Prepare and Deliver Better Sermons: Logos 10 Review
Logos. Logos. Logos.For years, you were this companion on my computer that intimidated me. Truly. Then, just when I needed you, I started using your sermon tools and understanding your features. Eventually, you proved your value at a whole new level when I wrote my final paper for grad school. The ability to quickly access ancient sources, follow academic rabbit trails, and to keep things organized: this made me a better researcher. But what about now with the release of Logos Bible Software version 10?I believe that it is THE tool for creating and delivering better sermons. If you’ve followed my journey over the years, you might recall that I spent 8 years in Seattle working with a church planting effort. During that season, which including time researching at the University of Washington (MA Comp. Relig.), I started to use Logos in an “on again, off again” way for preparing sermons. Then, a little over a year ago, our family made the “big move” to Calgary, Alberta—just over 4 hours north of western Montana. I now serve as lead pastor at a church called Brentview, located a couple of blocks from the University of Calgary. We LOVE IT here!
Logos 10 in Ministry
From week one, I knew that I wanted to start my new season of ministry with a clean way to prepare and log all of my sermons. Thus, Logos is now my sole sermon preparation and presentation space. Logos 9 was the version that I had when I started. And while I loved it, there are a several updated features in Logos 10—all of which make sermon preparation better! Allow me to share about a few of the best ones.
#1 Print Library Search Feature!
This is making the Bible-nerd internet go a bit bonkers. Rightfully so.If a book exists in the Logos system, but I own it already in print, Logos allows me to use its high-powered search features to find key terms by page number!And let’s be honest: How many of us have been doing something similar with Amazon’s “preview” search features for years? But a key difference here is that you don’t have to depend on Amazon being “nice” now and you can depend on Logos to get you to the page in the book that you need—quickly! This feature alone makes it worth the upgrade.To use this feature, you can actually use your smartphone’s camera to grab a favourite book from the shelf and san the barcode. And just like that, it lives in your Print Library—forever searchable as though you owned the Logos digital copy!Here's a bit more from Logos on utilizing the Print Library search:
#2 Quotes for Sermons
I’m not one to look for lots of quotes for sermons, but with this new feature I might be a tad more open to it. Basically, while working on a sermon you can click the “quotation marks” tab in the sermon info section. Then, type a key term and the database finds unique quotes that match up with your search term. I’ll show you a quick example of this here:
#3 Logos is Faster and Smoother
A program like Logos is “beefy” on any computer. It’s powerful which also means that there’s always been some level of lag. When I’ve used it over the years, I’d often have to wait out the ol’ “spinning wheel of death” while it loaded. No longer! On my MacBook Pro with the M1 Max chip, Logos is smooth and stays out of the way of the information I’m searching for. According to Logos, since this version has native support for Apple Silicon, the estimated increase in performance can be between 10-40% (for those who have an M1 chip, specifically). Friends. Logos is finally a FAST experience for me.
#4 Sermon Importer
This is also helpful: You can import your old sermons into Logos via a Word document (.docx). While this isn’t always going to be perfect, it is quite helpful for those who want Logos to host all of your sermons. This matters if you are looking for an old sermon illustration or want to double-check that you haven’t already told this or that story (ahem…. Yep. I’ve typed keywords in the sermon document search feature to make sure of this very thing multiple times.) It’s also convenient for those who want to be organized, generally speaking.
Final Thoughts: Other Helpful Features
I wanted to say that there’s a few other features that I appreciate when it comes to sermon preparation. Presentation Mode on my iPad is the most helpful way to present a Sermon (or lecture) that I’ve found. I never get lost in my notes on Sunday mornings. This mode also has a timer that is helpful for pacing purposes as well. Workflows are helpful for preparation. I am now doing all my preparation for sermons through a “Workflow” that I was able to edit for my particular needs. It’s creatively called, Kurt’s Sermon Workflow, and I walk through each sermon through its process. This helps me stay focused on what matters as I prepare and keeps all of my research in one place. So, in conclusion: I’m convinced that for many preacher and/or teacher types that Logos is a huge win. Logos 10 will help you create and deliver better sermons.