Waiting until the body to point your people to the text. I’m a stickler on getting to your passage in the intro, and not waiting until the body of the sermon. The reason for this is that I don’t want to accidentally communicate that our agenda drives how we go to the Bible. Instead, I want to convey that the Bible raises the issues, and we are simply following where it leads. Going to the passage earlier helps get that across.

How you get your sermon started matters. While there is lots of room for error in the body of your sermon, there is little room for error in your introduction. It can be the difference between someone being on the edge of their seat or slumped in their seat, between using their phone’s Bible app or fantasy football app.

If you hook them with your introduction, you will have their attention for the entire sermon. If you lose them early on, it can be hard to get them back. Here are ten ways you make it easier on your church to check out.

1. Not having an introduction. Everything in life has an introduction. Buildings have lobbies and homes have foyers. Movies have initial scenes that acquaint us with the characters and plot. Books have forwards, prefaces, and an introductory chapter. Songs have four or eight measures of music before the lyrics kick in. When you propose to your girlfriend, you get down on your knee. Sermons are no different. Have an introduction of some sort.

2. Not hinting at how the sermon is going to impact their lives. I’ve heard many sermon introductions in which the point of the text was made crystal clear, but the pastor never acknowledged the people he was speaking to. (I may have preached a couple sermons like that myself.) If our introductions don’t clearly show our people how the Bible is going to help them love God, follow Jesus, and be led by the Spirit, we haven’t given them a reason to listen to us. Let’s not introduce our sermons as if God’s word is only profitable for teaching. Let’s give our people a preview of how it rebukes, corrects, and trains in righteous, too, right from the start.

3. Using two illustrations. Doubling up your illustrations is confusing. Either you will illustrate two different points, which makes your audience wonder which one is the main one; or you will illustrate the same point two different ways, which will make them wonder how they are supposed to think and feel about the topic your passage addresses. Pick the best one, and file the other one away for another sermon.

4. Setting up the passage you are going to preach on with another passage or verse.Like using two illustrations, this confuses people. Which passage is he preaching on?If you have a juicy cross-reference, save it for the body of your sermon.

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