The case for using AI for sermons begins all the way back at the heart of God. I’ll always remember a quote I read by Bob Pierce, who helped start World Vision. He said, “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” The good news is this: we know what breaks the heart of God. We’ve witnessed His heart through His Son, Jesus. 

God’s heart for the lost, broken, and disconnected

Jesus spent time with the sick, with sinners, and the outcasts, too. Religious leaders thought this was despicable and wanted him to stop. But Jesus replied, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

On another occasion, a group of lowlifes and troublemakers were eating with Jesus and He noticed the religious leaders standing back, despising Him in their hearts for what was happening. Knowing their thoughts, Jesus told a story about a shepherd in charge of 99 sheep who lost one. 

In fact, let’s bring this story into today. Think of a dog walker out walking 10 dogs. Imagine what would happen if they lost one! Would they say, “Oh well, I’ll just keep going and return the other nine to their owners?” No way! They’d stop right there and do everything possible to find the lost dog. 

Then Jesus finished His story about the sheep by saying, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

This message is straight from God’s heart for all those who feel broken, lost, and disconnected from their heavenly Father. The truth is, other people play an essential role in how God connects with us.  

The role of man in helping God

For some reason, God believes we humans are capable of a lot. For one thing, we are His image-bearers in this world. But more importantly, we have been given a job to do by Jesus. Before He went up to heaven, Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” 

As believers, our job is to go out into the world and help new people become followers of Christ—just like Jesus did while here on the Earth. 

Soon after Jesus was taken up into heaven, small groups of Christ followers—Christians— began to meet together to fulfill the job Jesus gave them to do. These small communities were called churches. Regardless of the religious denomination, believers of Jesus Christ are to act as God’s hands, feet, and heart in this world today. Our job is to do whatever it takes to help people come to know and understand God’s love for them. 

Whatever it takes to share the gospel

Missionary CT Studd once said:

Some want to live within the sound
Of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop,
Within a yard of hell.

That sounds a lot like Jesus, doesn’t it? We see this reinforced time and time again in the New Testament. Jesus did whatever He could to connect with people and help those who felt far from God. So must we as His followers.

When the apostle Paul was preaching and planting churches, he did something really interesting in the city of Athens. As he was sharing about Jesus, he noticed an object of worship dedicated to “An Unknown God.” Paul used that very object—a temple built to honor a nameless pagan idol—to explain the truth of God’s love. 

In fact, Paul was known to use whatever tools he had at his disposal to share Jesus. He later explained his motivations in a letter to the church in Corinth. He wrote, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” To the apostle Paul, the job of sharing God’s love with a broken world wasn’t a pastime or a hobby; it was a serious mission. And he was determined to use every means available to accomplish it. 

As Christians today, we share the same calling as Paul. Maybe we’re not all ordained to plant churches, but we are all called to share Jesus with our neighbors. And like Paul, we need to use every tool we have available to help us work toward that goal. 

Artificial Intelligence is a wonderful new tool for sermon inspiration

If my house was on fire and I could use a bucket filled with water or a powerful hose to quench the growing flames, you can easily guess which one I’d choose. When it counts, we want to use the very best tools we can find to get the job done. 

Writing a sermon is one of the most important tasks a pastor does during the week. It typically takes serious time, thought, and prayer. At times, the process may feel like putting out the fire to a burning house with one bucket of water at a time. This is where artificial intelligence is changing the game in sermon preparation. It’s like hooking up a powerful fire hose, and blasting the burning building with water—it’ll help you get the job done exponentially faster. 

Pastors can lean into this resource and learn how to use AI to support their sermon-writing process. AI tools like SermonSpark can help you brainstorm sermon titles, create potential outlines, find stories, identify Bible quotes, and even suggest ideas on how to discuss difficult topics. It is just the tool pastors need right now to help them save time and start writing better sermons immediately. 

Key Info About Using AI for Sermons

Pastors need articles that help them better utilize the amazing new tool of AI. Instead of catastrophizing AI with worst-case scenarios and instilling fear, there’s a tremendous need for articles that examine all the wonderful things AI can do now to help pastors with their ministry. Church leaders need to see more articles positioning AI as a powerful new opportunity to help them reach more people with the Good News of God’s love.  

Christian leaders need others who are willing to invest in research on this blossoming technology, finding new and better ways to connect with people. The good news is that more and more organizations are investing in AI. Gloo, for example, is investing heavily in helping Christian organizations better utilize AI. They’ve developed a survey to assess how church leaders feel about AI, and are establishing groups to discuss AI topics like ethics. They’ve also invited the brightest minds to a hackathon devoted to AI development. Overall, Gloo is investing $25 million into helping the church develop AI technology.    

AI for Churches Resources

Missional Marketing has created an entire division devoted to furthering the understanding, development, and application of artificial intelligence for churches. We’ve started a podcast, newsletter, Facebook group, and blog, and offer consulting services devoted to helping church leaders better understand AI. We’ve also launched the beta version of our AI sermon inspiration app called SermonSpark.  

These are great approaches, but more are clearly needed. We must do everything we can to help church leaders see the amazing potential found in artificial intelligence. The Age of AI is upon us, and it’s time to learn, grow, and help churches take their message to the next level.