Preaching and the Clock
September 15th, 2008
(By John MacArthur)
Today’s post adapted from the Q&A section of Rediscovering Expository Preaching (Nelson, 1997).
How long should a sermon be?
As long as it takes to cover the passage adequately! I do not think the length of the sermon is as important as its content. At times I have preached fifty minutes and it has been ten minutes too long. Other times, I have preached an hour and twenty-five minutes and it has been just right. The important thing is to cover the main point so that people are convinced of its truth and comprehend its requirements. If you have nothing worthwhile to say, even twenty minutes will seem like an eternity to your people. If you are interesting, they will stay with you. Do not mistake persuasion for long-windedness, however. If you preach longer than you should, you will sacrifice persuasiveness.
I am convinced that biblical exposition requires at least forty minutes. Less than this just is not sufficient to probe the text deeply. If it takes fifteen to twenty minutes to give the setting, ten to fifteen minutes to draw out the principles, five to ten minutes to cross-reference them, and five to ten minutes for a conclusion, you already have about fifty minutes. Rarely does a man preaching twenty-five to thirty minutes do doctrinal exposition.
That is why developing the logical flow of a sermon is crucial. If your message is clearly outlined and you lead your people through the process of discovery, you will hold their attention. Your sermon must be going somewhere. You cannot merely give a number of assorted truths unrelated to each other. If your sermon lacks interest because it is disjointed, your people will lose interest.
If you are going to be a Bible expositor, forget the twenty- and thirty-minute sermons. You are looking at forty or fifty minutes. In any less than that, you can’t exposit the Scripture. The purpose of a sermon is not to get it over, but rather to explain the Word of God. My goal is not accomplished because I am brief. My goal is accomplished when I am clear and I have exposited the Word of God.
Won’t people get bored if you preach too long in the same book?
I think people will be bored if you are boring. It is not related to how much time you spend in a book. As long as you are saying things that capture their interest and challenge their lives, they will not care what book you are in or for how long.
I think, however, that a balance is desirable. If you are preaching through a heavily doctrinal book like Romans or Hebrews, it is good to give your people a break from that periodically. If you are preaching through one of the Gospels, such may not be necessary. When I preached through Matthew over an eight-year period, I rarely felt the need to take a break. Matthew contains such a mixture of doctrinal passages, parables, and narrative passages that it changes pace frequently on its own.
At times, too, you will need to deal with a specific topic. You may find that people in your church are being influenced by an unbiblical teaching that you must combat. Or they may be confused over a Bible passage or a theological issue. Also, you may occasionally see a need to preach about the biblical view of a significant world event. In general, though, preaching through a book will not bore people if you are an interesting preacher. This is the purest form of expository preaching.
“How long should a sermon be?”
It depends on whether your tape ministry is using a 60 min. or a 90 min. cassette tape.
Perhaps the Nursery workers would have some input on this topic
MacArthur on the Length of Expository Preaching…
I need to pass this on to the people in my church! MacArthur writes about Preaching and the Clock. Some snippets:I am convinced that biblical exposition requires at least forty minutes. Less than this just is not sufficient to probe……
What I found was that on Sunday mornings I did not have the freedom from the congregation, dominated by older folks, to preach beyond 30-35 minutes. But on Sunday nights I had the freedom to go 40-45 minutes and the percentage of younger to older members was leaning more to the younger crowd.
Well I never get bored with MacArthur’s preaching, I’ve listened to MANY of his messages 7 or 8 times because they are profound and riveting (even if don’t agree on every point). I can’t deal with the local churches and their practice of two verses and a bunch of anecdotes, though. I drove to J Mac’s church once but it’s way too far. Thank God for my iPod!
Steve, fortunately we are now in the days of MP3’s etc. which could stretch a little bit longer than 90 minutes!
What a cool post! You don’t this kind of “hands-on” instruction from a worthy source very often in the blogosphere.
I find I can sit under good preaching for hours. Our pastor can exegete while showing life application and example in such a way that you just want it (I do anyway) to keep on going. In fact when we adopted a more rigid schedule to fit the other services, nursery workers etc; I believe we lost a lot despite the fact that the teaching itself remained solid.
I have also heard some short sermons that were deeply impactful, and one in particular that was 20 minutes or so, but was like a punch to the gut of my soul.
Long or short, the most impactful sermons always are framed and supported by Scripture.
One Old preacher that i was doing a revival for corrected me. I was preaching and really getting into it and after the sermon I made the mistake of asking if the “Spirit” had lead me to long. He said “Yes I think so. That same Spirit that lead you to all that information has the power to do it in a time frame where people could listen to it.”
So my thought is prepare an hour of sermon and drain twenty minutes of water off each end and serve the middle twenty with fire.
What freedom this provides! I’m in a church full of folks who have no problem sitting through an average of an hour and thirty minutes of exposition each and every Sunday. Praise God for the milk and meat of the Word, and thank God for people who crave good food.
Well it’s God’s time, not ours. If we truly believe in expository, verse-by-verse, book-by-book preaching, then it will take a substantive amount of time to get through a sermon. I usually take 45-50 minutes most Sundays. I have found my congregation doesn’t mind, as long as I’m organized and not boring. I think preachers are only boring if they are bored with the text. If you are passionate about what you are preaching, the ones who actually care to listen will listen to you. There will always be those who sleep during the sermon. Just honor God by studying hard, preaching harder and allow God to control the time. It’s His Word and His time to shine, not ours. He needs all the time that He wants to take for a sermon. Better to let God take the time to do the text justice than to rush through something.
“That is why developing the logical flow of a sermon is crucial.”
This is what John does SO well that makes him so interesting. It is what I’m striving for as I learn how to preach. When people can see the entire film and not just random photos along the way, it’s much easier for them to follow what’s going on.
It reminds me of the children’s Sunday school classes that walk around holding onto a rope with the rest of the class: lose your grip on the rope and who knows where you’ll end up. But as long as you can stay with everyone step-by-step you will be in good shape.
This is also why 30 minutes in preaching lab is so difficult! A great exercise, though.
I’m very thankful for this article. I preach 42.5 minutes (according to some software we broadcast with. We’re fixing to move to 2 services and so I’m having to make adjustments for the earlier one and we’ve been asking, “does the sermon need trimmed?”
I was 97% convinced the answer was a big fat NO, and this article helps confirm that. We must allow time for exposition or we shouldn’t have a second service. Thanks!