[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":93},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fhow-long-does-a-sermon-need-to-be":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fhow-long-does-a-sermon-need-to-be-surround":82},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":11,"columnName":65,"date":66,"description":17,"extension":67,"image":68,"meta":69,"minRead":70,"navigation":71,"path":72,"postType":73,"publication":74,"publicationUrl":68,"seo":75,"stem":76,"topics":77,"__hash__":81},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fhow-long-does-a-sermon-need-to-be.md","How Long Does a Sermon Need to Be?",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10],"Nehemiah","Acts",{"type":12,"value":13,"toc":61},"minimark",[14,18,26,29,36,39,42,45,55,58],[15,16,17],"p",{},"English essayist Sydney Smith (1771-1845) is credited with originating the phrase \"a square peg in a round hole.\" He also had some not-so-flattering things to say about sermons. \"Preaching,\" he observed, \"has become a byword for long and dull conversation of any kind.\"",[15,19,20,21,25],{},"It's bad enough when a sermon is dull; worse still if it's \"",[22,23,24],"em",{},"long"," and dull.\"",[15,27,28],{},"In generations past, preachers spoke for hours, not minutes. In pre-TV America, Sunday's church service offered the most informative and socially engaging experience of the week. My great-grandfather was a preacher a century ago, and from what I've heard about his lengthy sermons, he wouldn't have taken kindly to today's program planners who urge speakers to offer \"a few quick remarks.\" Most Americans like our sermons the way we like our cappuccinos: short and sweet. We're willing to devote a whole evening to a lackluster two-hour movie, but we complain about a 40-minute sermon.",[15,30,31,32,35],{},"But before calling our listeners to repent of their short attention spans, preachers need to ask ourselves, ",[22,33,34],{},"How long do our sermons really need to be?"," Should we try to pile every possible lesson into a sermon, or focus on a few compelling biblical insights and allow our hearers to ponder and pray and leave the table still hungry for more?",[15,37,38],{},"The Bible does contain some long sermons. Ezra the priest read Scripture aloud \"from daybreak till noon\" and \"all the people listened intently to the Book of the Law\" (Nehemiah 8:3). The written text of Peter's sermon on the Day of Pentecost only fills about two dozen verses, but then he continued on for a while \"with many other words\" (Acts 2:40). On one occasion Paul preached until midnight, and as he talked on and on, a listener named Eutychus found his eyelids growing heavy. Giving new meaning to the phrase \"falling asleep in church,\" Eutychus drifted into dreamland and literally fell from a third-story window (Acts 20:7-12).",[15,40,41],{},"The mind can only absorb what the body can endure. That's why preachers need to discipline our preparation and delivery so we will say only what needs to be said (no less, no more). Otherwise our sermons become like the prayers of the Pharisees who babbled on with vain repetitions, thinking they would be heard because of their many words.",[15,43,44],{},"Preaching professor Haddon W. Robinson tells about a young copywriter who came up with an ad for a new kind of soap: \"The alkaline element and fats in this product are blended in such a way as to secure the highest quality of saponification, along with a specific gravity that keeps it on top of the water, relieving the bather of the trouble and annoyance of fishing around for it at the bottom of the tub during his ablution.\" A more experienced ad writer captured the same idea in two words: \"It floats.\"",[15,46,47,48,51,52,54],{},"There are three kinds of preachers, Robinson says: those to whom you cannot listen, those to whom you can listen, and those to whom you ",[22,49,50],{},"must"," listen. Blessed is the congregation whose preacher's words are so clear, biblical, and true-to-life that everyone simply ",[22,53,50],{}," listen to the sermon.",[15,56,57],{},"Jesus could change a life with a single sentence. Through stories, object lessons, parables, Scripture quotes, and thought-provoking questions, he wrapped profound truth in plain words. It only takes about 15 minutes to read the entire Sermon on the Mount. As a preacher, I have a lot to learn from Jesus' example.",[15,59,60],{},"And as a listener, whether the sermon is short and sweet or long and dull, I must heed the Lord's admonition, \"He who has ears to hear, let him hear.\" Because no matter how long the preacher talks, the message ends when the congregation stops listening.",{"title":62,"searchDepth":63,"depth":63,"links":64},"",2,[],"First Look","2008-06-22","md",null,{},4,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fhow-long-does-a-sermon-need-to-be","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":17},"articles\u002Fhow-long-does-a-sermon-need-to-be",[78,79,80],"Biblical Theology","Church Leadership","Spiritual Formation","yaP51dhdfV8Vy2TXl8HR32IgmVpWzUyWdX8SwpzRxCI",[83,88],{"title":84,"path":85,"stem":86,"description":87,"children":-1},"How Jesus Handled Conflict","\u002Farticles\u002Fhow-jesus-handled-conflict","articles\u002Fhow-jesus-handled-conflict","Thomas Paine wrote, \"These are the times that try men's souls. . . . Yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.\" When we are going through trying times, Jesus' example can help us cope. How did the Lord handle conflict?",{"title":89,"path":90,"stem":91,"description":92,"children":-1},"How Should We Talk About Death?","\u002Farticles\u002Fhow-should-we-talk-about-death","articles\u002Fhow-should-we-talk-about-death","Curious expressions abound in these days of politically correct speech. Someone described a group of mechanics who were fired from their jobs by saying, \"They were placed on non-duty non-pay status.\"",1790466156207]