Each of our sermon videos on YouTube is accompanied by a description box placed underneath the video itself. The first section of this description box is an actual description of the sermon that we use to attempt to hook as many potential viewers as possible, pique their curiosity and convince them to listen to or read the sermon.

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This hook need only be a brief 5-10 sentences, just as most of our descriptions have been (however you are welcome to write more than this!). You are also welcome to exercise creativity in the way you choose to draw a potential viewer into a sermon. This includes asking rhetorical questions, raising typical problems/questions/pain-points, posing hypothetical situations, quoting famous sayings or axioms, asserting certain truths, etc. You want to give the person reading your description every possible reason to listen to the sermon. Obviously, we do this in an honest and transparent way, meaning we do not exaggerate nor misrepresent the sermon, but we do accurately inform viewers of truths they should expect to hear within a given sermon.

Remember, we DO NOT want to summarise the sermon in a way that leaves a person feeling like they already know what will be preached and thus have no real reason to listen to the sermon itself. Any form of summarising we do should ideally leave a person feeling curious for an answer to a question, ie. they know the sermon that they are watching will give them the answer you’ve raised in your description.

NOTE

To save time, feel free to take advantage of ChatGPT to help you write a sermon description. You can use it as a starting point to draw inspiration or entire sentences from, or use it to refine a draft you already have. Note, ChatGPT’s style of writing may come across overly friendly compared to our past descriptions (pasted below for your reference), which may lead to it sounding fake. Ultimately, we are responsible for writing our sermon descriptions, not an AI, so please give some thought to how you’d like to frame a sermon.

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You are more than welcome to send a draft of your sermon description to either the Transcription Team Whatsapp chat, or to Pastor directly for feedback! Video Editors (whose responsibility description writing used to be) have done this ever since they started editing our YouTube videos.

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Example Prompts for ChatGPT

Past YouTube Sermon Descriptions

<aside> <img src="/icons/push-pin_gray.svg" alt="/icons/push-pin_gray.svg" width="40px" /> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5GKACh_O70&ab_channel=BethelBible-PresbyterianChurch

📣 The Bible says that covetousness excludes a person from the kingdom of God. Why? 🤔

Most people treat covetousness as a laughable non-issue. In the eyes of God, however, it is tantamount to idolatry. What makes this virtually invisible sin so uniquely offensive to God? How and why does it wreak havoc on the believer’s life? How can you and I overcome its subtle, twisted grip over us?

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<aside> <img src="/icons/push-pin_gray.svg" alt="/icons/push-pin_gray.svg" width="40px" /> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O6o7vMn3Do&ab_channel=BethelBible-PresbyterianChurch

📣 What is the paradox of the crucifixion? 🤔

To many, Jesus’ death on a cross looks like a failure. Why do Christians believe that His suffering somehow fits into God’s plan? How did all the evil forces against Him, culminate in Him saving us from our sins? And if this really happened, how then do you and I receive this gift of salvation? This is the message of all messages that you need to hear. It’s no coincidence that you are reading this.

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<aside> <img src="/icons/push-pin_gray.svg" alt="/icons/push-pin_gray.svg" width="40px" /> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb0j_Nhq2zQ&ab_channel=BethelBible-PresbyterianChurch

📣 Why isn’t the Bible transforming your life? 🤔

What are the barriers that can prevent a person from receiving God’s Word and hinder its transformative work? Why are they so potent?

Did you know that you have a responsibility in taking down your own barriers? Today’s sermon serves as a sort of guide to properly receiving the Word of God into your life. If you want to experience its unhindered power to change your life, just as it has changed the lives of countless men and women throughout all time, these 3 attitudes are key: submission, purity and humility.

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