In his course, Sermon Preparation and Delivery, Wendell Winkler said, “From the first sentence through the next three or four minutes, the battle for attention is won or lost” (class notes, Faulkner University, Fall 1991). Perhaps in our hurry to get to the “meat” of the lesson, we may overlook the initial connection, the chemistry, that allows your hearers to join you at the heart of your message. Brother Winkler was a master at preparing and delivering sermons, and, as such, he was the master of an engaging, meaningful introduction. As a teacher, he emphasized the importance, length, warnings, purposes, and types of introductions to the sermon.

It was his belief that the introduction needed to be relatively brief, about 10-15 percent of the length of the entire sermon. A lengthy introduction can very easily lose your audience, who is wanting to know where you are going. As he put it, “Don’t take them on a journey from Dan to Beersheba.”

He gave several “don’ts” for the introduction of a sermon, and these have served several of us well who took this class.

  • Don’t inject an apology into the introduction, for your appearance, health, preparation, subject, or the like. These are either unnecessary, detracting, or counterproductive.
  • Don’t use humor for the sake of humor, as it wastes valuable time (yours and the audience’s).
  • Don’t engage in elaborate greetings. As the late Bear Valley School of Preaching instructor, Monroe Tharp, counseled, “Just preach!”
  • Don’t promise more than you give. Brother Winkler lamented that some preachers “prepare the audience for an atomic explosion and deliver a pop gun.” Let the preaching speak for itself.
  • Don’t use the same type of introduction, but rather vary your approach.
  • Don’t complain or show ill-temper, being agitated or ungracious.

While much of this is common sense, too often preachers have violated such basic principles and hurt their own effectiveness for the rest of the sermon.

(Next week, we will continue our look at the introduction of the sermon by exploring its purpose and the types of introductions that help make for effective sermons).