RelevantPreaching.Com
Real Messages for Real People
Practically Speaking
Sermon Introduction Ideas
by David Calvin, Dec. 2009
by David Calvin, Dec. 2009
Nothing is easier than introducing people. “John, I would like you to meet Linda. Linda is the church secretary. She’s the reason this place sails as smoothly as it does!” If Linda was your sermon, imagine the groundwork you would have laid for your sermon. You introduced Linda, her role, and brought her main talent into focus. You also provided an image: she is the captain at the helm of the ship, which is the local church.
Consider the image you created in the minds of your hearers. Through your introduction, you embedded into their consciousness an incredibly rich picture. This “captain” image will not only “launch” your first sermon point or move, but will recur throughout the entire lesson. There will be ships, rudders, sails, helms, rocky shoals, storms and, hopefully, port. Linda did it all; and, thanks to your use of image, your congregation will remember your lesson.
David Buttrick, in Homiletic Moves and Structures, says that “introductions provide initial focus; they bring into consciousness the ‘scene’ of the sermon before there is any moving around within the scene.” He also suggests that “introductions are merely focus and bear no weight of meaning.” He may have a point. Perhaps it might not be wise to inundate the minds of our hearers with a flood of theology right out of the chute. No wordiness, no theological maneuvering, no fancy arguments. Maybe people are better prepared to hear a sermon after they first acclimate to the preacher’s voice, style, and language usage. Should we begin with jokes? Casual banter? “Off-the-top-of-your-head” small-talk? Personal issues? Probably not. But we might want to consider that our introductions be kept simple in speech, light in thought, and humble in address.
It may also be important that our introductions have a closing sentence, an ending that completely stops it. Buttrick would add here that, following the closing sentence, we should allow for a short pause before launching into our first sermon move. This pause would serve to sharpen the attention of the people, to ready them for the first three for four following sentences.
Of course, preaching styles change with the comings and goings of fads, yet we might consider what kinds of introductions may hinder our audience’s receptivity of the message. First, lengthy introductions are out. There is nothing worse than an elder or preacher who takes the podium and introduces the speaker, or his lesson, with personal allusions, jokes, and general talk about past fishing trips, taking five minutes to do so. People assemble to hear a word from God and are anxious to begin. In fact, lengthy introductions may frustrate and even anger church members, thereby destroying their receptivity to the message. Second, personal illustrations may be good for the local Rotary Club dinner, but in a sermon introduction, they will only serve to focus attention on the speaker. Third, plunging headlong into theology will usually leave hearers wondering what you are talking about and how it is relevant.
Let us also be aware of the fact that we are faced with a dilemma. On one hand, we have people who eagerly anticipate a word from God. On the other, there may be those whose minds are adrift. The real challenge before us as we deliver a sermon is going to be how we can effectively draw all members of the congregation into the lesson by our introduction. Although the introduction will serve to focus and acclimate hearers to our voice and style, it will need to be simple yet catchy. And, most importantly, it will need to be an introduction tailored specifically to the Bible-based idea we are trying to communicate. Without a proper introduction, we will never be able to focus the minds of those we are trying to teach.
For further reading, I would suggest David Buttrick's philosophical insights in his book, Homiletic Moves and Structures, and Haddon W. Robinson's, Biblical Preaching, for practical sermon building.
