… if we stick with the sermon – through its pitiless recall of our sin, its relentless indictment of our flaws – we can make it to the uplifting expressions and redeeming practices that make our faith flow from the pulpit to the public, from darkness to light.”
-- The Author (Chapter 1)

Importance: In this quote from early in the book, the author outlines the essential transformational intention of sermons in general, and the sermon included in this book in particular: the movement from a place of suffering to a place of freedom and release.

Oh God, we are near complete despair. How can we possibly change our fate? How can we possibly persuade our society that we deserve to be treated with decency and respect? How can we possibly fight a criminal justice system that has been designed to ensure our defeat? How can we possibly combat the blindness of white men and women who are so...
-- The Author (Chapter 3)