A seminarian turned in his typed-up sermon to his homiletics prof for grading. When he met with him for a conference the professor started out very positively. He said to the young man, "I like your exegesis. You have presented the meaning of the text in a helpful and clear fashion. Your three points make sense, they show balance and progression. Your introduction and your conclusion both show a great deal of thought. The illustrations you used seemed most appropriate. However, I am going to give you a D on the sermon." The seminarian was taken aback and said, "Why a D if it's all that good?"

The professor said, "Well, frankly, it's because of your sermon title. It is one of the worst I've ever seen. Nobody will want to come hear a sermon entitled: ‘The Pericopes of Jesus in Relationship to the Eschatology of the Apostle Paul.' I tell you what I'll do. You see if you can come up with a better sermon title and I'll reconsider the grade. What you want is a title that will reach out and grab people by the heart. A title that will compel them to come and hear what you have to say. Imagine that title out on the sign in front of a church with such impact that if a bus stopped in front of the church and the people on the bus saw the sign, it would be so powerful it would motivate them to immediately get off the bus and run into the church."

The young man said he would give it his best shot. So, he went home, and he wrestled with this task all night long, sweating bullets. The next morning, he showed up at his prof’s office and handed him his new sermon title, which read: "Your Bus Has a Bomb on It!"