A Personal Burden on Sermon Length

[MountainChristian]

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.

[MountainChristian]

From Suppertime? to Midnight = death

And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.

How much was he hearing while asleep? 

Midnight snack till Daybreak

And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.

 

[Pastor Scott Markle]

So then, was the apostle Paul sinfully wrong (and thus, NOT led of the Holy spirit) in preaching/teaching for a six hour (approximately) length of time?

Or, was Eutychus wrong for falling asleep?

What about everyone else that was in that assembly; did a loooooong ministry of preaching/teaching result in death for them also?

Or, was it spiritually profitable and edificational unto them?

If the apostle Paul was wrong for his first period of looooong ministry in preaching/teaching, did he then commit an even greater wrong for talking after the resurrection of Eutychus and the breaking of bread "a long while" longer, "even till break of day" (approximately another six hours)?

(By the way, Eutychus did not fall asleep and fall to his death until a period of six hours (approximately) had past.  I wonder what we should think of those who fall asleep today within the first fifteen minutes?)

[No Nicolaitans]

As I think of the "sermons" in the Bible (that I can think of off of the top of my head)...

1. Peter on the day of Pentecost
2. Stephen before he was stoned
3. Paul on Mars Hill
4. Jesus' various sermons
5. etc...

...most of them take hardly any time to read. While I realize that we may not have everything that was said in those sermons...especially Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost since the Bible plainly states that he said much more...whether during the recorded sermon or in addition to and separate from it, I don't know...

Anyway, while I realize that we may not have everything that was said in the sermons that are recorded in the Bible, the Holy Spirit has given us what is there. MUCH was said in those short sermons that takes a short amount of time to read...deep truths were revealed and expounded upon in those sermons that wrought such conviction in a short amount of time.

As I personally look into God's word, I see that there is no set standard for sermon length. We have examples of extremely long (as has been pointed out) and extremely short ones. It's the content that matters along with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I still remember many years ago...I wondered why our church (and other churches) didn't have meetings (of some type) every day of the week. I had read in Acts where they met daily. My thoughts were, "Why are we only meeting two days a week? Why can't we have something at the church every day? I would absolutely love that! I want to learn all that I can...I don't want to wait for several days between meetings! The early church met daily...in the temple and house to house. Why don't we still do that today?"

Where's the cry for more meetings? Where's the cry for meeting daily? As a young and growing Christian, I tried crying the alarm...but all I received were crickets chirping. LOL!

The simple truth is, people don't want it today. There are a few who do (myself included), but for the most part...people don't want it...nor do "most people" have any interest in lengthy sermons. There are a few who do (myself included), but for the most part...people don't want them.

I would love to be a part of a church that doesn't mind hour-long sermons (or longer), but in my area, they don't exist. The only churches in my area that have long services are the ones who spend a great amount of time speaking in tongues, getting healed, and so forth. Please note...that it's not the sermon that keeps them.

All that I can say is, if your churches are grounded in truth and enjoy lengthy sermons, then all that I can say is, "Count your blessings brother! I wish I could join you!"

You have something special in this day and age. : )

 

 

 

[Jim_Alaska]

While I agree with much of what you said NN, every day of the week would be way more than I could attend, and there are others like me. I have to drive an hour and a half to get to church, three hours round trip. I couldn't do that every day because of time and financial restraints.

But if I were two doors away from the church building, as I was in Alaska, I would welcome every day services.

[...]

5 hours ago, No Nicolaitans said:

..."Why are we only meeting two days a week? Why can't we have something at the church every day? I would absolutely love that! I want to learn all that I can...I don't want to wait for several days between meetings! The early church met daily...in the temple and house to house. Why don't we still do that today?"

I, too, would also appreciate the opportunity to attend church daily.  I was raised Catholic and they hold services every day.  Granted, the attendance is smaller during the week, but even the heretical papists manage to at least offer daily services.

Now that I think about it, I would be surprised if a pastor refused a request by members who wished to meet every day.  I would imagine that daily services might need to be more like prayer meetings or Bible studies; it would be a bit much to ask a pastor to write seven sermons a week.  I would imagine that the number of people who would request to meet daily would be small enough that it could be manageable for most pastors.  

N.N., I would start by asking your pastor if he would be willing to meet one on one with you every day.  It would provide an opportunity to become closer to him and may involve other things as well; discussing verses while dusting the lightbulbs or something.  Then start inviting other members to join the two of you &c.

I set my own schedule, since I work from my home shop, so I think I just might give this a try.

Edited December 28, 2016 by Brother Stafford

[MountainChristian]

And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

----

And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.

 

[weary warrior]

As a pastor, preacher and teacher, it has always been my view that if my audience can not endure more than 30 minutes of me, the problem is me, not them. I can't blame them for my inability to speak to them in a manner that holds their attention. I've listened to preachers that had me looking at my watch after only 15 minutes, and then to another preacher that completely stunned me when he closed and we all realized he had been speaking for over 2 hours! This was at a camp meeting, both on the same day, and the short message came first!

It's too easy to for us preachers to blame those carnal christians with short attention spans. It may sometimes be us carnal preachers with short sincerity spans.

[Pastor Scott Markle]

1.  Are there any passages of Scripture which indicate that when God's people are no longer interested in the preaching/teaching of God's Word, it is the preacher's/teacher's fault?

2.  Are there any passages of Scripture which indicate that when God's people are no longer interested in the preaching/teaching of God's Word, it is the people's fault?

3.  Are there any passages of Scripture wherein we have an example of God's people not being interested in the preaching/teaching of God's Word, and it is attributed to the fault of the preacher/teacher?

4.  Are there any passages of Scripture wherein we have an example of God's people not being interested in the preaching/teaching of God's Word, and it is attributed to the fault of the people?

(Note: I now express a word of complaint -- The burden of my original posting was NOT that God's people are often not interested in more and longer preaching/teaching of God's Word.  Rather, the burden of my original posting was where we claim that the fault for this lies, and whether we support our accusation from the evidence of God's Word.  What I am observing in this thread discussion is that my burden is being "played out" within the thread discussion itself.  Various comments have been made concerning the subject matter, but little Biblical support has been provided for those comments.  So then, I present this note in order once again to provoke some BIBLICAL consideration of the matter.)

[weary warrior]

4 hours ago, Pastor Scott Markle said:

1.  Are there any passages of Scripture which indicate that when God's people are no longer interested in the preaching/teaching of God's Word, it is the preacher's/teacher's fault?

2.  Are there any passages of Scripture which indicate that when God's people are no longer interested in the preaching/teaching of God's Word, it is the people's fault?

3.  Are there any passages of Scripture wherein we have an example of God's people not being interested in the preaching/teaching of God's Word, and it is attributed to the fault of the preacher/teacher?

4.  Are there any passages of Scripture wherein we have an example of God's people not being interested in the preaching/teaching of God's Word, and it is attributed to the fault of the people?

(Note: I now express a word of complaint -- The burden of my original posting was NOT that God's people are often not interested in more and longer preaching/teaching of God's Word.  Rather, the burden of my original posting was where we claim that the fault for this lies, and whether we support our accusation from the evidence of God's Word.  What I am observing in this thread discussion is that my burden is being "played out" within the thread discussion itself.  Various comments have been made concerning the subject matter, but little Biblical support has been provided for those comments.  So then, I present this note in order once again to provoke some BIBLICAL consideration of the matter.)

Brother, perhaps your blanket is covering a little too much grass for this picnic? I know of no scripture that places the blame/fault specifically on either side for the people being uninterested in the message of the preacher after a few minutes. And I read that as "bored". There are too many individual congregants (many millions world wide) and too many individual ministers (many thousands) to paint with such a large brush. What I do see in scripture is that when a man of God actually has something to say, says it with passion and has the power of God upon him when he says it, people listen and are pricked in the heart. They can't help it. They may reject the message, they may kill the messenger in a fit of rage, they may fire the preacher or quit and not come back, but they don't go to sleep out of boredom or start fidgeting in their chair after 20 minutes. If the message from God is boring the people, the man of God has a problem. If the people are that carnal, the Word and the Spirit should at least make them mad.

There are a LOT of Biblical examples to back this up.

 

[Jordan Kurecki]

What about Churches that have large bus ministries to run and have responsibilities to get children home after morning services?

I don't think we can come up with a law for sermon length, I think each church and preacher has the freedom to follow the dictates of their conscience and the leading of the Holy Spirit in this matter. Not everyone's situation and audience are the same.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Jordan Kurecki

[MountainChristian]

Brother Scott has your church asked you to preach longer messages? I can not find one Biblical place where a recommended time allowance is given. The longer ones stand out, so they must be special. Kind of like Sarepta.

Luke 4:25-26 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.

I couldn't find one place where the Bible says Jesus taught longer while it was raining, no one could work. The same goes for snow. I thought about timing myself reading the sermon on the Mt but I have no idea how long Jesus paused between thoughts, or how fast a speaker He was.