In Search of Paul by Tony Cooke

Author:Tony Cooke
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781680318265
Publisher: Harrison House Publishers

In essence, the awareness and adaptability that Gregory advocated simply reflect the types of communication that Jesus did with those to whom he ministered. Simply think of the different ways Jesus ministered to different people, such as Nicodemus and the woman at the well.

This may make the job of a preacher more challenging, but it is a challenge to which we must arise. I hope it inspires us to not get in a rut in our communication, but to always strive to improve and be better. Of course, nothing takes the place of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, but we can also increase the effectiveness of how we use the tools God has given us.

How Long Should I Preach?

When I was a Bible school instructor, we had lab classes where students would give a twelve-minute sermon. Granted, that is not very long, but because of the number of students we had, that was the time allocated. Some students—especially those who had never preached before—were very relieved that they did not need to preach longer than that, but others expressed a desire to not feel so boxed in by the clock. That brings us to the issue of how long a sermon should be. I do not think there is an answer for that which fits every situation, so let’s explore some of the considerations.

We always encouraged students, and even ministers, that people have a certain attention-span. With that in mind, it is best to preach long enough to make the needed points, but not so long that people feel exhausted and don’t want to come back. Some of the attention-span issue is culturally (or experientially) based, and preachers should be attentive to how much their audience can receive in a service. It is counterproductive to wear people out and to exceed their ability to receive.

I remember when I traveled to a certain nation a few decades ago to speak at a conference for pastors. This country was experiencing revival at that time, and the spiritual hunger was very intense. This was my first visit to this particular country, and I was shocked when the host informed me, “The pastors are really expecting great things this week, and they are very hungry. If you preach for less than three hours in any of your sessions, they will be very disappointed.” As a Bible school instructor for many years, I was accustomed to fifty-minute class sessions, and the Bible school students handled three back-toback fifty minute sessions very well, but these people amazed me in that they stayed completely attentive to messages that lasted three hours and sometimes, for an additional fifteen minutes beyond that.

Just because that was effective in one setting, though, does not mean it will work in other settings. I remember making the statement in one of my classes that if the Spirit of God is moving strongly in a service (and I was referring to an evening service at the time), that time restraints are not as

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.