namely earth and water.

The stories He told – parables – would be stories they’d long remember because they always made at least one solid point.

On the rare occasion that I preach somewhere, my wife encourages me to Tell stories since people seem to remember and relate to them. She’s right.

Think even of people talking to one another. Everything’s a story of what happened to us. Those are the things we remember. Those are the same stories people remembered long after Jesus left the earth.

Become a storyteller in whatever sphere of influence you have. That’s actually a very common business term for teacher these days. In fact, I helped write a proposal where the expert kept interjecting that he was a story teller.

Tell stories. People remember stories.

What’s your story?