I’m sure many of you have already found SermonAudio.com, but for those of you who have not, I hope you will find something that encourages you.
SermonAudio.com is…
In a nutshell, SermonAudio.com is a massive database of free audio files which can either be streamed and listened to from you computer, or downloaded and loaded onto an mp3 player or cell phone. I did say “free” right. Right, free. There are sermons from contemporary preachers from all over the US and internationally. That’s great and all, but it gets way better. SermonAudio.com also has a wealth of classic preachers as well. Tozer, Pink, Jonathan Edwards, Spurgeon—just to name a few. But really, it seems that the list just keeps going.
How it works…
When arriving at the site you’re dumped into a fairly cluttered environment. It takes some time to catch your breath and figure out what exactly you’re looking at. However, most folks won’t have too much trouble after a minute or too.
The main column of the site is filled mostly with updates and daily postings, popular downloads and featured speakers. But, the really juicy stuff starts on the left.
You’ll see four very important links: Sermons by Bible, Sermons by Speaker, Sermons by Topic and Sermons by Date. I’m sure you can figure out what these are. This is the main artery for browsing sermons. Choose to look up all the sermons by a favorite preacher, by the date they were delivered, or the topic they’re about. Or, by my favorite, the verse they are taken from.
When you select “Sermon by Bible”, you’re dropped onto a page displaying each book of the bible and a link to the each chapter. Within each link you’ll find sermons relevant to the selected verse. And, at the top of the page you’ll find an handy quick reference to the chapter of the bible you’re browsing in. From the scripture quick-reference, you can also further narrow your searches down by clicking on a particular verse and displaying sermons relevant to that specific verse.
When browsing through sermons, you also have some pretty advanced sorting methods to choose from. You can sort by the geographic area the sermon was delivered, the speaker, the denomination of the speaker and more.
The sermon…
Once you’ve actually found the sermon you’d like to hear, first you’ll have to sign up for their newsletter. No biggie. Then, you’ll have the option of either streaming the sermon live using Windows Media Player, meaning no hard drive space will be taken up on your computer. Or, you can choose to download the sermon onto your computer. The sermon comes in the form of an mp3 file. The files are a pretty decent size, not too big, but not so small that the sound quality stinks.
If you choose to download the sermon, you’ll then have the chance to load it into itunes, then onto you ipod. Or any other mp3 playing device.
One drawback to downloading the mp3’s are that they are not intelligently named files. So, for example, if you download a sermon by Charles Spurgeon, the file may not have a name you recognize. It will more likely be titled with a seemingly random string of numbers. You’ll want to rename the files so you can easily find them later.
Membership options…
I offer kudos to SermonAudio.com for offering this service for free. It’s commendable and, I believe a great gift to the church, if she would only take advantage of it. However, more robust options are available for people who are willing to pay a nominal premium.
For free you can get pretty much all of the best benefits. Listen to sermons. Download sermons. Browse sermons. Search the bible. Stream sermon related videos. Even get access to a lot of PDF sermon resources.
For bloggers and other web junkies, $4.95/month will get more features. Namely, the ability to download a lot of stuff unattended–although I don’t really know how this works. There’s also things like blogging tools and some advanced RSS options.
For churches and pastors, $29.95/month will get everything, plus the ability post your own sermons from your church. It seems that there must be some kind of a screening process, because the site really doesn’t seem to be overrun with junk. But whatever the case, that’s the gist of the complete package.
However, take note, the best and most important features are offered for free. The way it should be.
Highlights…
SermonAudio.com has a host of really cool and free features. There’s a few that stick out to me.
1. RSS Capabilities. Lets be honest, we’re not going to be visiting this site all that often. It just wouldn’t be a very practical stop along the road. But, with RSS subscriptions to sermon series or speakers, you can bring SermonAudion.com into your RSS reader. With Google, the sermon can stream directly from the feed.
and
2. Morning & Evening Devotions with C.H. Spurgeon. In addition to being able to read Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening Devotions, a good audio version is offered making the devotional easy to do in the car on the way to work or at your desk. Pair this one with the RSS functions and you’ve got a pretty sweet pair.
Conclusion…
SermonAudio.com is fantastic. It’s an excellent resource, especially considering all the classic content. And, it’s free, which is great.
So, go check it out. Download some sermons. Learn a thing or two and fall more in love with Jesus.
