How Members Get the Most From Your Church Homepage

The search bar at the top of the church page accepts almost anything you can remember about a sermon — a topic, a Scripture reference, a phrase from the preaching, the speaker's name, or a date. Title matches surface first, then pastor and tag matches, then verses, summaries, and finally transcript text.

To narrow further, separate words with commas. The search treats commas as AND, so "prayer, fasting" returns only sermons that cover both topics together rather than either one. This is a small detail that makes finding specific teaching much easier when the library grows.

Below the search bar, the Filter by topic row shows the church's tags. Click any tag to narrow the sermon list to that topic. Click the same tag again to clear the filter. Featured tags appear first, then your own favorites, then the rest alphabetically.

The right column has a Featured Topics card with the same featured tags as quick buttons. Either entry point works — the homepage tag row and the sidebar Featured Topics card are two views of the same data.

Every sermon card has a small bookmark icon. Press it to save a sermon to your personal Bookmarks list, which appears in the right column. To see only bookmarked sermons, press the bookmark filter button next to the sort controls — it temporarily narrows the main list to your saved sermons.

When you pause a sermon partway through, the next time you open the church page the right column shows a Continue Listening card with the sermon title, the time you stopped at, and a Resume button that picks up where you left off. Recently Listened underneath that lists your last few sermons in order, so you can revisit something from earlier in the week with one click.

Open the Verses tab inside any sermon card and you will see the Scripture references the AI detected: book, chapter, verse, and a short excerpt. Each reference is a link to Blue Letter Bible, opening the verse in a new tab so you can read the surrounding context, compare translations, or pull commentary.

When a timestamp is available, a small play button appears next to the reference. Pressing it jumps the audio player directly to the moment in the sermon where that verse is discussed. This is the fastest way to revisit a particular passage from a sermon you remember in general terms.

When you press play on a sermon and then leave the page or close the tab, your progress is saved automatically. The next visit re-opens the same sermon at the same point. On mobile, the OS-level audio controls (lock screen, AirPods, headphones) can play, pause, and skip backward or forward 10 seconds, the same as any podcast app.

Only one sermon plays at a time. If you press play on a second sermon, the first one pauses automatically — your progress on it is still saved, so you can return to it later from the Recently Listened list.

Some churches mark a small set of sermons as "foundational" — usually the messages new attendees should hear first. When that has been done, a Foundational sermons card appears in the right column with those sermons listed in order. Members who are new to the church can use this as a soft introduction without having to ask which sermons to start with.

If you do not see this card, your church has not flagged any sermons as foundational yet. Admins can mark sermons that way from the dashboard.