Beta Sermon Assistant: Applications

Hi friends, we've recently introduced the ability to generate 'Applications' using the Sermon Assistant feature within Sermon Builder. You will find it when viewing a Sermon document in Sermon Builder on the right sidebar under the sparkle ✨ icon:

As a reminder, the intent behind the Sermon Assistant feature is to help generate ideas to help inspire you throughout the sermon or lesson writing process. The new Applications option aims to generate useful, practical ideas on how one might apply a concept or idea that you are teasing out in your sermon.

First, you enter a short description of the idea or concept you want your audience to apply in their lives, then you can fine-tune the results you are looking for by selecting from different life situations as well as the intended audience for the Applications. After clicking Generate, the Sermon Assistant will return a set of Applications for you to review. You can then decide whether to insert them into your sermon, copy, or discard them. The expectation isn't that each Application will be ready to be pasted into your sermon as is, but they should give you some new ideas that you can adapt for your sermon or lesson as needed. You have the ability to generate more results, or simply go back and modify your inputs to generate new Applications.

As a reminder, you'll need to be a follower of the Logos Early Access Beta Features group to get a temporary testing license in order to use the feature.

As with all new features, we would love to get your feedback on this:

Is it helpful?
Can you see yourself or others using it for your sermons or lessons?
Does the user experience feel natural and intuitive to you?
Did you experience any problems when using it?
What changes would you make?

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Comments

MJ. Smith

Is it helpful?

Yes ... or almost yes

Can you see yourself or others using it for your sermons or lessons?

yes, maybe

Does the user experience feel natural and intuitive to you?

No, I expected the check marks to indicate selected and had to play around to figure out blue/clear was the distinction. I dislike this UI throughout the assistant.

No, it took a while to figure out what text was expected to get the generate button to activate.

Did you experience any problems when using it?

The insert all/ insert did nothing.

What changes would you make?

I would need applications for (a) elderly/homebound (b) social service oriented people (c) contemplative people (d) personal (generic) people. Different people have different gifts and different paths. There is no one size fits all applications. However, the first iteration of this tool is more mature than the first iteration of the questions and illustrations. This generates a bit more enthusiasm for me.

SUGGESTION:

If in the questions section, I could request questions with distinct answers for verifying your understanding of the text OR discussion (open-ended) questions, I would consider it a significant improvement.

I don't use the Sermon Builder, but I tried to play with the new AI features.

Of all the sermon-related AI features so far, I find this Application generator most impressive.

What I did was to copy and paste an actual scripture passage into the body of the Sermon Builder, and ask it to generate application ideas for me. What it generates actually are useful, helpful, and thought provoking.

Can you please offer these Sermon-AI features outside of the Sermon Builder? For those of us who write our sermons outside of Logos, can we just put in the main scripture reference of our sermon, and let it generate sensible applications, discussion questions, illustrations, etc?

Rev. Harold A. Winter

The application suggestions for work assume that everyone works in an office. I preach in a small town with many farmers. Many teens work part-time on farms or in other blue collar businesses. It would help if there was more variety in the suggestions. What follows is typical of what AI is generating for me. It would make my congregation chuckle. ;-)

"If you’ve noticed a drop in teamwork and morale at your office, consider organizing a monthly team-building activity. This could be as simple as a potluck lunch or an afternoon of collaborative games. The key is to create an environment of trust and support among your colleagues. During these events, encourage open conversations about personal challenges and successes. By fostering genuine relationships, you embody the goodness that God calls us to display, making your workplace a fuller reflection of His love."

Oh, no. Really? No wonder people are leaving organised church in droves the world over. Imagine if Jesus Himself were here...

You: "Hey, how's it going, Jesus?"

Jesus: "Yeah, good, man. It's busy, busy, busy, go, go, go! I've noticed a drop in morale in the disciples, so I'm gonna make them apply my teachings by organising a team-building activity to foster genuine relationships and open conversations! We'll do a potluck lunch at Martha's, then play some collaborative games! Then I have to get AI to write a message for Sunday, because you know, it all busy, busy, busy, go, go, go here!"

(Tip o' the hat to James Jordan)

Sorry if this offends anyone. I know it's a software company just trying to make a buck, but clanging cymbals, man.