Lesson #8 Sermon Structure: Inviting Introduction By Sherman Haywood Cox II Soul Preaching
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Foreword Thank you again for your continued interest in the program. Please let me know of any questions that you have. We are working very hard to make this the best preaching course that it can be. If you have any questions email me at preacher@superchargeyoursermons.com. P.S. OK..Enough with the housekeeping. Let s get to this week s training!! Page 3
Introduction The last two weeks we discussed sermonic structure. Now we will continue talking about sermonic structure with a look at the introduction of the sermon. Please note that we have already given some help in this subject in the past few lessons. Because of that, this lesson will be a little shorter than the previous lessons. While the lesson is shorter, it still is very important, and I encourage you to look at the video and listen to the audio in addition to reading the text. The introduction is a very important component of the sermon in that if the people do not get on board in the beginning of the sermon, they will more than likely check out and never listen to the whole of the sermon. It is possible that they may come back at the very end to hear the whoop, but they will miss that which prepares them to fully experience the life changing affects of the sermon. Next week we will talk about sermon titles. We will then talk about sermon celebration which will conclude the discussion of sermon structure. Then we will conclude section one of the Supercharge Your Sermons system with a discussion of Sermon presentation. You want to hear all of those presentations. Then we will have gone through the whole system. At that point we will begin an involved example. That will help us understand how to actually work through the system. Page 4
Pre-Introduction Now before we begin talking about the introduction. I want to spend a bit of time talking about what I have called the pre-introduction. This includes everything up to the sermon. I think that the preacher should do all that is within the preacher s power to create an atmosphere that is open to the specific word begin presented on this occasion. Music Selection In short, preachers should attempt to be involved in the music selection. What are the songs that will be sung? Are they in line with the point of the sermon? Don t just sing a nice song or a song that people like to hear, sing a song that promotes the point of the sermon. Of course in many occasions the preacher cannot determine what will be sung. But often preachers can and do know. I would suggest that the preacher find out and work to have it be in line with her sermon. Scripture Also there is the issue of other preliminaries. For example, the scripture that is read can promote the semron. If you have a particular scripture that is the point of your sermon, please let the people know that you wish that scripture read. Once again, it may not be possible ahead of time to make sure that a scripture is read, but please seek to find out and at least let the officiating member know your scripture. Sermon Title In addition, spend some time working on your sermon title. In the next lesson, we will discuss this more in-depth, but you can do a lot towards having the people understand and be receptive to your sermon by simply having a strong relevant sermon title. Acknowledgements Now we should spend some time on preliminaries after the preacher starts but before the preacher begins the sermon. It is important to thank the pastor for the Page 5
opportunity. In addition, always thank the auxiliary or agency that invited you if there is one. If the women s committee invited you, thank the pastor for allowing you to be there and thank the women s committee as well as the leader by name, for inviting you. This goes a long way towards building up comradory. In addition, you want to let the people know that you know why you are there. If it is pastor s anniversary, make reference to it, if it is mother s day. Refer to it as well. Do these things before you start. You will refer to them again in your sermon as needed, but you want to start by acknowledging these few things. Then you are ready for the introduction to the sermon. Page 6
Purposes of the Introduction Before we can talk about putting together an introduction, we need to talk about the purposes of an introduction. Here are a few. Tells the People About the Sermon There are a few ways of doing this that are based in the kind of sermon. There are some sermons built on suspense. Those sermons should not give away the punch line in the beginning. However even in those cases, the people should have some idea of what the sermon is about. What story in the Bible is being referred to? What are the possible themes that may be addressed in the sermon. The people should have a basic idea about where you are going in the sermon by the introduction. If you do not give them this basic compass, they will lose track of where they are and may give up after attempting to piece together what the sermon is about. So the first purpose of the introduction is to tell people about the sermon. If at all possible, point to the whole sermon here. We want to anticipate the whole of the sermon. Please note that you can do this in a few ways. You can openly tell them, or you can hint at it. In any case, take the time to let people in on what the sermon is about in your introduction. Get's the People to Want to Hear the Sermon The next purpose is to get the people to want to hear the sermon. This is the grabbing nature of the introduction. Don t start the sermon without giving the people a compelling reason to want to hear the sermon. We can preach all we want about how people aughta want to hear the sermon because God is there or whatever, but if you don t make the people want to hear your sermon, they will check out. Please note that the preacher can and will preach things that the people do not want to hear. However, even in those cases, it is the preacher s job to demonstrate why the people want to hear this. It is like the doctor who must Page 7
deliver bad news. It is still best for the doctor to deliver the bad news. Sometimes we as preachers have to deliver bad news. But we still must show why the people really want to hear this bad news. An example is telling people bad news so that they can correct the behavior before it destroys them. People must get the idea that the sermon is both true and important. The people must come to the conclusion that they will get something that they need from the sermon. Make clear the relevance of point This is related to the previous purpose. The point of your message needs to be shown relevant to the daily lives of the people. This is key if the people are going to live differently after hearing the sermon. Sometimes preachers get people shouting by making the point something the people want to hear, but the point is not really relevant to their daily living and thus they do not live changed lives. As preachers, we must do more than look for folks to shout. We must provide a means towards changed lives. The introduction can serve as a pointer towards that relevance. Now again, if you are using indirection or suspense, you may hold off on this key, but you definitely want to either have the previous point or this point even in sermons of suspense. Don t lose the people. Should move smoothly into the sermon The sermon introduction should smoothly flow into the beginning of the sermon. So you not only look at the whole sermon, but you also specifically look at the next or first point of the sermon. The preacher must clearly and seamlessly move from introduction to the sermon. It is important not to sound like there is a jarring or big move here. The introduction is a move of the sermon and then you move to the next move of the sermon. Make the people able to hear and understand the sermon We need to place the people in a position where they can hear and understand the sermon. By that I mean we need to transcend the distance between the Biblical time and the present time. You want to give the people what they need to be able to process and digest the sermon. A very good way of doing this is with a Page 8
story from the present world and then directly identify it with the Biblical story. We will give an example of this technique later. Page 9
How to do it? Use Biblical Stories A very good way of introducing the subject of your sermon is to simply introduce and tell the beginning of the story that forms the basis of your sermon. You may give the background of the story. You can provide some of the lead up to the story. You may tell what has caused the story to happen. The Bible is your best weapon. Because of this, I would encourage you to give the Bible story prominence in your introductions. The key here is to tell the story in such a way that the people will have an emotional investment in the story. Add in vivid details that will connect the people to the story. I will provide an example below. Use Other Stories This is my favorite approach as you will see in the examples. Here I take a story from history or even a common story like waking up in the bed at night. I then tell the story in light of the Biblical story. I show how the two stories are related. This is a particularly cool introduction in that the people are immediately grabbed by the story because stories have an innate way to pull the people Background information of the Text Another way to add information to the text is to add background information. Here you want to expand on the story by looking at items that add to the vividness of the story. These ideas can come from wave one of exegesis where we wrote down everything that comes to our mind. But more than likely it will come from Wave two where we explicitly asked questions about who wrote the text and why. Finally, we might get some information from wave four when we walked in the text. The key is to help the people become invested in the story of the text which will make them invested in the sermon itself Page 10
Examples In this section I want to give a few examples to illustrate the concepts. These sermons can all be found on http://www.soulpreaching.com. I would encourage you to go there and look at the sermons in context. I only quote a part of each sermon introduction here to make the point. The first example is from a sermon entitled: When God Shuts Up Your Womb: The story begins by introducing us to the main players and the main issue in this drama. A man named Elkanah had two wives. One named Hannah and another named Peninnah. Peninnah had children and Hannah did not have any. When one had children that one was considered to be especially blessed of God. Peninnah had children. Peninnah was considered blessed. Peninnah had taken children to Elkanah. The smile on Elkanah s face was very great because of these the children. Elkanah loved his children and Peninnah loved her children. When you looked at the children you saw a little of Peninnah and you saw a little of Elkanah. Perhaps folks came up and told his son he looked just like Elkanah. Perhaps folks said you are a chip off the old block. Your mother must be very proud of you. One woman had children, and having children in that society and most societies is considered a blessing. But also during that time if you did not have children you were considered not as blessed. As folks would talk about the children of Peninnah they acted like they did not see Hannah. They looked the other way. Or some folks tried to compensate for her lack of children by talking about something else. They might say, Oh but you cook so well Hannah. Trying to compensate often makes things worse. For deep in their minds they really thought that when you don t have children you were not really good enough. They thought, when you didn t have children you had done something wrong. Perhaps they didn t want to think it, but they also thought, When you don t have children God is angry with you. When you don t have children it is proof that Peninnah is a better wife then Hannah. When you don t have children it is proof that Hannah was not blessed. Note. In this first part of the introduction, I simply use the Bible Story. I am attempting to help the people understand the scripture. In addition, I have in mind the point of the sermon as I seek to make the people understand. I am not simply seeking understanding for the sake of understanding, but so that the points that will be illuminated in the sermon will be understood. Page 11
Note how I quickly give the facts of the sermon without belaboring the point. The two wives and one being childless is brought out. And other key aspects of the story are brought out. Again, bring out the important points that will help you preach your sermon. Another note is how I connect the sermon to the people. However I connect it to the people s lives by telling the story in a particular way. I talk about the smile on Elkanah s Face or use common everyday vernacular like chip off the old block. Pleaase note how the research ended up in the sermon. I refer to the idea that one is blessed when one has children. Some people think that all of their research needs to fit into the sermon. But no, just enough to grab the people on board as demonstrated in this short piece of the introduction. Finally, look at how my sanctified imagination played in the sermon introduction. I speculate on the thoughts of the characters. This information will show up in Wave 1 and Wave 4 of Biblical Exegesis. Here is another example. First from a sermon entitled Keep Walking in the Dark! I remember when I was a child sleeping in my warm bed on a cold night. There is something about the warmth of a bed when it is cold outside. But, sometimes early in the morning I would awaken out of a pleasant sleep and find that I needed to go to the bathroom. I would lay there until the discomfort of staying there in the bed overcame the comfort of laying in the bed. Then I would look out from my covers to see the path I will take on my way to the bathroom. In between my bed and the goal, I would see a monster sitting in one of the chairs right next to my bed. This monster looked like that Monster in Daniel 7 because it came up on one side. And on top of it all that beast was looking at me. I thought to myself, I can probably out run this beast, it doesn t look that coordinated anyway. But that beast would seemingly read my mind and point to the closet where there appeared to be 5 tall Giants standing and 3 of them didn t have heads. Immediately I would take the cover and put it back over my head. Back to the comfort. Back to the discomfort. But eventually Mother Nature called so hard that I could no longer safely ignore her. At that point I would jump out of bed and begin my trek to the Page 12
bathroom. That monster in the chair grabbed at me but I straight-armed that monster just like I saw Walter Payton do on his way to the end zone. Once I got past the monster I realized that I was here in the dark. Monsters all around me. I can t see where I am going. I need to get somewhere, but I don t know how I am going to get there. I can t go back to the bed any longer without getting past the monsters that stood between me and the bed. I can t seem to get to the bathroom because monsters block the way. Here I am in the dark without knowing where or how to go. Israel found itself in the same place. The Bible records the children of Israel as being in Egyptian slavery. Now this sermon uses two primary stories. The first story is about my waking up out of the bed needing to go to the bathroom. The second story is the Biblical story. Note how I weave the two stories together into one story. Once again you can see the full sermon at http://www.soulpreaching.com. Now this story connects to the people in that we all have had such an experience. Finally, the story is powerful in that I can use the story in the celebration. I can continue weaving the two stories together till the end of the sermon. Note how I tell the story of waking up needing to get up, but not wanting to. I then show how this is the exact story of the Isrealites. This story grabs you and makes you want to listen. Stories have that kind of power. Here is another example from Take Your Pen and Write it Down: I was once a member of a growing church. The energetic and vibrant younger members where united with the wisdom and guidance of the older members. But death showed up and removed the strongest members one by one. Eventually the loss of life pushed us down the slippery slope towards inevitable death. Today that church wonders if it will have the resources to even stay open. Many are in relationships where the storybook ending often written as happily ever after has turned into Rodney King s anguish cry, Can t we all just get along That hope of a better life together with the one we have chosen has been transformed into a living death that makes us wonder if it was God or Satan that brought the family together. Page 13
One need only gaze into our inner cities to see monuments of hopelessness. We see buildings that once housed our great institutions turned into drug hideaways. We look at many of our communities that now give a testimony of death rather than being a witness to the hope that God alone can give. Our colleague has reminded us that even the solar system in which we live has a time clock that is winding down. At some point in the future, scientists tell us, there will be a big dark spot where the Sun once was. The Sun like all stars will one day go out. And we don t have to look outside to see death. In our own life we often see death. And what is so painful is not merely the death that we see, but what is so painful is that death so often comes after a great disappointment that shatters our dreams. The recipients of our scripture today were intimately aware of these characteristics of death. They were sent to Babylonian captivity, but one hope sustained them. They had the promise of return. Israel would get their time. The key to remember is how the two stories, my story and the Biblical story are merged together. But this intro goes one point further and even adds in others who may have been in bad relationships or even those who fear for our solar system. This provides a way for the congregation to find themselves and their story in the sermon. The nice thing about this kind of story is that when it is time for celebration you have the opportunity to celebrate the culmination of both your story and the biblical story together. Page 14
This Week s Assignments 1. Add a story to your sermon introduction that allows the people to be involved with the sermon. God Bless and Keep on Preaching, Sherman Haywood Cox II Sherman Haywood Cox II Publisher, Supercharge Your Sermons Coming Up Next... Lesson #9: Quick Start: Tantalizing Titles In this lesson we will learn how to create powerful titles. Page 15
Special Supercharge Idea for Week #8 Think About the Introduction Story One of the easiest ways to grab the people is to tell a story. When you tell a story that connects the Bible story to the congregation s story, a powerful combination happens. When the congregation reads the Bible they start to see themselves. In your next sermon, attempt to add a story that connects to the people and the Bible story. When you connect the two Sherman Haywood Cox II Page 16