This is pastor tim from Hazard First Baptist with Today’s Good News.

Many church goers complain about the length of a preacher’s message. And I get it, I understand. I used to sit in the pew and listen to messages. I was fortunate to be under some great preachers and expositors of God’s Word. Even at that, I often struggled with staying awake. As I associate any kind of movement stoppage as time for a quick nap.

Over the years I got pretty good at sleeping in church, or so I thought. I would attempt to sleep with my eyes open, or one eye open and the other shut. I thought it appeared that I was wide awake and listening closely to the message. However, as a pastor I now see that type of sleepy response to my sermons, and folks that try this method appear that they are close to death.

Even if the message is dynamic, let’s face it, we are often tired, over worked and under slept. Stating that “sleep is a big waste of time” we limit it in our lives and pay the consequences any time that we stop for a minute. So, what’s a preacher to do to keep listeners awake during a long message?

A preacher preached a sermon much shorter than usual. When he was finished, he apologized, saying, “I have this dog who has a mania for paper. He loves paper and anytime we leave a piece laying around he eats it.

Well, last night I was studying my sermon when the phone rang. I laid my sermon outline and manuscript down to answer the phone, and when I came back the dog had eaten half of it.”

Following the close of the service, as the parishioners left the church, one man stopped and said, “Pastor, you don’t know me. I'm a visitor. I was passing through your city today and stopped to worship. But I have a request to make of you. If that dog of yours ever has pups, I want one for my preacher.”

The apostle Paul wrote in the Ephesians 5:14 Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

Are you awake? If so, rise from the apparent dead and get busy serving the Savior.

This has been pastor tim with Today’s Good News.