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Day 312 or November the 8th. Long sermons can

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be a killer. Our thoughts today are from Acts

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chapter 20 verse 9. Seated in a window was a

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young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into

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a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he

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was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from

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the third story and was picked up dead. And now

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the big picture surrounding this verse. Paul

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completes his second missionary journey by spending

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more time in Corinth, in the south of Greece,

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before returning to Antioch via Ephesus in Turkey.

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After spending some time in Antioch, which is

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in Syria just north of present -day Israel, he

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sets off on journey number three. This longest

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of his travels so far sees Paul visiting his

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hometown of Tarsus in modern -day Turkey, before

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heading west across Turkey and then to Greece

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before setting off to return to Jerusalem. And

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now today's action step. I have always made it

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a policy of mine, as I have taught in many different

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churches, to ask when the service normally ends,

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so I know how long I have. The usual response

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is, feel free to say what you have to say, to

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which I reply, please tell me when your service

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normally ends, and I will stop then. Obviously

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Paul didn't ask at Troas. If a service usually

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ends at twelve noon, you may continue to ten

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minutes past, but the congregation will have

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stopped listening at noon anyway. Sometimes we

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preachers lose sight of the fact that we want

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people to hear what we sense God has said to

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us, and then slip into trying to tell the congregation

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all we know. Too often, we think the length of

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a talk determines its quality. Actually, the

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truth is often the exact opposite. Remember,

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if they're not learning, then you are not teaching,

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because both learning and teaching have to coexist.

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Otherwise, what you think is teaching is actually

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just talking. This goes for conversations, too.

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Knowing when to stop makes you far more interesting

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and effective. I think I've said enough now.