On the subject of preaching, I need to add some relevant information about my own experience. I usually talk quickly and my rate of speech increases as the pressure rises. Since I deliver sermons so rarely, it is always difficult to judge how much material is required to fill to expected timeslot - about 50 minutes.

The first time I spoke, I honestly believed I had enough material to fill that amount of time. Not only was I short on material, but I also failed to control my words per minute. I'm certain that I must have sounded like one of the chipmunks as I blasted through my message in under 20 minutes. Church got out very early that Sunday.

The second message (the one I posted yesterday) was better. I had a decent amount of material and I tried to communicate at a more reasonable rate. I still spoke fairly quickly at times and clocked in at 41 minutes.

The third occasion was very interesting. I had prepared an excellent message about 'Leaving a Legacy'. The material was good. I knew it inside and out so I was relaxed. Too relaxed. Did I mention that my watch stopped partway through the sermon so I lost track of time? The amazing thing is no one left before I finished. No one even complained, though I spoke for over 80 minutes.

There has been no fourth opportunity. Perhaps someone with pattern recognition skills understood the ramifications of a 2 hour and 40 minute sermon.