How to Use the Sermons and Worship Services Pages
VPC sermons and/or complete worship services are made available for your reference, as well as the bulletin worship section for those sermons/services.
- Sermons are available in printed format (PDF) for reading online or for downloading. Adobe Acrobat is required to open the PDF sermon files; this free software may be downloaded from the VPC Site Help page.
- The Sunday Bulletin (worship portion) for each service is also available in printed format (PDF) for reading online or for downloading.
- Audio of both sermons and full worship services are available in Windows Media Audio (.wma) format for listening to online or for downloading. Note that audio of full worship services is available since September 30, 2007; sermon-only audio is available back to January 1, 2006. A media player (such as Windows Media Player, QuickTime, or RealPlayer) is required to listen to the .wma audio files. Most Windows-based computers have a media player already installed. "Mac" users who do not already have the version of Windows Media Player on your system may obtain it free for Mac OS X; see the VPC Site Help page.
The worship services are listed in reverse date sequence (the latest is at the top), and grouped by sermon series. The display shows the date of the service, the pastor that delivered the sermon, the sermon title, and a "Printed Files" column with two options (Sermon and Bulletin), and an "Audio Recordings" column with two options (Sermon and Full Service).
Printed Sermons:
- To read or print a sermon online, simply left-click the word Sermon in the "Printed Files" column of the appropriate sermon line. It will open in the same browser window. Use the Adobe Reader PRINT button to print the sermon. When finished, use the browser's BACK button to return to the Sermons page.
- To download a printed sermon file (PDF), right-click the word Sermon in the "Printed Files" column of the appropriate sermon line. A dialog box will open, from which you must select the option that reads "Save Link As..." (Mozilla Firefox) or "Save Target As..." (Windows Internet Explorer and Netscape). Note that the wording of this option may vary in other internet browsers or in different versions of the browsers listed. Next you must provide a folder location where you want the PDF file to be downloaded.
Bulletin Worship Section:
- To read or print the worship section from a Sunday bulletin (PDF File), simply left-click the word Bulletin in the "Printed Files" column of the appropriate sermon line. It will open in the same browser window. Use the Adobe Reader PRINT button to print the worship bulletin. When finished, use the browser's BACK button to return to the Sermons page.
- To download the worship section from a Sunday bulletin (PDF file), right-click the word Bulletin in the "Printed Files" column of the appropriate sermon line. A dialog box will open, from which you must select the option that reads "Save Link As..." (Mozilla Firefox) or "Save Target As..." (Windows Internet Explorer and Netscape). Note that the wording of this option may vary in other internet browsers or in different versions of the browsers listed. Next you must provide a folder location where you want the PDF file to be downloaded.
Audio of Services/Sermons:
- To listen to a sermon online, left-click the word Sermon in the "Audio Recordings" column of the appropriate sermon line. Your default media player will play the .wma audio file. Be sure the speakers connected to your computer are turned on and set to a comfortable volume.
- To listen to a complete worship service, left-click the words Full Service in the "Audio Recordings" column of the appropriate sermon line. Your default media player will play the .wma audio file. Be sure the speakers connected to your computer are turned on and set to a comfortable volume. Also be sure to read the section below on File Markers.
- To download a sermon audio file, right-click the word Sermon in the "Audio Recordings" column of the appropriate sermon line. A dialog box will open in which you are to specify where the audio file is to be placed; see the instructions in the section above for downloading printed sermons (PDF files). Note that the sermon audio files are approximately 3.0 - 4.5 MB in size.
- To download a complete worship service, right-click the words Full Service in the "Audio Recordings" column of the appropriate sermon line. A dialog box will open in which you are to specify where the audio file is to be placed; see the instructions in the section above for downloading printed sermons (PDF files). Note that the audio files of complete worship services are approximately 15 - 20 MB in size.
File Markers:
- The audio files of complete worship services are approximately one hour in length. While the media player you are using allows you to fast-forward through sections of the audio, a more desirable capability is to be able to jump to the start of specific sections of the service.
- VPC sound engineers have placed "file markers" within the audio files of complete worship services. These file markers function as a table of contents, and allow the listener to jump from one section to another as required. File markers may not be supported by other than Windows Media Player.
- In Windows Media Player, after the audio file has started playing, use the player menus to select "View" and "File Markers". A list of the available file markers will then be listed. Click on any file marker to jump to that section of the worship service. Note that when a service has a Minute for Witness, there will be a file marker that reads "Minute for Witness". Also note that there could be a delay while the audio is downloaded/buffered to the point where you are jumping.
Audio recordings of recent sermons are available at the Sign-Up Table in the Narthex; a donation of $2 per audio tape or CD is requested. Also hardcopies (printed copies) of recent sermons are available in the back-center section of the narthex.
Use your Browser's BACK button, or the Menus, to return to the Sermons page.