See theme

How many weeks, months, or years should you devote to preaching through Hebrews? How long should you take to preach through John's gospel? What about Isaiah? According to some preachers, the longer the better. If you need five years to preach through Romans, take it! If expounding 1 Corinthians requires three years, then so be it! However, I would argue that whatever gains we make by spending so much time in one book might be offset by some big losses.

Several years ago, I took to heart a challenge D. A. Carson issued to preachers at a pastor's conference. Carson challenged us to preach larger blocks of Scripture rather than expound for 45 minutes on one verse. He warned: "Some of you won't get through a tenth of the Bible in 40 years of ministry. What's the matter? Don't you believe in preaching the whole counsel of God?" Then he observed: "If you expound 45 minutes on half a verse, you may not teach people how to read their Bibles."

A few months later, I discovered another problem preaching with a long series in one book. I followed a pastor who preached through two New Testament books in his five years of ministry. Two books! One was a gospel; the other was a fairly short Pauline epistle. I deeply respected the high view of Scripture reflected by his approach. But the more I got to know my new congregation, the more I realized that they did not have a good grasp of the overall sweep of the Bible.

The issue here is not about catering to short attention spans created by electronic media. The issue is catering to short life spans! How much Scripture should we cover in five years or ten years of preaching to the same congregation? I will not propose a definitive answer. You'll have to wrestle with this before God. My approach, though, has been to take large enough blocks of text so that I can preach through the largest books of Scripture in a year or less. This fall, for example, I plan to preach Ephesians in thirteen weeks.

We cannot be so enamored with analysis that we ignore synthesis. God's people need to understand the sweep of progressive revelation and the contribution of various books and sections of books within the canon.

Here are two practical ideas for preaching more books in less time. First, go ahead and identify some pivotal texts in a book that need a more detailed treatment. Spend a week or two on Romans 3:21-26, for instance. But then work with larger preaching units in the remainder of the book. Second, do an occasional sermon on an entire book of the Bible. For example, after a series on a New Testament epistle, I preached a three-week series on the Old Testament wisdom books—Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. I presented the message of each book and showed how these books balance each other.

Teaching people how to think biblically means teaching them to connect the ideas of a particular passage with the overall message of the Bible. After a steady diet of your sermons, how familiar will your congregation be with the full counsel of God?

Steve Mathewson is senior pastor of CrossLife Evangelical Free Church in Libertyville, lllinois. He is also director of the doctor of ministry program at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon.