Michael, thank you for your post- it came at exactly the right time for me. For exactly a year, I've been the minister of 3 churches in Britain that have never had an evangelical, expository ministry before. A couple of hours ago, I had a church council meeting where I was told very directly that they didn't want to hear about the Bible in sermons- it was boring, and sermons were too long (I preach for 20 minutes). Your post was just the encouragement I needed.

Steve Walton
PS Hi to Mike Gilbart-Smith- I was at Oak Hill with him.

Michael,

What a great post. Thanks so much. Even more, I'm grateful for Steve's comment. Keep preaching the Word, brother. Believe it or not, Michael, you and I are preaching through the same book. And with the same amount of fear, I admit that I, too, spent roughly 45 minutes in the exposition of this great prophet (only the 5 verses in chapter 3!). Your post will encourage me as I begin my study of chapter 4 in earnest tomorrow morning. Thank God for his Word! Finer than gold, more precious than silver!

Thanks for the great post. It is great to see that there are others who are preaching through books of the Bible and taking 30-45 minutes per sermon. I have been preaching through the book of Ephesians and the last two Sundays we have looked at chapter 6 verse 11 and we will be there again this Sunday as we finish up with the "wiles of the devil."

When I started this series I had no idea that it would last for 30 plus weeks but that is what is looks like it will be when we are done. But God is using each message to touch the lives of the small congregation here in marvelous ways.

Keep preaching. Conversations are for friends and a good cup of coffee.

Mike, may your tribe increase!

I am troubled at the amount of biblical ignorance that passes for 'faith' in our churches. Few seem to care about preaching at all. I sometimes feel as if the Bible is used as 'door stop' in some churches I have preached in. Just a few days ago I was speaking to a young woman and she told me that the 'spirit' was so high in her church from all the singing and testimonies that the pastor chose not to preach that morning. What a tragedy! What is needed is more preaching,ot less, more teaching, not less.. There is coming a day of reckoning. Jesus said, "when the Son of Man comes again will He find faith on the earth?" Tragically, I do not believe He will.

Opposite problem: What do you do when you're having trouble keeping things down to 50-55 minutes? I know, I know...editing.

Michael,
You were spot on with handling the silly notion that we are to preach for the purpose of helping people pass a retention test. I see the expositional process in this manner. 1st: We pastors spend time in deep study through the Biblical passage by digging away at its rich soil. 2nd: We pastors come away more enamored with God. 3rd: We teach this passage with it's richness so that people come away more enamored with God.

If people only recall 10% of what they hear (which I would guess is a wives-tale), it shouldn't matter at all to how you preach. Because you are just planting seeds (1 Corinthians 3:6), which God will make into fruit. The more Gospel seed you plant in your people the better.

So preach it long, but you could try not to be boring.

Just a thought: if people only retain 10% of what they hear, then surely the sermon needs to be a whole lot longer if you want them to recall anything at all?!?

During my seminary training, I recall hearing fairly often that 20-25 minutes should be the target. I also got the distinct impression that my aim in preparation should be to 'keep it simple' because the people in the pews are dumb. (It was never stated quite that baldly, of course - but unless you have a seminary education, words longer than a syllable are a no-no. "No-no" I think passes muster, because it's the one syllable repeated twice - I can use it in my sermon...) All this in training institutions that valued the word of God and trained their students well in its exegesis.

I've now been pastoring in the same little church, to two small congregations, for 5 years. Growth has been painfully slow, numerically - the Illawarra region of NSW Australia is not exactly Bible belt! But I've been amazed to see that as my sermons have increased in length, people have generally become MORE switched on, not less - because they're being engaged with the word of God, which is meaningful, powerful, and rich.

I don't want to deprecate 25 minute sermons - some preachers can pack a lot of punch into a small space of time - but I personally need longer, to really dig people into the text of Scripture and help them to see that the text is my authority. If they don't remember all the twists and turns of the text, I'm not so worried - I think they need to SEE them unfold. And personally, I just can't DO that in 20-25.

I do try not to be boring, though - and at this stage I STILL try to stay under 40 minutes. Mostly.

Great post. I have been reading a book by pastor/Jonathan Edwards scholar, The God-Centered Life: Insights from Jonathan Edwards for Today, and in it he discusses that most people would be yawning very early into a Jonathan Edwards type sermon because we are less literate biblicaly than in Jonathan Edwards' day.

Not that we would preach exactly like JE today, but we need something like that again in our churches.

I am encouraged that there is a remnant who are still faithful to preaching Gods word the way it should be.

God Bless and you may want to read this article about the book I mentioned.

http://blog.shanetrammel.com/2008/02/05/josh-moody-on-the-intimate-world-of-jonathan-edwards/

Great post. I have been reading a book by pastor/Jonathan Edwards scholar, The God-Centered Life: Insights from Jonathan Edwards for Today, and in it he discusses that most people would be yawning very early into a Jonathan Edwards type sermon because we are less literate biblicaly than in Jonathan Edwards' day.

Not that we would preach exactly like JE today, but we need something like that again in our churches.

I am encouraged that there is a remnant who are still faithful to preaching Gods word the way it should be.

God Bless and you may want to read this article about the book I mentioned.

http://blog.shanetrammel.com/2008/02/05/josh-moody-on-the-intimate-world-of-jonathan-edwards/

As a layman interested in the Bible, I am so tired of hearing the preacher say "I don't have time to go into this in detail". I'd rather get an indepth sermon. I teach verse by verse in Sunday School for 35-40 minutes every Sunday.

I am not a regular preacher, but I was speaking to a new Christians' class a couple of weeks ago and made the following suggestion.

Over a lifetime, there will be very few sermons that we will remember. However, it is the constant exposure to the preaching of God's Word that allows It to seep into our very essence, which in turn leads to the changes that occur in our lives. However, if we are not exposed to that sound doctrine, our lives will remain unchanged.

People like Gordon Coleman have it just spot on. Consistent teaching will change people.

As a member of Pastor Mike's church, I can say that his "long, boring sermons" are good for me. I feel like I get way more out of a good long sermon than out of a short one.
Plus - and maybe I think this because I'm a well-educated college student - a chatty, informal sermon that avoids discussing tough spiritual issues like sin is really an insult to the intelligence of the congregation and to the power and rightful position of God's Word. I encourage all the pastors out there to preach the Word unashamedly. If your congregation doesn't thank you now, know that your reward awaits you in Heaven.