Writing a Strong Sermon Introduction

Prepare the opening after studying the passage

This tool helps a preacher prepare the first few minutes of a message. Use it after studying the full passage and writing its main point. The introduction should grow from what the sermon will actually explain. It is easier to revise an opening than to make a biblical text support an attractive opening that was chosen first.

A helpful introduction draws attention, identifies the subject and its significance, and brings listeners toward the sermon’s biblical message. It prepares them to follow the exposition rather than merely delaying it with an entertaining account.²

Choose one clear concern. Avoid promising answers to five unrelated problems before reading the text. A sermon on Mark 4:35 to 41 can introduce fear and the question of Jesus’ identity. It should not promise a complete explanation of every disaster, illness, or unanswered prayer. A modest opening can still be compelling when its question is real.

Notice where Mark places the emphasis

The disciples encounter a real storm and ask Jesus whether he cares that they perish. He stills the wind and sea, questions their fear and lack of faith, and leaves them asking what manner of man he is. Their final question keeps Jesus’ authority at the centre of the episode.¹

Do not turn the story into a formula that a correctly spoken sentence will make every present difficulty disappear. The event reveals Jesus’ authority and exposes the disciples’ need to trust him. An introduction should allow the sermon to explain those details rather than settle the meaning through an unsupported promise before the passage is read.¹

Keep the people of the passage distinct from people listening today. We can recognize fear without pretending that every worried church member stands in an identical situation. Avoid saying that someone’s distress proves a complete lack of faith. Begin with a humane question that the text can address, and let the explanation develop with care.

Complete an opening preparation sheet

Write brief notes in each space. Then turn them into spoken sentences. This is an IndiaPCG planning form, so adapt its order when another order serves the passage more clearly. Its purpose is a connected opening, not a rigid formula every preacher must follow.

1. Passage and complete message in one sentence: ____________________
2. Concern the passage actually addresses: ____________________
3. One sentence a listener can understand without church vocabulary: ____________________
4. A detail in the passage that introduces that concern: ____________________
5. The question the sermon will answer: ____________________
6. The promise or claim I must avoid making: ____________________
7. The sentence that leads into reading Scripture: ____________________
8. Words needing explanation or translation: ____________________
9. Approximate spoken time after rehearsal: ____________________

Option one: begin with the disciples’ question

Original opening draft: The disciples’ question is painfully direct: Master, carest thou not that we perish? They are in danger, and Jesus is asleep. Mark does not hide their fear. He brings us into a moment when people who are already following Jesus struggle to understand his care. As we read, notice how the story moves from their question about danger to a deeper question about Jesus himself.

Continue into Mark 4:35 to 41, then state the sermon’s direction: We will look at the danger the disciples face, the authority Jesus displays, and the response he calls for. This version begins inside the narrative. The quoted question should be read exactly from the KJV, while the surrounding explanation remains your own wording.¹

Option two: begin with an honest present question

Original opening draft: When a difficulty continues, a believer may wonder whether being cared for means being kept from fear. That question deserves more than a hurried reassurance. Mark records an episode in which the disciples are frightened while Jesus is with them. The story does not begin by dismissing their danger. It asks us to pay close attention to who Jesus is and how they respond to him.

Then invite the congregation to read the complete episode. This version names a possible concern without claiming that everyone feels it or telling a private story. Keep the word may. It leaves room for listeners with different experiences and introduces the passage without inventing a testimony.

Option three: begin with the final question

Original opening draft: What manner of man is this? That is where this story ends. Before the disciples ask it, they have seen water enter the boat and heard Jesus speak to the storm. Their fear has brought them to a question larger than whether the crossing will be safe. Today we will follow the episode from the danger on the water to the authority of the One in the boat.

This opening places the final question before listeners, then reads the story that produces it. It can help an audience follow the whole passage rather than hear the miracle as an isolated technique for getting relief. Do not add unverified descriptions of weather, boat design, or the disciples’ private thoughts.¹

Make the opening clear when spoken

Choose one draft and read it at a comfortable pace. Ask a mature listener to identify the passage, the concern, and the question they expect the message to address. If they cannot identify them, simplify the wording. Explain an unfamiliar term once rather than adding several synonyms that make the sentence longer.

For a translated sermon, send the introduction to the interpreter in advance. Mark quotations and indicate where Scripture will be read. Keep sentences short enough to carry one thought at a time. Do not rely on an English pun to establish the sermon’s central question. A listener should be able to follow the opening without seeing your written page.

Finally, compare the introduction with the finished sermon. Remove any promise the body does not establish. If the message has changed through further study, rewrite the opening to match it. Stop the introduction when listeners have a clear reason to hear the passage; the explanation should now carry the message forward.