“Just as a tree has roots to place and secure the tree in the ground, so a sermon must have an introduction to place and secure it in the minds of the congregation” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 83).

“‘What is the best way’, asked a young preacher of an older one, ‘to get the attention of the congregation?’ ‘Give ’em something to attend to,’ was the gruff reply” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 77).

The best way, indeed.

“The introduction should pave the way for the sermon, not repeat it” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 75).

“To avoid wearying people and unbalancing the sermon, an introduction should contain only one main thought” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 74).

“As ‘God is not the author of confusion’ but of order and structure, any sermon that claims to set forth God should be made in his image, i.e. with order and structure. Sermon structure and order will also help the preacher to preach and the hearers to hear, as they are both made in the image of God” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 71).

“An awareness of the various kinds of sermon that may be preached challenges the preacher to vary his style and content, and so prevent monotonous sameness” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 59).

“The gospel should lead us to pray, ‘God be merciful to me, a sinner. Please take away all the unrighteousness of self that fills me and fill me with all that I am missing — the righteousness of Jesus Christ.’… You are too sinful not to pray; sinners are the very people who need prayer. Therefore, pray” (James W. Beeke and Joel R. Beeke, Developing A Healthy Prayer Life, 3).

“Christian prayer embraces God’s will as revealed in Scripture for its rule or guide. The goal is to ask for things in harmony with what God wants for us” (James W. Beeke and Joel R. Beeke, Developing A Healthy Prayer Life, xi-xii).

“Usually sermons are far fresher and more interesting if commentaries are read later in the [sermon prep] process…. Further, when the preacher forms his own thoughts and uses his own words, he will greatly reduce dependence on a manuscript when preaching…. While depending on commentaries alone will generally produce stale and predictable sermons, depending on our own mind alone will eventually have the same effect” (David Murray, How Sermons Work, 57).

“There is much instruction in the Bible’s plain teaching on the nature of praying, warnings about hypocritical praying, and the examples of the psalmists, the apostles, and our Lord Himself. After the way of salvation, the theme most common in Scripture is the nature of true praying” (Geoff Thomas in the “Foreword” to James W. Beeke and Joel R. Beeke’s Developing A Healthy Prayer Life, vii-viii).