Best Pastor I ever had, limited his sermons to around 25 minutes. Asked him about why it was so short. His reply was that people can only pay attention for 20-30 minutes in a stretch; and that if you can’t say it in under 30 minutes, you can’t say it in 45 minutes.
When he was getting ready to retire, he asked for people in the congregation for suggestions on which past sermons they would like to hear again. It was amazing that some of the most requested had been preached originally many years prior to his retirement. He preached sermons you actually remembered. With most preachers, it’s had to remember was was said the following Tuesday.
Gerald Marvel ws a Godly man with an extraordinary talent for preaching.
Your post led me to remember a church I went to about eight years ago. It was in a suburb of Minneapolis. I’m a Catholic and this church was on the evangelical side.
But what I liked most about this church was the pastor. he was not hell and damnation pastor. He was not a slick speaker - although he was a good speaker.
His sermons resonated with me. They incorporated real-life experiences with the points he was trying to get across. So many times I found myself nodding in agreement during the sermon.
It’s so rare to find a pastor, priest, etc. with the ability to reach out and make you (a) think about what they said and (b) remember it days, weeks and months later.
I agree with your Pastor wholeheartedly. Sadly, he was probably one of the few you would LIKE to listen to for a full 45. Some people have that knack, that gift of the spirit. Some people don’t, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be great pastors. Just means that if they know that sermonizing isn’t their strong point, they should stick to fifteen minute exigeses on the lessons and bring in guest Preachers to rev the congregation up periodically.
BTW, I feel every Christian needs a revival about every 90 days to keep it from getting stale.