Brandon Kelley
Bible study software abounds these days. Certainly, they are useful and very handy to have. But what if you don’t have thousands of dollars to get the latest version of Logos, Accordance, or one of the others? I have a solution! These online sermon preparation resources, when combined, can give you enough study material, illustration material, and heart-wrenching story material to produce highly effective sermon after highly effective sermon!
My hope is that these resources will provide to you some money savings and some time savings. If you have additional online sermon preparation resources you use that I don’t mention below, please leave a comment. I’d love to learn what you are using!
7 Online Sermon Preparation Resources You Need
1. Evernote – to Gather Content, Resources, and Illustrations
In order for these resources to become a library of content, you’ll need a powerful tool to organize it all. This is where Evernote comes in. You’ll certainly want to add the Web Clipper to your browser as well.
I’ve gone into some detail on how you can utilize Evernote in your sermon preparation in the video below. I’ll be putting together a similar video on Monday to show you how to utilize these resources and capture all the content to put into Evernote for maximum organization and ease of use.
Be looking for the new video on Monday! (Editor’s Note: It’s ready – watch here)
2. Precept Austin – Tons of Commentaries and Bible Resources
I absolutely love this website. It has SO many free commentaries, sermons, sermon outlines, and study notes. It takes some time to find the better resources, but it’s worth it. Once I find the commentaries I will use, I copy and paste the content into my Evernote. Again, check back on Monday so you can see how I organize this content.
3. Dr. Constable’s Expository Bible Study Notes – Straightforward Exposition of God’s Word
This is another new favorite of mine. Dr. Constable has made available (for free) a valuable resource in the form of PDF and HTML. I utilize the simplicity of copy and paste into Evernote here as well.
4. Bible.org – A Powerhouse of Content
Topical study material, book-specific study material, this website has it all. Copy and paste into Evernote and you’re on your way to having plenty to add depth to your next sermon.
5. Bible Hub – Commentaries, Word Studies, and More
If I’m going to look at the Greek of a New Testament text, it’s going to be through Bible Hub. If I want additional commentaries to consult, this is one of my go-to resources. It is rich in content and it has MANY features I haven’t even tapped into. Copy and paste for the win!
6. Faithit – Stories Galore!
This site has a lot of silly videos and stories, but it also has a lot of things that could be used in a sermon. Whether you want to use a funny video or an awesome story, this is your place. Say you are putting together a sermon or series on generosity and you want to find some great stories of people practicing generosity in unique ways. This story of a lawyer pledging to put 26 kids through college is a pretty awesome thing to share!
7. I Am Second – Heart-Wrenching and Meaningful Stories/Testimonies
Every now and then, I’ll weave a single story throughout a sermon to go alongside the biblical text. This website has SO many powerful personal testimonies that it is gold for doing just that. Whether you want to walk people through a story and highlight it as a real-life living out of the biblical text at hand or you want a story to add to where your message is going, this site offers some POWERFUL God stories.
What Do You Use?
Are you also seeking to use online sermon preparation resources that don’t cost thousands of dollars? If so, what are you using? Have you used something above? What was your experience? Let us know in the comments below!
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