If you search for AI sermon feedback, you will find more than one kind of tool. Some listen to how a sermon was delivered and flag filler words, pace, or vocal habits. That can be useful. It answers a real question: how did this sound in the room?
Other tools will help you write the sermon, or write it for you. That is a different task altogether.
Neither of those is the question most pastors are actually asking when the manuscript is done and Sunday is coming. The question is: does this sermon do what a faithful sermon has to do? Did I say what the text actually says? Is there one thing a person in the room will remember by midweek? Does the application reach real people, or does it stay a lecture about the passage?
Good AI sermon feedback should measure the sermon you already wrote. It should not write a new one. And it should hold every sermon to the same standard, not invent a new set of questions each time you paste the text into a chatbot.
What a faithful sermon has to get right
The standard behind The Sermon Coach is called The Sermon Coach Expositional Framework. It is eleven criteria, in four areas, drawn from the expository preaching tradition — from teachers like Bryan Chapell, Haddon Robinson, Tim Keller, John Piper, the Simeon Trust, and 9Marks. None of them has endorsed this tool, and none of them is affiliated with it. Their published work shaped the questions. The criteria, the weighting, and the arrangement are The Sermon Coach's own synthesis.
You can read every criterion, and what the scores mean, on the How It's Scored page. Here is what the four areas are asking.
Text and theology. Does the sermon say what the text actually says, honoring the passage's genre, context, and grammar rather than using a verse as a launchpad? Does it land in the gospel, or stop at good advice? Would a non-Christian in the room know what the good news is?
Structure and craft. Does the sermon name the human pain, sin, or suffering the text speaks to? Is there one main thing, and will anyone remember it by midweek? Does it preach the hard parts, or skip past them?
Application and audience. Does this reach the real people in the room, or stay a lecture about the text? Does the sermon shape a clear emotional arc? Does it aim at specific kinds of people and real situations?
Ecclesial and spiritual. Does this build up the church as the people of God under the Word? Has the preacher been moved to worship by what he is preaching?
Three of those criteria carry double weight in the overall score: the fallen condition, gospel clarity, and application. A sermon can handle the text respectably and still miss the point if those three are weak.
A clear big idea is not a slogan
One of the eleven questions is almost always worth asking first: is there one main thing, and will anyone remember it by midweek? That is Haddon Robinson's big idea. A sharpened sentence is clear, concise, and memorable — usually about eight to fifteen words — and every part of the sermon should serve it.
If you want to test that sentence before you finish the manuscript, The Big Idea Test will read your passage and your one-sentence idea in about thirty seconds. No account is needed. A strong sentence is one to keep. If it needs work, you will see the one thing to strengthen and an alternative version of your own sentence.
Feedback should coach, not just grade
A number without a next step is only a grade. Useful feedback tells you what the sermon did well, where it can grow, and what to work on next. In The Sermon Coach, each of the eleven criteria is scored 1 to 5, with a note that quotes the line that earned it. You also get your top three priorities, each with a practical step, and an overall band: Exemplary, Strong, Faithful, Needs Improvement, or Significant Concerns.
A 3 is not a failing mark. Most faithful weekly preaching lands at 3 on several criteria, and a sermon built of 3s and 4s is doing the work. The point is not a perfect score. It is making your next sermon better than the last.
The evaluation reads the page. It has never met your people, and it cannot hear how the sermon sounded in the room. That is a real limit, and it is why delivery tools still have a place. Read the notes before the number.
What you can do today
Your first evaluation is free. No card, no commitment. Upload a manuscript as a .docx, .pdf, .txt, or .md file, paste the text, or add a YouTube link. Within minutes you will get a score against the eleven criteria and coaching on what to work on next.
The Sermon Coach will not write your sermon, even if you ask. You preach. It reads what you already wrote.
If it is useful and you are in the pulpit most weeks, Coach is $29 a month, or $290 a year (about $24.17 a month, two months free). If you only step in a few times a year, credit packs are 2 for $29 or 6 for $69, valid 18 months.
I built this because somewhere after seminary, the honest feedback on my own preaching dried up, and I wanted it back. I run my own sermons through it. If it helps you preach a clearer word this week, that is the whole point.
Dr. Chris Daukas, PhD in organizational leadership
The Sermon Coach
FAQ
What should AI sermon feedback actually measure?
Whether the sermon you already wrote is faithful to the text, carries one clear big idea, is structured so people can follow it, and applies the passage to real people in the room. Delivery habits and filler words can matter, but they are a different question.
Does The Sermon Coach write sermons?
No. It never writes your sermon, and it does not study the passage for you. It reads the sermon you already wrote, scores it against eleven preaching criteria, and tells you what to work on next.
Is the first evaluation really free?
Yes. Your first evaluation is free when you create an account. No card, no commitment. Start at sermoncoach.com/start.
How is this different from pasting a sermon into a chatbot?
A general chatbot answers whatever you ask, and the framework can change from one prompt to the next. The Sermon Coach applies the same eleven criteria to every sermon. Each note is anchored to a line from your manuscript, and it will not write the sermon, even if you ask. The full standard is on How It's Scored.