Writing Sermons Survey

Roger Feenstra · January 2010

I am curious as to how some of you write your sermons using L4. Do you use MS Word and just keep that window open, toggling back and forth between Word and L4? Do you type your sermon directly into Notes? Or, is there another creative way that works for you?

Happy New Year!

Allen Browne · January 2010

I use MS Word to prepare sermons/lectures.

I run Logos 4 on the 17" laptop screen, with a 22" monitor rotated to portrait so it displays about 1½ pages of notes in Word. Works a treat.

David Wilson · January 2010

I got a refurbished HP desktop last year that can support two monitors; and I got a second 20inch monitor on clearance for $149, so I too work with two monitors, Logos 4 on the main one and a Word Processor on the other. Saves an enormous amount of time versus toggling between windows on the one monitor.

Floyd Johnson · January 2010

Yes and no. I have a sermon template that I use with Open Office - though something similar could easily be done with MS Word. Since I do not use LOGOS Notes, I copy text into either MS OneNote or David Michael's TheJournal in order to collect useful information. OneNote is particularly useful when I use my Tablet PC - I can take hand written notes. Both allow me to tack notes and text to the sermon, rather than to a passage or part of a book.

Daniel Bender · January 2010

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/67628#Comment_67628

I use MS Word. This has been my practice for a long time. Like Allen I use a lap top with a 22' monitor. I have one doc for working on my sermon and another doc (these are place side by side) that has all my notes that I have been keeping on a particular package. The laptop is usually opened to my text once I am done taking notes.

Blair Laird · January 2010

I toggle back and forth to msword. However I put my bible and text comparison in one floating window My reference and other target bible in another floating window. I leave my commentary full screen in the passage Guide and have another floating window with my exegetical guide. So basically I have four full screen floating windows on my task bar for logos 4. It makes it easier to read on my laptop.

Chris Eller · January 2010

I use MS Word with a dual monitor setup. This allows me to have my reference material on the left and Word open on the right. Cutting and pasting between the two is seamless. I also tend to collect my reference material in OneNote. This makes for easy searching and after working with OneNote for so many years, I've grown accustomed to how I can move material around, link to paragraphs, and outline.

One of my concerns about keeping my notes and reference material in Logos is what we are now experiencing. In the transition between L3 and L4, we've lost access to our notes and pbb files. I know this will be restored in the future, but what if it wasn't? Do you really want your life's work stored in a proprietary format? Hopefully, Logos will incorporate into their system a simple method to export all user content into a universally accepted format (e.g. XML).

Roger Feenstra · January 2010

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/67681#Comment_67681

Chris Eller said:
Do you really want your life's work stored in a proprietary format?

That is certainly a fear that I have.

MJ. Smith · January 2010

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/67681#Comment_67681

Chris Eller said:
Do you really want your life's work stored in a proprietary format? Hopefully, Logos will incorporate into their system a simple method to export all user content into a universally accepted format (e.g. XML).

I may be incorrect but if I've heard correctly, Logos is using XML within a database. There are native XML databases around.

BillS · January 2010

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/67681#Comment_67681

Chris Eller said:
concerns about keeping my notes and reference material in Logos

I've been a long-time Logos user (since 1.6). And 1.6 was the last proprietary format I trusted. Bob's development goals haven't changed. Each new system has been a total rewrite, & only after users were vocal in demanding it did some of the data get ported over.

Don't get me wrong: I love Logos. And I WANT the high tech. But I learned when 1.6's verse lists (e.g.) failed to make it that it was MY mistake if I left important data in Logos. ALWAYS get it to a system where backward compatibility IS a design goal (your pick of word processors, e.g.). If my memory is working (may need more coffee), Notes haven't made it in the 1st release (2.0, 3.0, 4.0), yet.

So, I'm using MS-Word on a laptop to hold both research notes & sermon manuscript. A separate file for each one, organized by the Scripture reference. I have 66 folders for storage, so it's an easy matter to find either reference material or sermon material on any passage.

When I'm doing research, I don't try to digest it all in Logos. I only try to determine if I want to use the material as part of the research. Research includes 1st the Scripture text, & then material from MPG--commentaries, journals, & sermons from logos & sermons.com.

The sermon document begins with the Scripture preloaded, which then serves as my outline--and a "check" so I don't go too far afield from what it's trying to say.

Many blessings!

JF · January 2010

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/67742#Comment_67742

I use MS Word for my sermon/lessons. I tried to use the Logos Sermon files in
Logos 3 but it become to must of a burden for me and Logos 3. I could not find an easy way to use all of
the tags to catalog all of my files. I
need a good quick way to use some tag, Bible references, dates and folders to
keep everything organized. I have to
much going now without trying to be a librarian.

I like how MS Word is easy to use or at least some word
processor of some sort. I also like how
I am able to search my resource and my_content with Logos 4. What would be great if I could use Logos 4 to
just search a Windows folder ( and it sub folders ) as I do a collection. I think I could manage that without all of
the overhead burden. Maybe I am the only
one who works this way but we all have to use what works.

Wish all of the best in your preparation and may the Lord be
lifted up.

Rich DeRuiter · January 2010

Roger Feenstra said:

I am curious as to how some of you write your sermons using L4. Do you use MS Word and just keep that window open, toggling back and forth between Word and L4? Do you type your sermon directly into Notes? Or, is there another creative way that works for you?

Happy New Year!

I use L4 and WordPerfect (X4) on a two monitor system. Before I had two monitors I used Alt-Tab a lot. I do my research in L4, and may make a few short textual notes. I keep my major work in WP format, including in-depth word/topic studies and all my sermons. I wouldn't dream of trying to write a sermon in L4 (or L3 for that matter). Logos has stated that they do not want to write a word processor. I don't blame them. Nor would I want to try to write a sermon with what's available in L3 or L4 note files.

I do have the sermon file add-in, but I haven't used it since I started with the L4 pre-release beta. I'm hoping the sermon file add-in for L4 will be a bit easier to use, and offer some more formatting options (outlining please!), so I'm not importing my sermons for now either. But I do like the sermon file add-in and don't regret buying it or the time I've put in to importing sermons. (Of course I'd never use the sermon file addin from L3 to write a sermon, unless I was writing one on "Frustration.")

Roger Feenstra · January 2010

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/67829#Comment_67829

Richard DeRuiter said:
(Of course I'd never use the sermon file addin from L3 to write a sermon, unless I was writing one on "Frustration.")

Now that would be a Spirit filled message [:@]

I was wondering about the Sermon File add-in. The concept is pretty cool, but does it work? It appears; not very well.

For about a year, I have been writing my sermons in Google Docs. After I write them, I copy and paste to MS Word, where I can manipulate the formatting a little better. But my primary storage is in Google Docs. I also send many of them to our church website where they are accessible and also serves as a form of another backup or storage.

In the olden days, so to speak, we just used a yellow legal pad and a number 2 pencil, then stuck them in a folder. (Ahhh, life was so much easier then).

Roger

William · January 2010

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/67617#Comment_67617

Allen Browne said:

I run Logos 4 on the 17" laptop screen, with a 22" monitor rotated to portrait so it displays about 1½ pages of notes in Word. Works a treat.

I have a laptop and an extra monitor...Can you tell me how you set up both your monitors to work? I am assuming you just have the one laptop cpu and so forth for both monitors and working. its not a second computer is it?

Wiliam

BillS · January 2010

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/68527#Comment_68527

William Bingham said:
how you set up both your monitors to work?

Once you've connected the other monitor, your laptop probably brings it up as a "clone" of the laptop screen

Get into the controls for your display adapter. (For my Vista setup, it's right click on the desktop, then select nVidia control panel; Personalize | Display settings will also get you there.)

Monitor 1 is most likey your laptop. Click Monitor 2 & check the box "Extend the desktop onto this monitor."

What happens then is that your icons will all be on your laptop, but your wall paper will extend onto the 2nd monitor. Regardless of where you have it placed, Windows thinks it's to the right of your #1 monitor.

So, slide the cursor to the right--off your laptop screen & onto your monitor.

You can drag parts of your desktop over there.

Enjoy!

Mark Stevens · January 2010

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/68527#Comment_68527

I tried to use the notes function to add exegetical notes but the severe lack of functionality has made this approach impossible. I never used L3 (I was using the Mac Engine) but my only disappointment with L4 has been 'notes'. Spell check is a minimum for me so until Logos add it I cant see myself using the notes. It is a real shame because it would be good to use them.

With sermon file addin; doesn't it convert your word files?

Rosie Perera · January 2010

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/67681#Comment_67681

I use Word and Alt-Tab back and forth between Word and Logos. I haven't tried the dual monitor thing, though I suppose I could. I have a second computer which I hardly ever use anymore (it's running XP just for when I need to help someone with an XP problem and can't remember how XP used to do something), so I could cannibalize the monitor from that.

I haven't written enough sermons yet that searching through them all would be something I'd need to do. I can pretty much remember them all and just scanning through the titles I can find what I'm looking for. But if I did have lots more, I might want to be able to include them in Logos searches.

Daniel Bender · January 2010

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/68582#Comment_68582

Rosie Perera said:
But if I did have lots more, I might want to be able to include them in Logos searches.

Like Richard I have the sermon file add-in (in L3--am waiting for it to be added to L4); I used it to import all of my sermons into logos and included them in the passage guide so that they could be searched (very helpful). I did not use the add-in to create my sermons, but I liked the way I could track where and when I had preached them.

Allen Browne · January 2010

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/68527#Comment_68527

William Bingham said:

Allen Browne said:
I run Logos 4 on the 17" laptop screen, with a 22" monitor rotated to portrait so it displays about 1½ pages of notes in Word. Works a treat.

I have a laptop and an extra monitor...Can you tell me how you set up both your monitors to work? I am assuming you just have the one laptop cpu and so forth for both monitors and working. its not a second computer is it?

It's just one computer. The specfics will depend on your laptop, graphics card, and operating system.

My Dell Vostro has a VGA monitor plug on the back, and an nVidia graphics card. When you plug in an external monitor, the built-in screen goes blank. If you right-click on the Windows desktop, you can get it to run both monitors.

The nVidia control panel supports rotating the monitor. You also need a monitor that can rotate to portrait. I bought one for home, and my College bought me one for work (since I bought my own laptop.)

I've been programming with a rotated monitor for years -- even before I owned a laptop. Looks like this: http://temp.allenbrowne.com/monitor.jpg

As a side benefit, I find that Windows 7 does a brilliant job of handling mult-monitor setups. It remembers which monitors I want rotated and in dual view, which ones not, which ones cloned (e.g. for projection), and handles hot-swapping monitors much better than previous versions of Windows.

Recent Apple Macs also handle multiple monitors. (Older ones needed an additional utility.)

Tom Gray · January 2010

Roger,

I am only a lay person, however I have been struggling with the same issue. How do I best utilize Logos to prevent being redundant in my work and still get everything I want into message. I love the idea of a 2nd monitor and I can definitely grasp how much time could be saved doing it that way. I have an old flat panel and I might just swing by Radio Shack to see if I can get an adapter from the pin to a USB port and try it out.

I have looked at the videos that Mark Barnes produced for how he writes a sermon using Logos and found it a great starting place for me. Others have noted that they use MS Word - which the Copy Text & Paste function automatically pastes to (time saved there.) Still others have mentioned MS OneNote as a tool. I did not get this program until last week and I immediately saw how powerful and versatile it is.

I believe that I will use MS OneNote (Microsoft Home & Office Edition of MSOffice 2007) as my basic note and prep tool for my home fellowship lessons. I like how it is so easy to cut and paste anything from any location (software, spreadsheet, web site, etc) and put it on a page for easy location and inclusion.

I will use MS Word for my lesson outline - I had been using OpenOffice prior to last week. MS Word works well with Logos and is easy to use and configure.

I will also use a Note within Logos as Mark showed in his video to keep my Contextual study in order - easy to refer back to for later Exegesis. I think it just makes sense to have the context outline and notes handy in Logos until I am ready to transfer over to my Word document. Also it makes it easy to look back at your past work if you are preaching through a book.

I will also keep a separate Clippings folder in alphabetical order (unless someone else has a better idea.) Mark's ideas about a Clippings document I thought was a good one. I can't imagine having 100's of different 'Clipping Studies' to try and keep in order so I thought that alpha order would be fine in it's own folder that I could keep tabs of in 'Favorites.'

Any other ideas out there? Corrections maybe? lol

Tom

TCBlack · January 2010

Roger Feenstra said:
I am curious as to how some of you write your sermons using L4.

I have to 22" widescreen monitors. L4 takes up one full screen, while Openoffice.org (native XML file- *.odt) is open on half the screen with, ahem, another Bible study program open on the other half of the screen. Google is almost always floating around along with wolfram alpha's website for calculations when dealing with them. I take the majority of my notes in one program, highlight in Logos, and finally export all of my notes to OpenOffice.org's wordprocessor for cleaning up and transforming them from notes to sermon.

Roger Feenstra said:
I was wondering about the Sermon File add-in. The concept is pretty cool, but does it work? It appears; not very well.

The Sermon File addin in L3 worked fine for storage, and in program searching. I'm hoping there will be some significant advances in L4's version when it's released. As you stated, I would not craft a sermon in that format unless I were trying to atone for something. (tongue firmly in cheek).

Roger Feenstra said:
For about a year, I have been writing my sermons in Google Docs. After I write them, I copy and paste to MS Word, where I can manipulate the formatting a little better. But my primary storage is in Google Docs. I also send many of them to our church website where they are accessible and also serves as a form of another backup or storage.

Good plan. Always backup. Never fail to backup. There are addons for Openoffice and I suspect MS office as well that will autosave/sync your document to google docs if you're going to stick to that program. Then you can just write it in your word processor and sync it.

Jim Mitchem · November 2011

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/69517#Comment_69517

Im new to Logos - my wife just bought it for me at a Women's retreat

Has Logos 4 come out with the Sermon add in yet? Im an Army Chaplain and just returned from a deployment. Have a years worth of hand written sermons I want to put on a computer and would like to try using Logos

I agree with the idea of having a word folder that Logos could access - that would be excellent

JT (alabama24) · November 2011

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/307010#Comment_307010

Jim - First, welcome to the forums! As for the Sermon Add In, the direction Logos is taking is unsure. They have created a new version of "Personal Book Builder," which allows users to compile Microsoft Word .docx files into books which Logos can read. PBB is free and included with L4. You can learn more about PBB by reading the wiki section HERE.

By the way, the thread that you replied to is quite old (almost 2 years) and the information is likely outdated.

Mike Childs · November 2011

Roger Feenstra said:
Do you use MS Word and just keep that window open, toggling back and forth between Word and L4?

Yes, that is what I do. Of course, I first do exegesis of the text, and toggle between Word and L4 taking notes. Then as the sermon takes form, I continue to toggle back and forth some. However, most of what I will need for writing the sermon will already be in Word from the exegesis / inductive Bible study notes that I take early on in the process.

Seems to work for me.

Graham Owen · November 2011

Roger Feenstra said:
Do you use MS Word and just keep that window open, toggling back and forth between Word and L4? Do you type your sermon directly into Notes?

For me it is mostly the former. I occasionally use the content stored in my note files as part of my sermon but these are normally copied to Word and then integrated into the sermon. Notes a great form collecting ideas and thoughts when you want to preach on a passage but for me the printed output does not lend itself to use as preaching notes.

Mark O'Hearn · November 2011

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/307126#Comment_307126

Like many I prefer to use Microsoft Word (2010) to compose my messages. Usually I will be cutting and pasting from a Clipping file used during my study (side note: wished and have suggested that L4 reorder our clippings based on Scripture sequence as usually my study is not "linear" in nature). Recently after editing I save the document to .rtf and import the message onto my new Kindle Keyboard using Calibre. Last Sunday used the Kindle (instead of paper notes) to speak in the morning ministry and evening gospel. It actually worked out well.

Anyway, hopefully something in here (well up there) answered the question.

Regards

rustin myers · May 2012

I am a Sunday school teacher of older adults. I use E-sword and MS Word. I like to set my lessons up in an outline form. Something that I can't figure out for the life of me is why outlines after awhile in MS Word 2007 just start acting crazy. I mean the formatting just goes to pieces. I just ruin it for me when I have a lesson half way done and then it starts indenting itself where it shouldn't or not maintaining the number structure. This has happened across several version s and computers. It's just a mystery I would like to solve.

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :) · May 2012

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/364708#Comment_364708

rustin myers said:

I am a Sunday school teacher of older adults. I use E-sword and MS Word. I like to set my lessons up in an outline form. Something that I can't figure out for the life of me is why outlines after awhile in MS Word 2007 just start acting crazy. I mean the formatting just goes to pieces. I just ruin it for me when I have a lesson half way done and then it starts indenting itself where it shouldn't or not maintaining the number structure. This has happened across several version s and computers. It's just a mystery I would like to solve.

Welcome to the Logos Bible Software forums [:D]

Apologies: personally use Logos 4 on Mac and Windows along with some Libronix 3 use on Windows (Logos 4 predecessor). For a digital library, Logos has many thousands more resources than E-sword. My favorite Logos 4 feature is visual filter highlighting using Logos Greek Morphology; wiki Extended Tips for Visual Filters has => Examples of visual filters that includes a screen shot with five Logos Greek Morphology visual filters and corresponding highlighting palette, which are usable in Greek and English resources with appropriate tagging.

Microsoft has an Office blog for Word => http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-word/ that includes a variety of articles:

Getting control of your numbering => http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-word/archive/2006/11/08/getting-control-of-your-numbering.aspx

Show Style area pane in Word 2010 => http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-word/archive/2010/08/09/show-me-the-style-area-pane-in-word-2010.aspx

Smart Art graphics => http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-word/archive/2011/08/10/which-smartart-graphic-should-i-use.aspx

Field Codes => http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-word/archive/2010/12/03/field-codes-not-just-for-geeks.aspx

Understanding DOCX, part 1 => http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-word/archive/2010/09/29/understanding-the-docx-file-format.aspx

Understanding DOCX, part 2 => http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-word/archive/2010/10/12/understanding-the-docx-file-format-part-2.aspx

Table of Contents (levels and formatting) => http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-word/archive/2010/07/14/word-of-the-week-toc-changing-levels-and-formatting.aspx

Keep Smiling [:)]

Gary O'Neal · May 2012

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/364708#Comment_364708

rustin myers said:
Something that I can't figure out for the life of me is why outlines after awhile in MS Word 2007 just start acting crazy. I mean the formatting just goes to pieces.

Hey, rustin. Welcome to the forums. I don't know how much help you'll get with MS Word on this forum, but there are some sharp people hanging around who might point you in the right direction. For my MS Word questions, I always try this site first -- http://word.mvps.org -- It has loads of extremely useful help from MS MVPs. Here's the link to a page on outlines -- http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Numbering/NumberingExplained/TypesOfNumbering/OutlineNumbering.htm

Logos is a great Bible study tool with a ton of resources for every level of student. Do you use it? I was a diehard E-Sword user until I started seeing all the resources available in Logos.

mab · May 2012

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/364708#Comment_364708

rustin myers said:

I am a Sunday school teacher of older adults. I use E-sword and MS Word. I like to set my lessons up in an outline form. Something that I can't figure out for the life of me is why outlines after awhile in MS Word 2007 just start acting crazy. I mean the formatting just goes to pieces. I just ruin it for me when I have a lesson half way done and then it starts indenting itself where it shouldn't or not maintaining the number structure. This has happened across several version s and computers. It's just a mystery I would like to solve.

Welcome to the forums. I use Word just a little lately, but my experience with format issues is that there is some unclosed format command in the document. On word processing programs, you need to have it show the actual formatting behind the text. On my copy of Word there's a "reveal formatting" command under View. Once you find the command behind the text, you can locate where something has gone amiss.

Brother Mark · May 2012

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/364729#Comment_364729

" rel="nofollow">Keep Smiling 4 Jesus said:
Getting control of your numbering => http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-word/archive/2006/11/08/getting-control-of-your-numbering.aspx

DECADES of experience with MS Office
About 30 years in IT management including teaching this suite (I humbly apologize to all of my former students)
An IQ indicating that I should be fairly bright and capable of learning
Until today, I didn't have a clue how to conquer automatic numbering when it (with a mind and will of its own) refused to number lists as I intended or as expected.

Great link KS4J! Thanks!!

Writing Sermons Survey

Comments

Categories