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.
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.
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.
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.
Example Prompts for ChatGPT
- Write a few example descriptions for a Youtube Video for the following sermon transcribed below. [PASTE IN COMPLETE SERMON TRANSCRIPT BELOW].
- Learn the following style of writing for YouTube descriptions: [INSERT ANY COMBINATION OF PAST YOUTUBE DESCRIPTIONS FROM THE LIST BELOW].
- Now, write a description in the above style, with hook sentences, questions and phrases to intrigue a person to watch the following sermon transcribed below. [PASTE IN COMPLETE SERMON TRANSCRIPT BELOW].
- Turn that summary-like description into more of a pitch to hook viewers by piquing their curiosity.
Past YouTube Sermon Descriptions
Bethel Bible-Presbyterian Church Thou Shalt Not Covet (Exodus 20:17)📣 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?
Bethel Bible-Presbyterian Church The Goodness of Good Friday (Luke 23:13-25)📣 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.
Bethel Bible-Presbyterian Church Be Receptive To The Word Of God (James 1:19-21)📣 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.
Bethel Bible-Presbyterian Church Show Me Your Faith, And I Will Show You Mine (James 2:14-20)📣 What place does good works have in the Christian faith? 🤔
Salvation is by faith alone, not by works. But true faith always manifests as a transformed life in which good works are present. So, what defines a “good work”?
In this sermon, the Apostle James delineates 3 distinct signs of saving faith. Learn about how you can accurately use your works to ascertain your spiritual condition.
Bethel Bible-Presbyterian Church How To Deal With Temptation? (James 1:13-15)📣 Your own heart is betraying you. Why? How? 🤔
Today’s sermon explains SIN: Why do we sin? Where does it come from? How does it work as a process? What does it result in? What practical steps does the Bible prescribe for remedying temptation? Grasped correctly, this truth humbles and drives us to the only One who can save us from ourselves.
Bethel Bible-Presbyterian Church Wherefore Comfort One Another With These Words (1 Thess 4:13-18)📣 How do you perceive the “End Times”? 🤔
Did you know that the worsening situation in the world today has already been foretold in the Bible? What do you think or feel about the end of the world and why?
Knowing the concerns of the Thessalonian believers regarding the End Times, the Apostle Paul wrote to them words of comfort to relieve them of their fears. Discover these uniquely reassuring prophecies in today’s sermon, preached by Rev Reggor Galarpe.
Bethel Bible-Presbyterian Church The Character Of God (Exodus 22:16-20)📣 Have you ignored the OT laws? 🤔
Israel was to be a nation separated unto God, but the temptation of sin, and to sin, was far too near. In danger of being led astray by the depraved practises of the pagan nations, Israel needed guidance, and God provided. God gave His people specific laws, leaving no room for confusion about what He allows and what He despises. But how should we regard these laws today, are they as relevant to us as the New Testament’s teachings? Do the sins that the Israelites faced still tempt us today?
In giving His people such extensive laws to abide by, God reveals man’s nature - one that is prone to sinning. But what about God’s nature? How can these laws be understood to disclose His standard & character? Join us in this study of the book of Exodus, as we learn how these passages are more than just rules, but revelations.
Bethel Bible-Presbyterian Church The Power Of The Tongue (James 3:3-6)📣 Just how powerful is the human tongue? 🤔
Although the tongue is small and seemingly harmless it can cause destruction akin to arson. What regrets have you had about the words which you have spoken? What have other people said to you that has most built up your life?
Everyone says things they regret, either immediately or eventually. Sometimes these are small slips of the tongue, sometimes they’re life-altering sentences. Interestingly, the Apostle James knew this all too well.
Referring to our speech as “the tongue”, he vividly describes its seemingly limitless destructive powers to scare and warn his readers against the power of the tongue. By placing special emphasis on this facet of human life, he answers questions such as: Just how dangerous can our words be? What makes our speech uniquely deadly? What are its effects, intentional or unintentional?
Bethel Bible-Presbyterian Church The Punishment Fits The Crime — an eye for an eye (Exodus 21:18-36)📣 How can you forgive someone who has hurt you? 🤔
While it may not be the obvious lesson to draw from a group of explicit Mosaic laws, we find that one of these sentences have been wildly misinterpreted (Exodus 21:23 25). Because of this, our Lord Jesus famously addressed this error in Matthew 5:38-39 by saying, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also". Was Jesus contradicting Moses? If not, how are we to make sense of both Moses’ law as well as Jesus’ statement?
Sandwiched in the middle of this mini-series on the idea that God’s laws demand a punishment that fits each crime, driving us away from sin and evil, we find an equally glorious truth drawing us towards mercy and love. As usual, it is only by understanding both these Old and New Testament statements that we gain a fuller, richer picture of our relationship to God, and thus our relationships with each other.
Bethel Bible-Presbyterian Church The Punishment Fits The Crime — an eye for an eye (Exodus 21:18-36)📣 How can a loving God mandate death penalties in the Old Testament? 🤔
The justice system established in the Israel of the Old Testament often seems cruel and savage. Because of this, you might be wondering at the plausibility of God being truly merciful and compassionate as the Bible claims. However, as with most apparent biblical impossibilities, this question boils down to our understanding of God’s nature and purposes. Not-so-curiously, today’s judicial systems and institutions evidence marks of the same justice that God once required of His people.
This is the first sermon from a twofold series in which Ps Paul Cheng unfolds the true meaning and application of the phrase “an eye for an eye”, examining its origin and subsequently its commentary provided by our Lord Jesus in the New Testament. Watch the second sermon here for the complete picture: Bethel Bible-Presbyterian Church The Punishment Fits The Crime — an eye for an eye (Exodus 21:18-36)