Tuesday, April 20, 2021

The two dimensions of a sermon

Sermons have both width and depth.

Sermons have a scope of the biblical text which they tread - width - and a degree in which they delve into a topic or passage - depth.

Congregations need to hear both.

Great sermons strike a healthy balance between both.

After a sermon I gave, something which should rightly be called two-sermons-in-one-dose, my ministry coworker asked me a significant question about the dimensions of the sermon.

The mechanics of the sermon broke down something like this... I preached for around 30 minutes. With fours points.

He asked, if I had a third less time, and only did half my points, would it have made for a better sermon?

My original sermon gave each point around 7 minutes.

But, if I only delivered my strongest, most relevant, two points, would they have been improved with 10 or 12 minutes each?

I highly suspect so.

The result would have been more pleasant to hear, easier to follow, more memorable and more applicable.

These are the results of a good balance between width and depth.

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