52 Books in 52 Weeks, it's called. The challenge is simple: read a book every week for a year.
63. Introducing the sermon: the art of compelling beginnings.
From the “Craft of preaching” series, this is, um, exactly what it says: an entire book devoted to the craft of writing a compelling introduction to a sermon. Not even a whole sermon, just the introduction. Essentially a practical manual, focusing on four contact points that must be made in the introduction– with the secular world, with the bible, with the audience, and with the body of the sermon. By far the most attention is given to contact with the secular world; my recent experience is that pastors are focusing more now on contact with the audience. A little flat, a little dry; good insight but not much more. Found it, interestingly, in my library’s William Alfred Boyce Storytelling Collection. How about that?
