Length of message

He who thinks by the inch and speaks by the yard deserves to be kicked with the foot. -- R.G. Lee

 

20 minutes top! 30-45 minutes is torture! Good outlines points made scriptures referrenced. Stop. No need for rambling. :tongue3:

 

The last time I visited Bellevue-------Dr. Rogers preached 50 minutes

The times Dr. Lee would preach "Payday Someday"----he'd go 1 hr 45 minutes

Lets not even talk about how long Dr. Criswell preached!!!!!

 

Time one way or the other should be irrelevant. And lengthy sermons should never be grievous unless they are rambling and the point was made long ago. At that point time is not the issue but the poor sermon is. What we do have today is the preaching set aside to often so as to extend some special music, testimony, or drama.

 

If length of time is not considered then there is no "over".

 

There is a reason why university lectures are kept to 50 minutes as a rule. It is called attention and absorption span.

I did preach in a German Baptist Church once where they had a morning service to noon, had lunch downstairs, and "continued" with the preaching after lunch. They broke up about 3m, in time to go home and milk the cows.

Cheers,

Jim

 

We seem to have a greater attention span at the movie house.

 

Some Christians don't fraternize the movie picture houses!

Cheers,

Jim

 

Radio and TV deals with that all the time.

 

If the preacher was so entertaining then perhaps people would stay home.

 

I think it depends on the preacher as well. My favorite preacher would go at least an Hour, and I loved them. I have never heard a short sermon. (unfortunately) Sad to say most of them should have been shorter cause what I learned could have been said in 15min. So depends on the preacher and the content.

 

You know Jim I'm begining to like you more and more. I remember when I was in the UK I was at a pub with some Air Force guys. They were looking to meet up with some ladies and I was just bored (and very young). Then out of the blue these old ladies came into the pub (dressed in salvation army uniforms) and started to say that this was a house of iniquity and that people should repent and follow Jesus. I thought it was great. After a few minutes they left (dear hearts). However, the thing that got my attention the most was peoples reaction. Most just ignored the ladies with the "I've heard it all before" attitude. Maybe one was offended and rather loudly asked them to leave. I remember feeling as though I had just encountered living history. On a side note its a shame England has become so pagan when there had been such great Christianity to start with.

 

Huh???????

 

Preach until you are done. If you can't get it done in an hour, think about stopping.

AND, IF I GET TIRED OF LISTENING I WILL GET UP AND LEAVE.

 

As much as some try, we cannot compare preaching to entertainment. When God calls people it is not about entertainment but about eternal value.

 

But if you are like me, none of them seemed long. I was always ready for more it seemed like when any of those three gave a message.

I used to stop by First Baptist in Merritt Island when Adrian Rogers was pastor there and most of his messages were an hour or more, but it felt like they were short.

I used to love R.G. Lee's messages, and some could take a good amount of time, but again I felt like I had just sat down. I would have the pictures as well as the message in my mind for such a long time, he was such a word smith( don't know if that is a word), in fact you brought up Payday some Day, it is still in my mind, I must think of it a few times a week even today. Helps keep my mind and actions on Christ.

W.A. Criswell was great all so, never felt like I heard a long message from him, even though most all were long. He could paint a good picture of his message, as well.

As I said, never heard a long message from them, but a lot had to do with the message and a lot had to do with me.

 

Salty,
I am sure you have seen in Senate and House hearings either the buzzers or red lights saying time is up for either the witnesses or members. We could give members of the congregation a buzzer, and when they have had enough, set it off. Maybe even better would be a giant gong like on the old Gong Show.

 

I love to hear Paul Washer preach but, in all honesty, sometimes he does go very long and tends to lose me around the 90 minute mark.

Personally, I'm about the same as you: about 30-45 minutes.