Think for a Moment About Your Current Sermon Filing System...
Have you ever said something like this?
| Bad System |
Good System |
| paper bound |
indexed & searchable |
| dependent on your memory |
amnesia-proof |
| restrictive categories |
flexible categories |
| painfully slow |
quick filing and retrieval |
| literal search only |
serendipitous discovery |
"Make three photocopies of my sermon and file them in that big, steel cabinet: file one copy by date, one by passage, and one by venue."
"I have a folder on the hard drive with all my sermons from the past 15 years. But I don't really look in it unless I'm invited to preach at another church."
"That article I read the other day would make the perfect illustration for this week's sermon...if only I could remember where I read it!"
"I know I should be more organized, but I just can't take the time to set up a better system."
As a pastor, you've surely developed some kind of system to store, organize and retrieve your sermons and illustrations. It's your system...but is it a good system?
Ask yourself: is your system for collecting illustrations and storing sermons...
- convenient? (so you'll actually use it)
- flexible? (so you can adapt it for your needs)
- powerful? (to find what you're looking for)
- serendipitous? (to uncover content you forgot you'd stored)
If you answered "no" to any of these questions, it's time to upgrade your filing system. Sermon File Addin helps you get organized without getting in the way. It works the way you work. It puts the power of the Libronix Digital Library System to work for your own personal content. Here's how...
Sermon File Addin is...
Convenient
Copy and paste your sermon or illustration from Microsoft Word, another word processor, email, or a web page. Or import a lifetime of sermons from the MS Word files (or any HTML formatted files) on your hard drive.
The Sermon File Addin grabs the text, formatting, and automatically hotlinks Bible references within your text! Just key in a few optional details like title, date, topics, and Bible passage to easily find things later.
The addin remembers topics and tags you've used in the past and suggests them as you type, which helps keep your index clean and consistent over time.
Flexible
Your sermons and illustrations can be formatted and structured the way you want. You can apply standard topics or invent your own. Add tags to organize your sermons and illustrations by duration, occasion, rating or any other attribute you can think of!
Powerful
Sermon File Addin applies the power of the Libronix Digital Library System to the task of organizing your illustrations and sermons.
| Does your filing system depend on your memory, consistency with labeling, or a secretary who might not be around next year? If it does, you're due for an upgrade. |
That's right...we're unleashing several million dollars' worth of technology on your sermon file!
Your sermons and illustrations are compiled as two separate books within the Libronix Digital Library System. These books are fully indexed and searchable by word, phrase, topic or Bible reference.
Greek, Hebrew and other language text within your book of sermons or illustrations is recognized, so you can KeyLink to a lexicon. You can even embed links to other resources within your digital library.
Serendipitous
The old joke says that when you get to a certain age you can hide your own Easter eggs. But regardless of age, we've all experienced the feeling "I know I have a clipping somewhere that relates to this topic." Or the sinking feeling of "I wish I'd found this in my files a week ago!"
The Sermon File Addin provides the solution: your sermons and illustrations will show up in Passage Guide reports. So when you're studying a passage you will be alerted to every relevant illustration and sermon you've written or collected…and never again forget that you were saving it for just such a time!
In fact, you could say that Sermon File Addin facilitates serendipitous discovery.
Praise for Sermon File Addin
The following testimonials illustrate how Sermon File Addin is changing the way people store and organize their sermon notes.
Over the past 27 years that I’ve been writing sermons, I’ve kept my sermon notes in manila envelopes in a filing cabinet with a corresponding file kept in a 3-ring binder. Eventually, I moved the file from a 3-ring binder to an Excel file on my computer. However, the paper notes have always been messy and difficult to keep in place. Now that I’m not pastoring full-time, I’m editing and re-using many of my earlier sermons. In this editing process, I find it particularly helpful to have the sermons in Libronix sermon file format. I find the following benefits particularly helpful:
- The format is pleasant to the eye and easily readable.
- Indexing of the sermon occurs automatically when I save the file.
- The text of my sermons is searchable within Libronix.
—George Gunn, Chair: Department of Bible and Theology, Shasta Bible College
I began preaching over 20 years ago -- In that time I've amassed a fair sized collection of sermons in either full manuscript or note style. I've also preached at weddings and funerals and have those services and sermons also. However, even on a computer, they are like a "shoe box full of locator cards" when it comes to categorizing and searching the files. There have even been times when I have reused a couple of those sermons in different congregations in various settings. However until now I have had no way of integrating those sermon files with my Bible software. It's always been a one way street -- Bible text to word processor, with no ability to bring the final product back into or easily link to my Bible software. Nor have I had a way of tracking the sermons by date, location, scripture verse, theme, or topic. Now, with the Sermon Addin that is part of the Libronix Digital Library System, I can bring those sermons back into my library and categorize and search my own works. Thanks Logos for another great feature that expands an already great product.
—Dale Durnell, Pastor, Cordell 1st United Methodist Church, Cordell, Oklahoma
As one of those involved in its Beta testing, I feel that Sermon File Addin is a valuable addition to the other Libronix tools.
There were two areas that I especially appreciate about the Addin. The first relates to the actual Logos software itself. Because both the Bible References and the key Topic points can be "tagged," having the Sermon File Addin means that my own material can be searched from within the Passage Guide. In addition, having the Addin means that it is very easy to find the location of the actual sermons or organize the sermons based on the location and date of their delivery.
Secondly, by using the Sermon File outline system, it is much easier to evaluate the content of the messages. For example, by consistently choosing which outline level to use, both the number of and the percentage of the material devoted to illustrations could be very easily tracked.
—Rev. Stephen Filyer, Bothwell & Clachan Baptist Churches, Bothwell, Ontario
FAQ
Q: Once compiled, how do I find my book of sermons or illustrations in My Library?
A: Open My Library, sort by author or title, and type your name. Your Sermon File books are titled Sermons of (Your Name) and Illustrations of (Your Name).
Q: Can I share my book of sermons or illustrations with other people?
A: Your book of sermons and book of illustrations are unlocked only to you. They cannot be read by other users.
Q: Can I access my book of sermons or illustrations on my second computer?
A: If your Logos Bible Software licenses are installed on a second computer (e.g., laptop and desktop), you can open and use your Sermon File books on the second computer, whether or not the Sermon File Addin is installed on the second computer. Your Sermon File books reside in My Documents\Libronix Resources.
Q: Can my assistant or someone else enter my sermons for me?
A: Yes. Both users must own a copy of Sermon File Addin. The assistant can enter or import the sermons or illustrations, which produces a set of intermediate files in the directory My Documents\Libronix DLS\SermonFile. These .lbxsfl files can be transferred to your computer where you can open and Compile the files to build the final Libronix books.
Q: Can I apply visual markup to my sermons or illustrations?
A: Yes. Highlighting and visual markup can be added after the book is compiled.
Q: Does the Sermon File Addin do everything that Personal Book Builder does?
A: No. Personal Book Builder allows you to create an unlimited number of Libronix resources. The Personal Book Builder - Standard Edition also lets you distribute those books to others. By contrast, Sermon File Addin creates just two books: Sermons of (Your Name) and Illustrations of (Your Name). These books are only unlocked to the user who compiled them. Also, the formatting and tagging options for Sermon File Addin—while sufficient for sermon outlines and illustrations—are not as robust as those supported by Personal Book Builder.
Q: Should I use Sermon File Addin instead of Microsoft Word to write sermons...should I compose my sermons in the Sermon File editing window?
A: Sermon File Addin is not intended to replace Microsoft Word or other word processors and so is intentionally sparse on features for layout and formatting. Sermon File is designed for easy copy-and-paste from the word processor you normally use to compose sermons. It also supports importing documents saved in various formats.
Q: Which file formats can be imported into Sermon File Addin using the import feature?
A: Sermon File Addin can import files saved in Plain Text (.txt) or HTML (.htm or .html) formats. If you have Microsoft Word installed on the same machine as Sermon File Addin, the import feature will also import files saved in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text (.rtf) format.
Q: All my sermons are saved as WordPerfect documents. Am I stuck or is there a way to import these into Sermon File Addin?
A: To import sermons created in WordPerfect—while preserving most or all of the document formatting—we suggest first converting the WordPerfect files to HTML. See this support article for instructions.
Q: What is the "Publish to Logos database" checkbox I see when entering details about my sermon or illustration?
A: Select this option in order to submit this sermon to the Logos Sermon Database. Our plan is to make submitted sermons available through a future web service, or an existing online sermon database. By submitting your sermons and illustrations to the online database you grant Logos Research Systems, Inc., and its assigns, a perpetual royalty-free, world-wide license to republish your sermon or illustration. You also create an opportunity for others to benefit from your study and teaching. We will never publish your sermon without attribution.
Q: I don't want to clear the "Publish to Logos database" checkbox for each sermon or illustration; is there a way to change the default setting of this checkbox so it remains unchecked?
A: No.
Q: I want to be sure I'm abiding by applicable copyright laws when publishing sermons to the Logos Sermon Database. What do I need to know in this area?
A: Quotations from copyrighted material are fair use. Uploading copied sermons is not permitted.
Q: Can I edit or delete a sermon that has been published to the Logos Sermon Database?
A: Yes. To edit: open the sermon or illustration file using the File | Open menu, make your edits, confirm that the "Publish to Logos database" option is selected, and click Compile. To delete: follow the same steps but delete all the content from the "Sermon Text" window before compiling.
Tutorial Videos
These videos, while tutorial in nature, provide additional details on the features and use of the Sermon File Addin.
- Sermon File, Part 1 – Import Your Sermons/Illustrations (2:39, 4.4 MB)
Convert your Microsoft Word, HTML, and text files of sermons and illustrations into two Logos searchable books.
- Sermon File, Part 2a– Customize and Personalize Your Sermons/Illustrations (7:10, 8.6 MB)
Customize your sermons/illustrations by adding titles, topics, dates and more!
- Sermon File, Part 2b– Using the Sermon/Illustration Text Editor (5:48, 10 MB)
Enhance, refine and make changes to the layout and look of your sermon/illustration with our new text editor.
- Sermon File, Part 3 – Navigate your new sermon/illustration books (1:05, 1.6 MB)
After your sermons/illustrations are compiled into two books learn how to navigate within them.
- Sermon File, Part 4 – See how your Sermons/Illustration are integrated into Logos (1:53, 2.8 MB)
Learn how the passage guide can find your sermons and illustrations as well as the topic browser.