Please read these Terms of Use ("Terms") carefully before using Sermon Tools at https://sermon.donbarger.com (the "Service"), operated by the IMB Innovation Team ("we," "us," or "our"). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms.
1. Acceptance of Terms
By using the Service, you confirm that you are at least 13 years of age and that you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please discontinue use immediately.
2. Description of Service
Sermon Tools provides AI-assisted study aids for sermon preparation — passage research, a collaborative drafting workbench, sermon evaluation, and verbatim Scripture lookup. It is intended for ministry, educational, and informational purposes only. It is a workshop that assists the preacher; it is not a substitute for the pastor's own prayerful study, pastoral counsel, biblical scholarship, or professional advice. You remain solely responsible for any sermon you preach or publish.
3. Accounts and Sign-In
The Service requires you to sign in with a Google account. You are responsible for activity that occurs under your account and for keeping your credentials secure. We may suspend or block accounts that violate these Terms.
4. Permitted Use and Prohibited Conduct
You may use the Service for personal, non-commercial, ministry-related purposes consistent with its intended function. You agree not to:
- Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law or regulation;
- Submit content that is abusive, harassing, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise objectionable;
- Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, scrape, or otherwise extract the Service's source code, underlying models, prompts, or data;
- Use automated means (bots, scrapers, crawlers, or similar) to access or harvest any part of the Service without our prior written permission;
- Access, or attempt to access, any portion of the Service, any account, data, or administrative feature that is not explicitly permitted to you, or probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service or circumvent any security or authentication measure;
- Introduce viruses, malware, or any other harmful code into the Service;
- Impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with any organization.
5. AI-Generated Content Disclaimer
The Service uses large language models to generate research, drafts, evaluations, and suggestions. AI-generated content may be inaccurate, incomplete, biased, or outdated. You are solely responsible for reviewing and evaluating any AI output before relying on or preaching it. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, doctrinal soundness, or fitness for any particular purpose of any AI output. Always verify theological and doctrinal claims against Scripture and trusted sources.
6. Scripture Text and Translations
Where available, the Service displays verbatim Scripture text retrieved from third-party Bible-text providers. Copyrighted translations remain the property of their respective publishers and are provided for your personal study and sermon-preparation use, subject to those publishers' terms. The Service is operated on a non-commercial basis.
7. Your Content
Research, sermon drafts, and other content you create or save remain yours. By using the Service, you grant us the limited right to store and process that content solely to operate the Service for you. Designated administrators may access account usage information and saved content for the purpose of operating, supporting, and securing the Service.
8. Intellectual Property
All content, design, trademarks, and technology comprising the Service (other than your content and third-party Scripture text) are the property of the IMB Innovation Team or its licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right or license beyond the limited right to use the Service as described herein.
9. Third-Party Services
The Service relies on third parties, each governed by their own terms and privacy policies — including Google (sign-in), OpenRouter and the AI model providers it routes to, and Bible-text and study providers (e.g., the ESV API, API.Bible, the Biblia API, the NLT API, and the Study Bible reference service). We do not control these third parties and are not responsible for their content, policies, or practices.
10. Disclaimers
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR ACCURACY. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE.
11. Limitation of Liability
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE IMB INNOVATION TEAM SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
12. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the IMB Innovation Team and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, liabilities, costs, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your use of the Service or your violation of these Terms.
13. Modifications to the Terms
We may update these Terms at any time. The "Last updated" date above reflects when changes were last made. Continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.
14. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of applicable courts.
15. Contact Us
If you have questions about these Terms, you may contact the IMB Innovation Team through the IMB website.