Have you ever considered why a church website should be added into your annual budget? Or better yet, have you ever considered what the Bible has to say about your church having a website? Obviously, the Bible does not directly reference the Internet, but the following verse does have a direct application:
Romans 10:14 says, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”
The Apostle Paul is clear that people are only able to believe if they have heard the gospel preached to them. For most churches, the easiest way for people to hear has been to bring them to the preacher at the local church. But if you build a church website, you can bring the preacher to people.
Simply put, podcasting your sermons is by far the best reason to build a church website.
Giving people an access point to your preaching on the Internet is an invaluable tool in our online culture. Most people no longer go to the corner store or the local shopping mall to find out what is for sale. They go online to find coupons and many people do most of their shopping on the Internet. Instead of calling someone or visiting their home, most people will just post a note on Facebook. In the same way, most people will not walk through the doors of your church until they have first looked at your website.
But just having a website is not enough. One of our online partners has done some considerable research and they have found that the majority of people that visit church websites are primarily looking for sermons. They want to “hear” the preaching and “listen” online. It is very interesting that Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” So it is helpful to ask the question, what are they hearing online from your church?
We encourage you to give them something to listen to by publishing your sermons on the Internet. At Church Plant Media we have developed a very simple, online sermon delivery system for your church. With our sermon pages your online visitors are able to sort your sermons by month, category, speaker, and series, so all of your sermons will be easy to find. Church Plant Media also hooks your sermons up to the iTunes store to give you additional exposure.
Podcasting is easier than you think and we would be happy to show you how. To learn more, please visit our website and click the Tour link to watch our online demos. Call us anytime at (800) 409-6631 ext. 1, and we will be happy to share how our system will serve your church’s website needs.