TIP of the day: Sermon and Illustrator personal books (with suggestions and MSWord template).

MJ. Smith

This post is thanks to Randy W. Sims who gave me the MS Word information complete with a video.

1. Create a Word document (.docx) for your sermons or illustrations. The first table in the image below contains the Logos supported attributes. It is documented in the wiki as:

The ‘Sermon File Type’ is required for the first row, but the other metadata lines can be added as desired in any order.
The field types are:

• Sermon File Type: ‘Sermon’ or ‘Illustration’ (Note: the compiler will only recognize one type, the type in the first table, per book.)
• Passages: Standard Bible reference formats. Accepts multiple values separated by a semicolon.
• Topics: Accepts multiple values separated by a semicolon.
• Tags: Accepts multiple values separated by a semicolon.
• Date: Accepts multiple values separated by a semicolon. (The compiler will attempt to parse the date.)
• Speakers: Accepts multiple values separated by a semicolon.
• Venues: Accepts multiple values separated by a semicolon.

Passages, Topics, Tags, Dates, Speakers, and Venues specified in the metadata above are preserved in the compiled document and restyled. Any other information will not be preserved.
Topics, Tags, Speakers and Venues in the restyled metadata will act as hyperlinks to the index at the end of the book.
Tags are searchable using the ‘My Tag’ search field.
Dates are searchable as well.

The second table contains attributes I personally use that are not supported by Logos:

• Creator (sermon label terminology) for sermons I collect but did not create
• Liturgical date (sermon label terminology)
• Readings - readings assigned to the date but not necessarily the primary passage of the sermon
• Source - identifies and perhaps links to the source of the sermon if not my own

Other fields that could easily be included:

• Subtitle (sermon label terminology)
• Series (sermon label terminology)

Note: it would be useful to be provided a complete list of Logos Topics so that one could standardize the topic titles for searches.

2.Select the repeating portion of the document. Click on the Insert Tab to switch menus; Click on Quick Parts to open the Quick Parts tool.

3. Choose AutoText then chose Save Selection to AutoText Gallery.

4. We now have the window for creating the new autotext.

5. Enter a name, a description and click on OK.

6. Back to the main document, add the information for a sermon. (Okay think of Mark 19 as Mark 10 ... we all make typos )

If everything works as expected, here is a master document 1537.Sermon Personal Book Template.docx so that you may begin at this step.

7. Save and close the document. Now test that everything is working as you expect. Open the Personal Book Tool from Tools ==> Utilities ==> Personal Books

8. Select Add book.

9. Follow the instructions for creating a personal book - notes I obviously entered a minimal amount of information because I am simply testing.

10. If everything looks good (actual images below) continue to add sermons/illustrations to your .docx document. To start a new entry, select the Insert tab, chose the Quick Parts icon, Select AutoText from the dropdown menu. Select the block of text created and saved in the previous steps.

11. You now have a template to begin you second sermon that emulates the metadata section of the Sermon Add-in from Logos 3. Provide the metadata, add the sermon, with illustrations if desired, save the file, close it.

12.In Logos/Verbum navigate Tools ==> Utilities ==> Personal Books ==> Sermon File ==> Edit. In edit ==> Build Book. Your resulting file may look something like this (a chart sermon

13. This is the fuller index of the current test file.

14. To build your sermon file over time, repeat steps 10, 11 and 12 each time your write a sermon.

Note these sermons will not appear in the sermon section - press Faithlife to standardize the metadata between the sermon label and the sermon PB so that the compiler can build appropriate labels and show the Sermons in the Sermon Section of the Passage Guide and Illustrations in the Illustration Section. Also Press them to add additional metadata that you need.

Note because of the constant recompilation of the Personal Book I do not recommend DIY labels until you are ready to freeze the file.

Lynden O. Williams

Thanks MJ. This is very good and detailed.