On average, it takes around twenty hours to prepare an expository sermon. When it is a difficult passage or topic, that time allotment increases. Twenty hours is a big chunk of a pastor’s week, but it is time well spent because the sermon is one of the most important weekly activities we undertake. But is our commitment to pastoral-preparation matched by our own congregational preparation? I’m not saying that every parishioner should give twenty hours a week to prepare to listen to a sermon, but shouldn’t there be some regular preparation in order to listen well? Continue reading →