Expository preaching has been around for a long time, reaching a high level of popularity about 20 years ago. But today it seems more pastors are opting for long-form, verse-by-verse preaching through a particular book of the Bible. And that’s especially true of younger pastors.

One thing young pastors may lack is the experience to know how long a sermon series should be. They’ve read the experts who say it should be longer than four weeks but fewer than eight. On the other hand, some preachers they listen to go much longer. George O. Wood, former general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, once spent two full years in the Book of Luke.

How do you know how many weeks to allow for an expository sermon series? What’s the best length? The short answer is, as long as it takes. But you probably aren’t reading this for short answers. To find the best answer, it may take some work on your part.

Your situation is unique from any other church around you. Your preaching style, your congregation’s background, your geographic setting, and even the age range of your church will all factor into it.

As you prepare your preaching calendar for the upcoming year, though, you will probably want to know how to apply who you are and where you preach to this question of series length. Here’s how to tackle it.

Know Your Audience

Gauge the interests of your audience. What do they want? They may like a series that focuses on digging deep into the intricate details of the text. Or they may be more interested in hearing illustrations from real life. Neither of those is wrong. But if you don’t know going in which will work best for your audience, you may miss the mark.

Focus not only on what your listeners want, but also on what they need. Where are they lacking in biblical literacy? What’s the best way to fill in those gaps? If you get to know your people, this answer will come quickly. And if you have a discipleship pathway in place, you’re probably already identifying these things.

Now that you know what congregants want and what they need, ask yourself this very important question: Will preaching a lengthy expository sermon series give them those things? If the answer is “no,” then keep your series short. Your church may be in a season where smaller, topical sermons are more appropriate.

You might be thinking, But I want to preach a long expository sermon series. That’s fine. But if it doesn’t fit your current situation, you aren’t leading in the best way possible.

Focus on feeding your sheep, not your ego.

Assess Your Preaching

Take a hard look at your preaching style. Don’t compare it with any other neighborhood churches, online preachers or classic sermons. Know what makes you unique.

What’s your style of preaching? Are you formal or informal, laid back or intense, funny or reserved? Again, none of these is necessarily wrong. What is wrong is trying to preach in a way that is uncomfortable for you and your audience.

If you’ve never tried preaching through one book of the Bible verse by verse, you should probably try it out before committing to a longer stretch. Try one of the shorter epistles, like Philemon or 1 John. You can handle either of those in three to five weeks. That means you only give up a month of your preaching calendar to see whether this type of series is the right fit.

Determine Your Goals

Here’s where you’ll really start to flesh out the length of your sermon series. Be honest about your goal in preaching expository sermons. Is it to give your people a more solid scriptural foundation? Or is it just to show off?

As a shepherd, your job is not to show your flock how educated or eloquent you are. It’s to give them what they really need. Focus on feeding your sheep, not your ego.

Another trap you may fall into when you preach long expository sermons is repetition. If your sermons begin to sound the same week after week, you may want to cut back on the number of sermons in your series. Set a goal of keeping your application diverse.

Decide, and Stick to It

Once you decide how long you’re going to spend on a sermon series, try to stick with it. Opening up a series in Matthew 1, knowing you’ve got 28 chapters to get through, can seem daunting. Pick out a length that you know is achievable so you can cross that finish line with confidence.

It’s a good idea to let your audience know where you’re going and how long you plan to take. If they aren’t prepared, they may start to wonder why you’re still in the Gospel of Matthew three months later: Haven’t we heard from Matthew enough?

When you explain your reasons for taking the long route through a book of the Bible, your audience will stick with you. They will anticipate the journey and become excited for the road ahead.

The best way to keep your listeners interested in a long sermon series is to give them a reason to come back each week. Perhaps your preaching prowess alone is enough, but you may want to sweeten the deal a bit. Give them glimpses of what’s just ahead. Build the tension in the narrative. Show them how each sermon builds on the one before it. Before you know it, they’ll become big fans of expository preaching.

No matter how long or short your sermon series is, each sermon should center around helping your people grow closer to Jesus. If you ever find yourself straying off that course, it may take cutting the series by a few weeks to correct it. But stay on the track of Christ-centered preaching, and your audience will never be disappointed.