Task 1: Write the introduction
Essence of the task
Write a sermon introduction that not only gets the listener’s initial attention, but converts that initial attention into sustained interest, because you have been able to demonstrate to the listener the real importance of the topic to him or her.
Detailed description
It is not the same to travel to an unknown place with no previous knowledge, as it is to research beforehand about its history, customs, things to see, gastronomy, etc. Taking the time to inform ourselves beforehand allows us to understand much better what we will find during the trip; moreover, our expectations allow us to enjoy it more.
Something similar happens when we put time into preparing the introduction to our message. We prepare the audience and generate expectation by anticipating what we are going to discover during our “expository journey”. This is to the introduction, what the collection of information that we bring back home would be to the conclusion. We will probably return with a camera full of photos, souvenirs, guidebooks and various informational brochures that we have been saving from the places we have visited and that, once at home, we will look at them again, probably with a friend, remembering the good times we had and what we learned.
Both the introduction and the conclusion of the sermon should be as perfectly aligned with the “expository route” as is the preparation and gathering of information for a trip. The former will create interest and set the tone of what people are going to hear, and the latter will summarize what was seen.
To Do
Ideally, you already have the outline of your introduction, especially after the work done in Friday’s task 3: «Modify the first outline according to a homiletic script.» If that is the case, what you need to do now is to finish writing or editing that introduction so that you know the exact words you are going to use to prepare your listeners so that they will be as receptive as possible to the biblical message. If you didn’t get that far at that time, you will have to do more work now.
But regardless of the current state of the introduction, the important thing to do now is to write it completely, and to write it in such a way that it achieves the first two objectives of the homiletical plot advocated by Lowry. The introduction should (1), “unsettle” the listener and (2), help him or her to “delve into the discrepancy.”
Furthermore, the introduction should achieve these two objectives in such a way that (using the metaphor described above) it orients the listener to the biblical “landscape” that he or she will see on this journey. In other words, we must not only awaken or deepen their interest in the topic of the message, but also in the way in which this particular biblical passage will address the topic.
How best to accomplish all of this will require thought and «art». In addition, it will need to respond to the stated purposes of the sermon.
Ultimately, our introduction must achieve a sustained interest in what this passage affirms according to the purposes for which it was included in the biblical canon. At times, this can prove to be a considerable challenge.
To Keep in Mind
It is important not to introduce your sermons in the same way every time. If you preach frequently to the same audience, you will lose some of the value of your introductions by repeating the same pattern. People will get used to that pattern and you will not be able to arouse interest as easily.
One way to avoid this is to be creative and give each sermon an introduction that is as original as possible, according to the emphasis and objectives of the passage. However, we all have a tendency to fall into certain patterns, so in the long run it might be interesting to develop a collection of standard patterns for the introduction. This could speed up the process of developing an introduction.
Here are some ways you could start developing your “introduction idea bank”:
- Spend 15 minutes brainstorming options.
- Go back over sermons already preached and add to the list any ideas that worked particularly well.
- Analyze suggestions from a couple of preaching manuals.
- As you listen to others preach, glean any ideas that seem promising.
For example, one might begin with….
- An intriguing question.
- A surprising statement.
- A striking anecdote.
- A famous quote or phrase.
- An example tailored to the topic.
- A series of questions or examples that lead the listener from the general (applicable to anyone) to the specific (applicable to oneself).
- A misapplied biblical text.
- A segment from a movie.
- An interview with someone on the street.
- Etc.
Put your growing list somewhere where you can see it every time you sit down to work on your sermon. Then, if you find yourself stuck when preparing a particular sermon, take a look at your list and see how it helps you get out of the mental block.