I believe that many pastors, especially the younger ones, regularly face this problem. The pressure to respond is self-imposed or forced by those in your church who complain that their sermons are too long. be a good answer.
The answer to this question depends in large part on the type of pastor it is, the quality of the preacher it is, and the type of congregation it serves. In light of this, here are three principles that can help you answer this question in your particular context.
Should a pastor determine the duration of a sermon?
We must always challenge our employees to grow, yet I hear from many pastors preaching sermons at a time that know how to overwhelm most of their congregation. pastor thinks he should be able to hear.
Force your congregation to grow, but not at the cost of exasperated, trying to make people what they’re not.
God must do this job. Preach faithfully, but find them where they are; let God make you mature in this place. Their preaching makes them crave more of that.
I’m afraid many of us who love puritans read that they preach sermons for an hour or two and think, “Do I want to be like puritans?”The problem is that many people who want to preach an hour are not good enough. Or experienced enough to preach an hour? I realize we’re entering subjective waters. The point here is the need to honestly assess how good and experienced you are as a preacher.
If you are in the first two years of pastor of a church, your sermons will probably be shorter, shorter, and simpler than you think or probably want.
If you cannot honestly evaluate your preaching and allow others to step in to evaluate it with you, I think you will find it difficult to determine how long your sermons will be most useful to your congregation.
Can we feel like we’re losing?Our people and we still have ten minutes left of the sermon. We want to make sure that we have given enough time to preach the word of God, but the principle of making them anxious for a little more. It’s a good goal to follow. I’d rather leave my people in a place where they wanted a little more, rather than exasperated them too much.
Don’t underestimate the discouragement that comes from someone who sincerely wants a big glass of water, but instead, the fire hose gets into your throat.
Remember, these are just principles. Don’t over-analyze them, just take them and apply them in context with your level of preaching experience. Finally, remember that you are the shepherd of these people whom you preach. sermons, push them to grow. Feed them where they are now. Trust, then, that God will use his word and efforts to find the balance that every pastor should seek.