When someone calls on the phone and goes on talking for a long time, I’ll usually ask, “What was it that prompted your call?” I want to know the reason for the conversation.
Maybe the person intended it to just be a friendly chat. That’s all right with me, but if it’s someone I hardly know, I would rather be told up-front, “I just wanted to ‘shoot the breeze,’ if you have time for that.”
A sermon is not a friendly chat, however, or just a time for casually filling folks in on what you’re doing. It’s much more purposeful. So it ought to be that within a reasonable amount of time the subject at hand is clearly understood by those listening. And 20 to 30 minutes seems more than adequate to communicate everything that needs to be said.
One of the phrases I hear all too often in sermons is, “I have so much to say, but I see my time is running out.” To me that’s a sure indication that the speaker didn’t prepare all that well. Given the respectful attention of a sizeable group of people for around a half-hour, one would assume that proper preparation would allow a given message to be clearly covered.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?
Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?
David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.
We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
