How to Use PreachingToday.com
How do I find content that fits a particular Bible text?
- In the Search box at the top of the PreachingToday.com homepage (or most other pages on the site), type a Bible reference. The search engine does recognize standard abbreviations such as "1 Cor" for "1 Corinthians." With books such as Corinthians that use numerals, you must use the numeral (1 Corinthians) rather than the word (First Corinthians).
- Right above the Search box click on the link "Bible Ref". The word "Bible Ref." will become highlighted.
- Hit the Enter key on your keyboard, or with your mouse, click the arrow button.
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How do I find content that fits lectionary texts?
At the top of almost every page on PreachingToday.com, you'll see a "Search" box. Click on the "Lectionary" link on the far right side of the search box area. This will bring you to the lectionary texts for the current quarter. Simply click on any text listed, and you'll receive results (illustrations, outlines, and more) for that text.
Also, in the far-right column of most pages on PreachingToday.com, there's a box called "Lectionary" that lists the texts for the forthcoming Sunday. Simply click on any text listed, and you'll receive results (illustrations, outlines, and more) for that text.
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How do I find content for a certain topic?
There are two different ways to search by topic.
Option A: Search by Keyword
- Choose the type of content that you want to find by clicking on one of the colored collection tabs at the top of each page.
- Type the keyword you're looking for into the Search box found at the top of the page.
- Right above the Search box click on the link "Topic". The word "Topics" will become highlighted.
- Then hit Enter or click on the arrow button in the Search box. This searches the keywords that have been applied to the content, but not the full text of the context. This is the best way to search when your keyword or topic has more than one word.
Option B: Word Search
- Choose the type of content that you want to find by clicking one of the colored collection tabs at the top of each page.
- Type the word you're looking for into the Search box found at the top of the page.
- Right above the Search box click on the link "Word". The word "Word" will become highlighted.
- Then hit Enter or click on the arrow button in the Search box. This searches every word in the content, as well as the title, and citation. Searching by "Word," versus "Topic" or "Bible Reference," is the most extensive search you can perform because it not only searches the text, but also the title, keywords, filters, and citations.
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How do I find sermon outlines and full-text sermons?
Click on the "Sermon Builders" tab at the top of the page. This will bring you to the Sermon Builders Collection. When you are logged in to PreachingToday.com you will be able to access the entire sermon outline as well as the full-text sermon transcripts. Click on the "outlines" or "sermons" box to browse the collection.
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How do I search so I get the maximum number of results?
- Click on the colored tab of the collection you want to search in.
- At the top the page, find the Search box and type a word in the box that would most likely be unique to the content you are looking for.
- Directly above the search box, click on "Word". Hit the Enter key on your keyboard or use your mouse to click the "arrow" button. This searches every word in the text as well as the title, and citation. Searching by "Word," versus "Topic" or "Bible Reference," is the most extensive search you can perform because it not only searches the text, but also illustration title, keywords, filters, and citations.
- To expand the search wider still, type multiple related topics and synonyms in the search field, such as grace, mercy, forgiveness, salvation. (Multiple topics in a search may be separated by a comma, semicolon, period, or space. Do not use the word "and" between words.)
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How do I search so I get the minimum number of results?
- Click on the colored tab of the collection you want to search in.
- At the top of any page, find the Search box and type a topic in the box.
- Hit the Enter key on your keyboard, or with your mouse, click the "arrow" button. Your results will include any content with that topic. We assign every type of content a list of topics, visible in the summary of each piece of content.
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How can I refine my search or do an advanced search?
Apply filters to your search:
- Click on the colored tab of the collection you want to search in.
- Click the "Advanced Search" button at the bottom right corner of the Search box.
- Select one or more filters by clicking the box next to the filter. Then enter the topic, word, Bible reference or author that you want to search on.
- With your mouse, click the "arrow" button. This will display only the content that have the particular filters applied that you choose. For example an illustration search on "glory" yields more than 50 results. By applying the "Stories" filter, the number is reduced to just over 20.
Search by Bible reference:
- Click on "Bible Ref" directly above the Search box.
- Directly under "Bible Ref" type the Scripture reference in the search box. The search engine does recognize standard abbreviations such as "1 Cor" for "1 Corinthians." With books such as Corinthians that use numerals, you must use the numeral (1 Corinthians) rather than the word (First Corinthians).
- Hit the Enter key on your keyboard, or with your mouse, click the "arrow" button.
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How do I find the right topics to search each type of content?
- Click on the colored tab of the collection you want to search in.
- Click the "Browse" link located on the top right corner of the search box to see each way you can browse through the content. Click the letter that begins your topic found in the "Browse by Topic" section.
- Scan the list to find the topic you are looking for.
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How do I get only the content closest to what I really need? How do I use filters?
At times you want an illustration, sermon or cartoon that appeals to hearers with a particular interest. For example, you are speaking to young people, and you want a story from the movies or you want a story that creates positive feelings of hope, or a bit of humor to release tension.
At these times, PreachingToday.com filters can help you find just what you are looking for. There are filters seven different types of filter, Type, Audience, Source, Region, Purpose, Tone and Preacher. Here's how to apply filters to your search:
- Click on the colored tab of the collection you want to search in.
- Click on the "Advanced Search" button found in the bottom right hand corner of the search box. This will bring down a list of filters that apply to the collection that you are in.
- Suppose you are looking for an illustration for your introduction that provides a humorous beginning to your sermon. You can find only those illustrations that involve humor by clicking the box next to the "Humor" on the filters list.
- Enter your search term in the box above the filters and click the "arrow" button with your mouse.
You may choose multiple filters by clicking on more than one. This will narrow your search even further. For example, if you are searching in the Sermon Builders collection and you click the Series, Evangelism and Men filters your search results will only return series that are about evangelism and have a man as the author.
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How do I search by multiple words or phrases?
To search by multiple words:
- Enter all the words in the search box (make sure they're separated from each other by a space).
- Click "Word or Phrase" above the search box.
- Hit the "enter" key on your keyboard, or click the "arrow" button just right of the search box ().
This will search all content: text, title, topics, even citations. Note that you will get only results that have all of your words.
To search by phrases:
- Enter the phrase in the search box—surrounded by quotation marks (for example, "never give up").
- Click "Word or Phrase" above the search box.
- Hit the "enter" key on your keyboard, or click the "arrow" button just right of the search box ().
This will search all content: text, title, topics, even citations. Note that you will get only results that have all of your words—and in that exact order.
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How do I narrow my search when there are too many results to display?
Sometimes your search query uses a common word that appears in thousands of illustrations (like searching on the word "love" alone).
Here are three ways to narrow your search.
- Add topically related words to your query. Click on the links below to explore examples of narrowing a search on "love."
- Use PreachingToday.com filters to help you find just what you are looking for. There are filters seven different types of filter, Type, Audience, Source, Region, Purpose, Tone and Preacher. Here's how to apply filters to your search:
- At the top of any page, click on the colored tab to enter the collection that you want to search in.
- Click on the "Advanced Search" button found in the bottom right hand corner of the search box. This will bring down a list of filters that apply to the collection that you are in.
- Now suppose you are looking for an illustration for your introduction that provides a humorous beginning to your sermon. You can find only those illustrations that involve humor by clicking the box next to the "Humor" on the filters list.
- Enter your search term in the box above the filters and click the "arrow" button with your mouse.
You may choose multiple filters by clicking on more than one. This will narrow your search even further. For example, if you are searching in the Sermon Builders collection and you click the Series, Evangelism and Men filters your search results will only return series that are about evangelism and have a man as the author.
- Browse the topics for the type of content you are looking for.
- Click the "Browse" link found in the top right corner of the Search box.
- Scroll down the page to find "Browse by Topic".
- Click a letter to find the all the topics associated with that letter.
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I think you must have a lot of content for my topic, but I'm getting very few results. Why?
- See if we index using a different form of the word. For example, if you search on "forgiving," you will get less than 10 matches. If you search on "forgiveness," you will get more than 180 results. To check on possible forms of words, click on the "Browse" link found in the top right corner of the Search box. Then scroll down to "Search by Topic" section. Click on the first letter of your topic and then look for your keyword or one close to it.
- Check that you spelled the word correctly in the search field.
- Try synonyms and related ideas. For example, if you search on "Easter," you get a little more than 35 results. If you search on "resurrection," you get more than 60 results.
- If you search by Bible reference (including lectionary searches) and get few results, try a topic search. For example, if you search on "John 3:3," you get around 15 matches. If you search on "conversion," you get more than 100 results.
What are the different options on the top of the search box?
- "Topic," which searches only the topics (keywords) of the illustration.
- "Bible Reference," which searches the Bible References that have been assigned to the content.
- "Word," which searches the title, keywords, citation, and full text of the content. This is the most complete search available on our site.
- "Author/Speaker," which searches the Author and citation fields of the content.
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How do I copy illustrations or other content from PreachingToday.com into my sermon manuscript?
Simply highlight the text you want, copy it (in most programs, Ctrl + C), and paste it into your Word document or other file (in most programs, Ctrl + V).
Note: When copying a sermon illustration, we recommend you copy text from only the body of the illustration, since the box at the top of each illustration (containing the Topics, Filters, References, and Tone) will come into your Word document as a table.
Some members find it easier to use the Printer-friendly View, which is in the upper-right corner of each illustration, sermon, or article. Simply click on either the icon or link that looks like this:
Printer-friendly view
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What if I still have questions?
Contact Customer Care here, or call us at (877) 247-4787. Please keep in mind that our Customer Care team is in the office Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m-4:30 p.m., US Central Time.
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