https://youtu.be/r78W-BsD2To Pastors do not have unlimited hours and resources to write sermons. Additionally, pastors have workweeks much longer than church members realize because of the invisible nature of sermon preparation. But how long should it take to write a typical sermon? Well, it depends. Thom and Sam discuss what's normal in ministry and how you can become more efficient. Previous poll: 70% of pastors spend between 10 and 18 hours each week to prepare a sermon. The majority of pastors are in the sweet spot. The issue is one of stewarding your time. Does putting in an extra 10 hours make your sermon that much better? Likely not. How much experience do you have? More experienced pastors should spend less time in sermon preparation. Only 10% of pastors spend 6 hours or less in sermon prep. Just a small percentage of pastors are spending too little time in sermon preparation. Boasting about spending 40+ hours studying every week is really just bragging about inefficiency. Resources: * Upward Sports * NTV Economic Bible (Spanish) Tyndale House Publishers * “Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them” by Thom S. Rainer * The Hope Initiative * Get your FREE tool! Attendance Growth Projector * Check out the Church Answers Christian bookstore! Shop curated, trusted resources for Christian life and ministry. Episode Sponsors: Upward Sports equips churches to run self-sustaining sports ministries in their communities.  Whether you are a sports fanatic, or on staff at a church, Upward Sports will give you all the tools you need to run a first-class sports ministry that allows you to reach families in your community.  Upward Sports offers basketball, soccer, flag football, cheerleading, volleyball, baseball and softball through league and camp offerings. At Upward Sports, we want to help your church make a difference, and give you increased opportunities to share the gospel.  Learn more today at Upward.org/ChurchAnswers. **As a partner of Rainer or Leadership, Upward Sports is offering a $500 sports start up grant to listeners. Head over to Upward.org/ChurchAnswers and schedule a call… tell them we sent you! Your sports grant will assist you in a 2024 LEAGUE! The Economy Bible NTV, Seed Edition is an affordable edition of the Nueva Traducción Viviente (NTV). The NTV translation renders the message of the original texts of Scripture into clear, contemporary Spanish. The scholars who worked on it kept in mind the concerns of both translation theories: formal-equivalence and dynam...