Length limiters

ARE YOU DISTURBED BY THE VIOLENCE IN THE BIBLE?
WONDER HOW IT FITS WITH THE MESSAGE OF JESUS?
FIND OUT THIS SUNDAY AT 6PM.

Above is what I wanted to put on the church sign this week since I'm speaking on the topic later tonight (tying into The Bible mini-series which is playing on Australian TV at the moment).

Trouble was, I only had one question mark. And not enough H's.

So, I stared at the sign and struggled to put my revamped message into coherent words, dragging out a job which was intended to take me less than 30 minutes to almost an hour.

It reminded me that most communication devices have a length limiter.

If you have two morning services then you can't preach beyond the time needed for the later service to begin.

For many churches there will be a time, no matter if it is 20 or 50 minutes, that they will be able to actively interact with the sermon.

If you're on Twitter, 140 characters is all you get.

And herein lies the challenge...
You need to communicate your message before you hit the limit your audience or medium will allow.