Mastering Lower Thirds for Church Presentations
Summary
### Summary
Good morning, everyone! It's great to be back with you after a wonderful conference and some quality family time. I hope you all had a good weekend as well. Today, we're diving into some practical aspects of sermon preparation, specifically focusing on how to build lower thirds from scratch for your church's visual presentations.
First, let's talk about the importance of templates. Last week, we discussed how templates can save you a significant amount of time. If you have a template ready, you can quickly and easily change things around, which is especially useful if you're a volunteer. Templates allow you to focus on the creative aspects without getting bogged down by repetitive tasks. For instance, I use templates to build out lower thirds, which helps me serve my church more efficiently. [01:01:24]
Now, let's get into the nitty-gritty of building lower thirds. When starting a new series, I create a new theme in ProPresenter. This involves setting up various elements like scripture layouts, sermon notes, and quotes. The goal is to have everything ready so that you can quickly pull in the content you need. For example, I built a theme for our Daniel series, "Out of the Lion's Den," which includes lower thirds for scripture and sermon points. [18:04]
Once the theme is set, I move on to the actual content. I start by importing the scripture for the week. For instance, if we're covering Daniel chapter one, I import all 21 verses into the presentation. This allows me to format the text and ensure it fits well within the lower third layout. I also make sure to adjust the text size and alignment to avoid any overflow issues. [35:22]
Next, I focus on the sermon points. I create slides for each point and format them to match the overall theme. For example, in our Daniel series, the first point might be "Daniel's resolve not to defile himself." I copy this text into the lower third template and adjust the formatting to ensure it looks consistent with the rest of the presentation. This process is repeated for all sermon points, making sure each slide is visually cohesive. [39:45]
Finally, I add any additional elements like quotes or special notes. These are formatted similarly to the sermon points but may require slight adjustments to fit within the lower third layout. Once everything is set, I review the entire presentation to ensure there are no errors or inconsistencies. This final review is crucial as it allows me to make any last-minute adjustments before the actual service. [50:26]
### Key Takeaways
1. The Power of Templates: Utilizing templates can save you a significant amount of time and effort. Templates allow you to focus on the creative aspects of your work without getting bogged down by repetitive tasks. This is especially useful for volunteers who may have limited time to dedicate to church activities. [01:01:24]
2. Setting Up Themes: When starting a new series, it's essential to create a new theme in ProPresenter. This involves setting up various elements like scripture layouts, sermon notes, and quotes. Having a well-organized theme allows you to quickly pull in the content you need, making the preparation process more efficient. [18:04]
3. Importing and Formatting Scripture: Importing scripture into your presentation is a crucial step. Ensure that the text fits well within the lower third layout by adjusting the size and alignment. This helps avoid any overflow issues and ensures that the scripture is easily readable for the congregation. [35:22]
4. Creating Consistent Sermon Points: Consistency is key when creating sermon points. Each point should be formatted to match the overall theme, ensuring a cohesive look throughout the presentation. This not only makes the presentation visually appealing but also helps the congregation follow along more easily. [39:45]
5. Final Review and Adjustments: A final review of the entire presentation is crucial. This allows you to catch any errors or inconsistencies and make last-minute adjustments. A thorough review ensures that your presentation is polished and ready for the service, providing a seamless experience for the congregation. [50:26]
### YouTube Chapters
1. [0:00] - Welcome
2. [11:10] - Family Time and Conference Recap
3. [13:38] - Importance of Templates
4. [14:19] - Today's Focus: Lower Thirds
5. [15:22] - Building Themes from Scratch
6. [16:11] - Community and Support
7. [17:15] - Daniel Series Introduction
8. [18:04] - Setting Up Themes
9. [19:15] - Importing Scripture
10. [20:39] - Lower Thirds for Broadcast
11. [22:02] - Using Pre-made Lower Thirds
12. [23:22] - Formatting Text Boxes
13. [24:42] - Adjusting Text for Readability
14. [26:05] - Choosing Fonts
15. [27:51] - Creating Custom Lower Thirds
16. [29:23] - Text Box Size Considerations
17. [30:41] - Building Sermon Points
18. [32:18] - Creating a New Presentation
19. [33:54] - Importing and Formatting Scripture
20. [35:22] - Copying Scripture to Presentation
21. [36:55] - Editing Imported Text
22. [37:50] - Adding Sermon Titles
23. [39:45] - Formatting Sermon Points
24. [41:09] - Ensuring Consistency
25. [43:03] - Building Out Sermon Points
26. [45:25] - Customizing Lower Thirds
27. [46:21] - Copying and Pasting Slides
28. [47:23] - Color and Gradient Options
29. [48:25] - Using Media for Backgrounds
30. [49:05] - Adjusting Image Opacity
31. [50:26] - Final Review and Adjustments
32. [51:31] - Image Size Considerations
33. [52:42] - Centering Text Boxes
34. [53:28] - Using Worship Backgrounds
35. [54:45] - Customizing Text and Images
Study Guide
### Bible Reading
- Daniel 1:1-21
### Observation Questions
1. What are the key elements that need to be set up when creating a new theme in ProPresenter for a sermon series? ([18:04])
2. How does the speaker suggest handling the formatting of scripture to avoid overflow issues in the lower third layout? ([35:22])
3. What is the importance of consistency when creating sermon points, according to the speaker? ([39:45])
4. Why is a final review of the entire presentation crucial before the actual service? ([50:26])
### Interpretation Questions
1. Why might templates be particularly useful for volunteers who have limited time to dedicate to church activities? ([01:01:24])
2. How does setting up a well-organized theme in ProPresenter make the preparation process more efficient? ([18:04])
3. What are the potential consequences of not properly formatting scripture in the lower third layout? ([35:22])
4. How does ensuring consistency in sermon points help the congregation follow along more easily? ([39:45])
### Application Questions
1. Have you ever used templates in your work or volunteer activities? How did they impact your efficiency and creativity? ([01:01:24])
2. When starting a new project, how do you ensure that all necessary elements are organized and ready for use? Can you apply this method to your spiritual or church-related activities? ([18:04])
3. Think about a time when you had to present information to a group. How did you ensure that your content was clear and easy to follow? How can you apply these principles to your involvement in church presentations? ([35:22])
4. Reflect on a recent project or task you completed. Did you conduct a final review before considering it finished? How did this review impact the final outcome? ([50:26])
5. In what ways can you contribute to making church presentations more engaging and visually appealing? Are there specific skills or tools you need to learn to improve in this area? ([39:45])
6. How can you support your church's media team in creating effective and consistent visual presentations? Are there specific tasks you can volunteer for or skills you can offer? ([16:11])
7. Consider the importance of community and support mentioned in the sermon. How can you foster a sense of community within your church's media or volunteer teams? ([16:11])
Devotional
Day 1: The Power of Templates
Templates are invaluable tools that can save you a significant amount of time and effort. By using templates, you can focus on the creative aspects of your work without getting bogged down by repetitive tasks. This is especially useful for volunteers who may have limited time to dedicate to church activities. Templates allow you to quickly and easily change things around, making the preparation process more efficient and less stressful. For instance, having a template ready for lower thirds in your church's visual presentations can streamline the entire process, allowing you to serve your church more effectively. [01:01:24]
"Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established." — Proverbs 16:3 (ESV)
Reflection: Think about a task or project you are currently working on. How can you create a template or system to make this task more efficient and less time-consuming?
Day 2: Setting Up Themes
When starting a new series, it's essential to create a new theme in ProPresenter. This involves setting up various elements like scripture layouts, sermon notes, and quotes. Having a well-organized theme allows you to quickly pull in the content you need, making the preparation process more efficient. For example, creating a theme for a series like "Out of the Lion's Den" can help you have all the necessary elements ready, so you can focus on delivering the message rather than getting caught up in the technical details. [18:04]
"Let all things be done decently and in order." — 1 Corinthians 14:40 (ESV)
Reflection: Consider a new project or series you are planning. How can you set up a theme or structure in advance to ensure everything runs smoothly and efficiently?
Day 3: Importing and Formatting Scripture
Importing scripture into your presentation is a crucial step. Ensure that the text fits well within the lower third layout by adjusting the size and alignment. This helps avoid any overflow issues and ensures that the scripture is easily readable for the congregation. Proper formatting of scripture not only makes the presentation visually appealing but also helps the congregation engage more deeply with the Word of God. [35:22]
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." — Psalm 119:105 (ESV)
Reflection: Think about the last time you read scripture. How can you present or share it in a way that makes it more engaging and accessible to others?
Day 4: Creating Consistent Sermon Points
Consistency is key when creating sermon points. Each point should be formatted to match the overall theme, ensuring a cohesive look throughout the presentation. This not only makes the presentation visually appealing but also helps the congregation follow along more easily. For example, in a series on Daniel, each sermon point should be formatted similarly to maintain a consistent and professional appearance. [39:45]
"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men." — Colossians 3:23 (ESV)
Reflection: Reflect on a recent project or presentation you worked on. How can you ensure consistency in your work to make it more effective and engaging?
Day 5: Final Review and Adjustments
A final review of the entire presentation is crucial. This allows you to catch any errors or inconsistencies and make last-minute adjustments. A thorough review ensures that your presentation is polished and ready for the service, providing a seamless experience for the congregation. Taking the time to review and adjust can make a significant difference in the quality and impact of your work. [50:26]
"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves." — 2 Corinthians 13:5a (ESV)
Reflection: Before your next task or project, take a moment to review your work. What adjustments can you make to ensure it is the best it can be?
Quotes
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "I struggle with turning my brain off. And I have to force myself to be like, no, I need to worship here. I'm not working. I'm not on call. Like, just don't be worried about it. You're there." [13:38]
2. "We'd love to support you. So I would love to get to a spot where if there's things that your church needs help with, your kids ministry needs help with, your student ministry needs help with. We'd love to be a resource. Maybe figuring that out in this forum, in this setting." [16:11]
3. "We'd love to make this a community where we help come alongside you and serve you on Monday mornings after the weekend. So we can kind of help diagnose issues or help be a part of a community here. So the goal here is to build a community of serving your proper center team and helping you use the software to the fullest." [16:11]
4. "We'd love to be a resource and a help to serve you and your church as you're on this journey. For sure. And, yeah, that's about it. That's about it." [01:04:47]
### Quotes for Members
1. "If you have templates built up you can quickly and easily change things around so use that you know if you're in a church and you're doing this I'm at this church I'm at you know I am compensated with the church I I'm actually at Pittsburgh I'm a volunteer and I use templates to save me time and I know how to use them effectively and as a volunteer that's huge." [01:01:24]
2. "So what I like to do is to start with a series is I'm going to go into my themes and I'm going to create a new theme. I'm going to title this Daniel out and there's specific characters you can't use. Can't use like colons. So I'm going to use a dash. So the theme of the theme button at the top and then there's a plus button here and I'm going to add a new theme by doing that." [18:04]
3. "So I'm going to reformat this with not breaking on a new verse. And you'll notice it puts more text on each slide. But then it does some weird stuff, depending on how you laid it out. You see his God is kind of showing up. That probably should be on the previous slide." [36:55]
4. "So I'm going to go here to the theme I'm going to go to this Daniel theme select scripture and I'm going to look at the settings I have so I'm I'm going to break on a new verse every single time I'm going to show the verse references on each slide and I'm going to I'm going to choose not to preserve font color because this is old testament so it shouldn't be a need to have red there I can choose to have the translation displayed I'll go ahead and do that and I'm not going to have the verse numbers displayed because I'm only because I'm breaking it on a new verse every single time and I'm going to import into the sermon library and that will that'll be the options that I want set." [33:54]
5. "So I'm going to go to the Bible app I have the Christians I have the NIV version loaded that I'm going to use I'm going to type Daniel one before I hit enter though I'm going to come over to the options tab I'm going to select the theme so I'm going to go here to the theme I'm going to go to this Daniel theme select scripture and I'm going to look at the settings I have so I'm I'm going to break on a new verse every single time I'm going to show the verse references on each slide and I'm going to I'm going to choose not to preserve font color because this is old testament so it shouldn't be a need to have red there I can choose to have the translation displayed I'll go ahead and do that and I'm not going to have the verse numbers displayed because I'm only because I'm breaking it on a new verse every single time and I'm going to import into the sermon library and that will that'll be the options that I want set." [33:54]
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