Preaching Length

There is always another verse that can be covered and another word that can be said, but ministers are best advised to select passages that allow them to quit before the congregation does. The well-prepared pastor always has more to say than time to say it. Part of the discipline of sermon preparation is setting aside for anther occasion what there is not time to say in this message. We simply will say more that is heard if we preach less than all we know. In the pulpit, less can often mean more. We need not despair over the meat we have trimmed to make the essentials of a message digestible. Faithful preparation outlasts the preaching moment and will serve the preacher and the congregation in future sermons, character formation, and counseling sessions, which are all part of the extended ministry of the Word.

Perhaps the length of a passage and the corresponding length of the message are best determined when preachers remember the ultimate object of each sermon: enabling people to honor Christ. Messages should not be so short as to make God’s Word seem incidental nor so long as to make worship arduous. Either extreme robs Christ of the glory he deserves and the sweet prick his Word should provide the human conscience.

—Bryan Chapell, 'Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon' (Third Edition), 44–45