What do you have to say?
What are the most memorable speeches in history? Short ones. Think of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. It was a mere 267 words (if I counted correctly). Mark Antony's "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech in Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) contains only 270 words. Does anyone remember any President's State of the Union address? Hardly. They are long and boring.
When it comes to preaching, the same thing goes. Why do preachers feel it necessary to gas on for 45 minutes? Fifteen to twenty minutes is usually enough time to finish saying what you have to say. There is not need for redundancy. No one needs to say the same thing over and over. Repetitiveness adds nothing.
Keep it short and simple. It will be memorable. It will impact. It's hard to have impact on someone when they are asleep or mentally checked out.
2 comments:
Because nature abhors a vacuum. Dead time seems unproductive, but prattling on shows how learned you are. Come on, like you never did that. Right?
Actually the longest sermon I ever preached was about 22 minutes. Not that I'm bragging, but most often they were in the 15-20 minute range.
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