This is how ChatGPT responded to the question, "How Can Pastors Use ChatGPT for Sermon Preparation?"

As a pastor, sermon preparation is an essential part of your role. It involves researching biblical texts, studying theological commentaries, and finding practical ways to apply scripture to everyday life. While these tasks are already challenging, the process can become even more daunting when you’re dealing with a creative block or a time crunch.

Fortunately, there’s a new tool available that can help pastors streamline their sermon preparation process: ChatGPT. ChatGPT is a powerful artificial intelligence language model that can generate human-like text based on the prompts you give it. Here are four ways that pastors can use ChatGPT to help with sermon preparation:

1. Generate ideas for sermon topics: If you’re struggling to come up with a topic for your next sermon, ChatGPT can help you generate ideas. Simply input a prompt such as “What are some relevant sermon topics for young adults?” and let the AI model generate ideas based on current trends, issues, and common concerns of young adults.

2. Get a fresh perspective on a topic: ChatGPT can also help you gain a fresh perspective on a topic you’ve already chosen for your sermon. For example, if you’ve decided to preach on a specific Bible passage, input the verse and ask ChatGPT for insights and interpretations you may not have considered. This can help you expand your understanding of the passage and present it in a new and insightful way to your congregation.

3. Create sermon outlines and main points: Once you have a topic, ChatGPT can help you create an outline and main points for your sermon. Input the topic and ask ChatGPT for ideas on how to structure your message. The AI model can suggest main points, illustrations, and practical applications that can enhance your sermon and make it more engaging for your audience.

4. Research theological concepts and background information: Finally, ChatGPT can help you with research on theological concepts and background information. If you’re struggling to understand a particular doctrine or want to learn more about the historical context of a passage, input your question and let ChatGPT provide you with resources and insights that can deepen your understanding.

In conclusion, ChatGPT is a powerful tool that pastors can use to help streamline their sermon preparation process. It can help with generating ideas, gaining fresh perspectives, creating sermon outlines and main points, and researching theological concepts and background information. By using this AI language model, pastors can save time and energy while still delivering high-quality sermons to their congregations.

Do you remember the old Burger King advertising campaign - "Have It Your Way?"

Menlo Park Presbyterian Church has done a great job of organizing and presenting six different options for visitors to use in accessing sermons on their website.  Several free options, a couple paid, but really a great job of presenting the content in a clear and intuitive way.  Doing this makes the content accessible to the maximum number of visitors in the medium they prefer.

Check it out.

My only recommendation would be to include a summary or description of each message that could be accessed by clicking the title or a "Message Summary" link.  Adequate product descriptions are a key to conversion rates.

My friend Terry Storch, CTO at  Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX is extensively quoted in a story in the Boston Globe today, Sunday, July 3.

Link.

The link takes you to Page 2 in the article where Terry is interviewed.  Use the navigation keys at the end of the article to go back to page 1 for the full article.

Congrats to FC and to Terry.

Terry's Blog link.

An interesting report has been published by Stephen Winzenburg, a communications professor at Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa.  Winzenburg has followed television ministries for some years and has studied the amount of time actually comsumed by fundraising out of each program.  The results may surprise you.

A good deal of the report also contains his opinions about various television ministries.  I don't agree with some of his opinions, but the survey data is interesting.

Here's the report.

I'm down at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX for their annual C3 Conference with fellow BMCer's Mike, Barney and Abi.  We've got our booth set up and for a bit of extra fun we've brought in some Segways for demo rides. 

They've turned out to be a real hit.  Some of you know that I screen potential clients by telling them they have to be fun to work with.  Having the Segways sure helps as an initial screening device.

Speakers at the conference include Ed Young, Lisa Young, Andy Stanley, and Rob Bell.  We're having a great time and meeting some outstanding people.

Terry Storch is carrying reports on the C3 convention on his blog.

I was remarking to someone a few weeks ago that I thought right now was the most exciting time to be alive since I have been alive.  Today's entry from Seth Godin's Blog says it well.

Read it.

Do something about it.

Dude.

Those of you familiar with the MTV show Pimp My Ride . . .

Today in a meeting with clients, a young mosaic type suggested a TV program called Pimp My Church.  I know it sounds bad to some of you rutdwellers, but it certainly gets the idea of the day from me.

On Pimp My Ride, the show finds a needy and worthy vehicle owner with a trashy heap of a car, then “pimps” it up for him/her with a total cosmetic makeover and technology package.

On Pimp My Church, we will find a needy (irrelevant and tired) church and, with the help of the astralunatics from BMC and whacked out members of the congregation, we will overhaul the church and pimp it up.  Not just a cosmetic makeover, but edgy music, a revised dress code, a pimped up message, . . . I'm not promising rawthentic changes at a spiritual level, but at least the look and the fun factor will be pimpin'.

All we need are commercial sponsors for the show . . . or, if all my friends-a could just send-a their best gift-a . . .

toda-a-a-y-a . . .

Get the vision.

Billy Graham preached to estimated crowds totalling 230,500 at the Rose Bowl in what is believed to be his next to last crusade. 

Here's the story at Yahoo.

Christian News <== click there.

San Francisco Chronicle <== click there.