Valuetainment - “The AI Sermon Revolution” - Pastors Struggle With Where to Draw the Line

00:00:00.000 pastors are using AI to help write sermons, grapple with where to draw the line.

00:00:08.080 And you know who wrote this story?

00:00:09.660 Wall Street Journal.

00:00:10.900 I would have never guessed Wall Street Journal would write the story,

00:00:14.740 but let me read it to you.

00:00:16.060 Half of all pastors say they use AI for brainstorming or idea generation

00:00:20.620 and roughly a quarter use to help write sermons, up from 12% in 2024,

00:00:25.600 According to Barna Group, the trend has drawn theological pushback to the Vatican earlier this year.

00:00:32.840 Pope Leo warned clergy that artificial intelligence can't give a true amelie.

00:00:39.380 Daryl Stetler, lead pastor of Bible Methodist Church in Oklahoma City,

00:00:44.300 is among Chad GPT's top 1% users and runs a Facebook group of 500 pastors experimenting with technology.

00:00:50.960 He makes $600 a week plus a housing stipend and takes construction jobs on the side.

00:00:57.060 A sermon used to take him 10 to 15 hours to prepare.

00:01:00.480 A chatbot does it now.

00:01:01.940 First batch research, shaves off several hours.

00:01:04.740 This AI does not enjoy what it finds, he said.

00:01:07.380 It cannot love it.

00:01:08.420 The time he saves goes towards people, the hospital visits.

00:01:12.060 Tom, what do you think about pastors using chat GPT for their sermons?

00:01:15.160 Does it bother you?

00:01:16.380 It doesn't bother me if they're using it just to pull research together.

00:01:19.240 But, you know, what's the interesting thing about the pastorate is being able to bring it to the lives of people where they're living today.

00:01:27.560 In other words, Scripture doesn't change.

00:01:29.440 Christ's teaching doesn't change.

00:01:31.280 How we get saved doesn't change.

00:01:33.080 But the things that we're fighting as parents, like our kids, you know, making decisions and feeling insecure because social media, that's a new thing.

00:01:40.700 and bringing messages to people where they live today in the new context of life as we see it,

00:01:46.600 as it gets complicated, it doesn't bother me if they're using ChatGPT to assemble it together.

00:01:51.760 It's not like he's going to say, hey, I'd like to mix it up a little bit on the story of the

00:01:56.640 exodus from Egypt. Should the Jews make it or not? That's like, no. No, no. We made it, Tom. 0.87

00:02:03.260 Exactly. You see what I mean, Adam. It's not like you're going to take AI and say,

00:02:07.620 nope, the waters of the Red Sea close in, and all those poor Jewish people die. No, 0.84

00:02:12.560 they cross on dry land. So it's not going to change the teachings, but I hope, and what the

00:02:17.820 Pope said, it's not a true homily, meaning you're not bringing it together into the life of people,

00:02:23.440 because part of being a pastor and preaching and teaching is you preach warnings, and you teach

00:02:30.960 love and then you preach applications so what goes through here it doesn't really bother me

00:02:38.160 but i i hope it's not a shortcut to people maybe being an uninformed deliverer if someone did a

00:02:44.180 chat gbt on your sales um system that you built pat and then they had no experience in sale and

00:02:50.440 trying to make videos about it it's going to look clumsy because they're not authentic they have

00:02:54.360 nothing to draw on am i right okay it's the same thing for a pastor if that's happening then that

00:02:59.580 that that would really bother me but if it's somebody like dudley saying hey i'm going to

00:03:03.120 organize bring me all the verses together on love from corinthians through galatians ephesians

00:03:08.240 philippians colossians i'd like to talk about but paul preaching on love from a new testament

00:03:14.200 perspective and he can pull that together in 10 minutes and put a sermon together then i think

00:03:18.880 that's a really wonderful thing yeah vinnie what are you at with this well i i love i'm gonna go

00:03:23.940 with tom what he said ai should be used as a tool uh like if he uses a pastor to like organize notes

00:03:29.500 Or where does it say this

00:03:31.380 And it brings that up

00:03:32.580 It's like using it as a Google

00:03:34.460 Or a Bible app

00:03:37.280 But the second it starts writing the sermon

00:03:39.120 And they're just memorizing it

00:03:40.700 I'm not a fan of it 0.92

00:03:41.440 It should come from the sermon from prayer 0.98

00:03:45.040 And you're studying the word

00:03:47.120 And the Holy Spirit

00:03:48.040 What are you going to say Tom?

00:03:49.300 The Holy Spirit and Spirit inspiring you?

00:03:51.340 The way it says in the New Testament?

00:03:53.860 Yeah, not in algorithms

00:03:54.860 And who knows?

00:03:56.220 Whoever's in charge of it starts twisting this

00:03:58.760 or watering down the scripture and making it not go the way that it's really supposed to go.

00:04:03.220 So, you know, people go to church not to hear AI.

00:04:05.700 I want to hear the pastor.

00:04:06.720 I want to hear his experience, his story, and what God has placed in his heart.

00:04:10.860 That's what I want to hear.

00:04:11.560 Quick shout out to Dudley.

00:04:13.100 Dudley one day shows me every, what do you call it?

00:04:17.660 Sermon.

00:04:18.020 Sermon he's ever given.

00:04:19.140 All the notes.

00:04:19.700 And all the notes.

00:04:20.520 And Vinny, every word of every sermon he's ever given is written on a yellow pad.

00:04:26.500 boxes and boxes of the last

00:04:29.140 40 years.

00:04:31.000 It's insane. It's like the

00:04:33.020 Library of Congress. Everything he reads

00:04:34.880 from stage to pulpit, he hand-wrote it.

00:04:37.100 I love that. Everything.

00:04:39.000 He's hand-written it. So, no wonder

00:04:40.940 he's one of the greatest pastors we have in America.

00:04:44.020 You will look forward

00:04:45.000 to go hearing him speak on Sunday. If you've never

00:04:46.840 checked him out, go check him out. Some of his sermons.

00:04:49.020 Dudley Rutherford. He's phenomenal.

00:04:51.800 Adam, I'll give you the final

00:04:52.800 words on this because I know you're heavily involved.

00:04:54.700 you spend a lot of time with pastors and let's see what the what the crazy thing that you're

00:04:58.640 going to say right now to us go ahead i also speak sarcasm so i understand exactly what you're saying

00:05:04.220 pbd but what i what i think about chat gpt and ai is use it but just don't become it so the one

00:05:13.900 thing that chat gpt cannot replace whether you're a podcaster or a pastor is the ability to tell a

00:05:20.940 story and connect with people on a human level. We're getting so robotic, so technical, so much

00:05:27.720 AI out there that we don't know what's real. What I'm so happy about and encouraging about, and

00:05:33.600 thank you, PBD, for kind of helping me, is more people going to church, more people going to

00:05:39.320 synagogue, more people getting God in their life. I'm in Israel right now. I didn't think I'd be

00:05:44.080 doing a podcast from Israel minus the audio issues. And here's a funny story for you, PBD.

00:05:49.320 I'm going to tie this whole thing together.

00:05:50.800 You know, I land in Israel, and I go to this little bookstore,

00:05:54.080 and you know what book I see right there?

00:05:56.620 Dudley Rutherford's book about his trips to Israel

00:06:00.020 and what he learned walking in the footsteps of Christ.

00:06:03.920 I love that.

00:06:04.380 So I bought the book.

00:06:05.560 So I'll be reading that book from Pastor Dudley Rutherford.

00:06:09.800 How great of a story is that?

00:06:10.760 So it's full circle, coming together.

00:06:12.960 Come home to Jesus, BBD, because he loves you.

00:06:15.600 People ask us and say, hey, we'd love to come to the campus,

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00:06:23.200 dod property that oliver north did the iran contract this airport that you guys now own

00:06:27.420 yes wait a minute is that is that real yes we're doing the annual networking event

00:06:33.300 at our office june 29 6 to 8 p.m those who have co tickets i'm going to give you tour the entire

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00:06:44.620 happened since the last time you guys were here executives will get a tour from our staff and

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00:06:52.940 who buy the ceos and founders will go to the cigar lounge afterwards for networking he went

00:06:57.320 at our lounge whether you're a member or not it's going to be a great experience and some of you

00:07:01.500 guys can choose to become members afterwards but you got to go buy your tickets this is what it

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Valuetainment - July 21, 2026

“The AI Sermon Revolution” - Pastors Struggle With Where to Draw the Line

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