I know what you’re thinking, but hear me out. Technology is rapidly changing our society, and has impacted the way we do sermon preparation. Let’s face it, most of us already use resources like Libronix and BibleWorks to help in the work of exegesis (thank God for them). And, unless you stole it or it was gifted to you, you likely spent a pretty penny on those resources (well worth it). Now there is a simple, free resource offered by Google that can change the way we do sermon preparation. (Did I mention it was free, as in it doesn’t cost a thing?)
Google Docs has been around for a while now, but we are just beginning to discover all the possibilities with this kind of resource. The premise is that you can do all of your work (including spreadsheets and pdf files) and save them online. You don’t even use your hard-drive space on your computer. Formatting is limited, but you can easily copy and paste the whole resource in Microsoft Word and format it to your liking, before printing it out. The good thing is that you can access that document on any computer anywhere in the world, assuming that computer has internet access, of course.
Sure your asking questions like: But why is this so great for sermon prep? Sure it saves me from carrying my laptop everywhere, but my Bible software is on that laptop, so I need it anyway?
Well, one thing Google Docs allows you to do is to share those documents with whomever you want. So, you are working on your sermon manuscript, and you want a little advice. You can share the document with Erik over at Irish Calvinist, for a little theological insight. Or you can share it with Tom over at Satsung, to see if there is enough application and exhortation in your main points. You can even send it over to one of the Pyromaniacs, to let them do their damage as well!
In other words, the sermon manuscript can become a working resource, easily accessible by men you trust for valued insight into the text. They can edit or make comments, all in Google Docs, and the document is saved to reflect those changes. Next time you access it online, you have the edited update. All without emailing and downloading to your/their personal computer.
Sounds pretty cool to me.
Heck, share your sermon with this guy, and see what he says!
(BTW, according to this article, Google is going to make it so that you no longer need personal hard drives anyway! And you spent all that money on that 500GB external…sucker!)
Soli Deo Gloria!
[UPDATE: check this video out to further explain the possibilities with Google Docs.]
Google is taking over the world!