Originally published in Relevant
Pastor Matthew Olson preached the entire Bible — Genesis to Revelation — in four days straight, setting a Guinness World Record for longest marathon speech in the process.
Olson, who leads First Baptist Church of Sharon in Jones County, Mississippi, began the sermon on the evening of May 30 and completed the 96-hour mark on June 4, taking only minimal breaks throughout. Under the Guinness format, speakers earn five minutes of break time for every 60 minutes of completed speech.
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The attempt grew out of a 2025 missionary training exercise in which Olson spent 96 hours in the woods without access to a physical Bible.
“He just craved his Bible,” administrative pastor Jonathan Strickler said. “It was just the first time he had not had access to his Bible.”
The experience prompted a vision Olson couldn’t shake.
“God birthed within him that moment the vision to preach the Bible for 96 hours,” discipleship pastor Rich Gray said. “He said what would it be like if the Bible was preached for 96 hours uninterrupted from Genesis to Revelation.”
Olson’s voice failed after the first 12 hours but recovered, and by the 40-hour mark the church’s medical team said it was stronger than when he started. The sermon was livestreamed on Facebook and the First Baptist Sharon app throughout.
Church leaders pushed back on characterisations of the attempt as a stunt.
“A lot of people think this is impossible,” Gray said. “We’ve been told a lot of people think this is nothing more than a gimmick. [But] God’s word will not return unto him void.”
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