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How Long Should a Sermon Be?
Rabbi Greg Hershberg of Beth Yeshua
International
in Macon, Georgia, addresses the question.
I solemnly charge you before God and the Messiah Yeshua, Who will judge the living and the dead when He appears and establishes His Kingdom: proclaim the Word! Be on hand with it whether the time seems right or not. Convict, censure, and exhort with unfailing patience and with teaching. For the time is coming when people will not have patience for sound teaching, but will cater to their passions and gather around themselves teachers who say whatever their ears itch to hear. Yes, they will stop listening to the truth, but will turn aside to follow myths. (2Tim. 4:1-4)
I have recently read a few church surveys that sought to find out the average length of sermons in American churches, and I was totally shocked to read that the average Sunday morning message is about 20 minutes long. In the first of these two messages Rabbi Greg cites a different survey that found out across denominational lines the average sermon length is 20 to 28 minutes!
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In over 35 years of pastoral and Bible-teaching ministry I have never found it either practical or possible to thoroughly exposit any passage of Scripture in less than 40 minutes. All of the seminary classes I took or taught were three hours long, and most of the messages I have delivered in churches were 45 to 60 minutes long. Understand that I have never believed in the traditional 3-point topical message that is taught in most seminaries. Rather, I have always (with a few rare exceptions) tried to exposit the Scriptures using a solid hermenutic approach. That is, I have tried to simply explain what the Biblical text says and what it means, and let each individual seek his/her own “application.”
It has always amazed me how easy it is for self-proclaimed Believers to watch a sporting event that is two or three hours long or a movie that is 90 minutes or longer without losing interest, but start looking at their watches 20 minutes into a teaching from the Bible and squirming in their seats after 30 minutes.
Personally, I wouldn’t even get out of bed to listen to a 20-minute, make-me-feel-good-about-myself, financially-fueled, “cultivational” pep talks! I had my belly full of them when I was doing multi-level marketing. They have no business among the family of God or in the building that is supposed to be a house for God!
Let’s see what Rabbi Greg has to say on the subject.
Full Disclosure: The Center for Messianic Learning is not affiliated with Beth Yeshua International, and the presence of Beth Yeshua content on this website does not imply an endorsement by Beth Yehua or by Rabbi Greg Hershberg. I consider Rabbi Greg “my rabbi” and I attend their worship services remotely at 10:10 a.m. Eastern Time every Shabbat and Holy Day either on Vimeo.com or on their YouTube channel. If you do not have a Messianic synagogue near you, may I suggest you do as I do. It is doubtful you will find a better Torah teacher — or a man who is more sold out for ADONAI and His Messiah — anywhere.
Oct. 20, 2018. How Long Should a Sermon Be (part 1)
Oct. 27, 2018. How Long Should a Sermon Be (part 2)
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ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!
