Another time I was preparing to teach on the tenderness of God. The idea occurred to me to preach from the passage that says, “A bruised reed God will not allow to break.” So, I got a bruised reed and held it while I said, “Some of you feel like a bruised reed today.” I talked to them about the tenderness of God while holding that simple prop.

As I visited the offices or homes of our people over the following weeks, many had a bruised reed on their desk or taped to their refrigerator. It was amazing. People remember that stuff.

— Haddon W. Robinson and Craig Brian Larson, The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching: A Comprehensive Resource for Today’s Communicators, 1st ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2005), 46.