In a conversation, few people would get by with talking to you non-stop for 30 minutes. If for no other reason, every so often you would stop them and say, “Give me a moment or two before you continue, would you please, just so I can process what I’m hearing?”
Are you aware that people listening to a sermon also need pauses, or slow-down time, when they have a chance to laugh, sigh, or sit in quiet, just to process what they’re hearing?
Recently I heard a rapid-fire pulpit delivery that came at me with ideas, verses, illustrations, quotes, etc. one after another with hardly even discernable paragraph breaks. To make matters worse, all the points got equal emphasis and were delivered in the same high pitched “preacher voice.”
I followed for about ten minutes. Then the steady stream of machine gun like words started to wear me down. At the twenty minute mark I wasn’t listening all that attentively anymore. By the end of the sermon, I just wanted the preacher to get done.
I’m not saying the speaker’s content was lacking. What he had to say was good. But, he hadn’t learned to deliver his material in a way that was palatable to his listeners. It would be like a hostess asking guests to eat as fast as they could and as much as they could with no time to savor the various dishes.
When sermons are preached, believe me, it’s to everyone’s benefit to allow for the opportunity to adequately process the various thoughts being presented.
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You can learn how to develop highly relevant Sunday sermons that grab the attention of your congregation and help your listeners respond effectively to the deep truths of God’s Word. David Mains and Mainstay Ministries have a whole range of helpful solutions. Do you need to prepare a Topical Sermon, an Advent Sermon, a Christmas Sermon, an Easter Sermon, a Sermon Series, or any other Sunday Sermon? You can find help on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons. Just click here to visit David Mains’ website.
