When preparing for an upcoming sermon (or sermon series) I tap into the power of Google. For example, this past Sunday I preached a sermon called The Secrets of Attraction (in a series we’re doing on the book of Song of Solomon). By creating a news alert for “attraction” Google was emailing me articles on that subject for weeks leading up to last Sunday. One of the articles gave me some great intro material to work with. Referencing the article I said “Here’s the world’s wisdom on what you ought to be attracted to” (it was pretty ridiculous and had everyone laughing). Then I said “Make sure you take notes today because the wisdom we find in the Bible far surpasses the wisdom of this world.” By clicking the link above you can see exactly what I said but I think you get the idea. I create similar alerts within Google News for each sermon series and topic within that series.
If you want to do the same, here’s how:
- Go to www.news.google.com
- Type in whatever you’re preaching on Sunday (i.e. This Sunday I’m preaching on dating (what Song of Solomon teaches us about dating) so I’ve typed in “dating” in the search bar).
- Scroll down to the very bottom of the webpage.
- Find and click on the “Create Alert” button.
- To the right of the blue “Create Alert” button it should say “Show Options.” This is where you choose your preferences for what and how often you’re emailed.
- When you’re done click the blue “Create Alert” button and you’re done.
Here are the settings I choose under “Show Options”:
- How often: At most once a day
- Sources: News
- Language: English
- Region: Any Region (you can choose to get only articles from the United States if you want)
- How many: Only the best results
- Deliver to: mike@newdaychurch.cc
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