SermonIndex · Developer API

Bulk Downloads.

The whole dataset, in one file. Take it, keep it, serve it yourself. Nothing here needs a key and nothing here phones home.

— sermons — preachers — topics — scripture references

If you are going to read more than a few hundred records, please download rather than crawl. It is faster for you, kinder to our bandwidth, and it means your project keeps working if we are ever unreachable.

SermonIndex data

sermonindex-api.zip The entire API as static files. Unzip it, point a web server at the folder, and you have your own complete copy of everything under /v2 — sermons, preachers, topics and the scripture index.

1.4 GB

Download

sermonindex.db A SQLite database of the same material, indexed for querying: sermon, speaker, topic, sermon_topic and sermon_scripture. The natural choice for analysis, or for a site that wants to run its own joins.

166 MB

Download

sermons.json.gz Every sermon as one JSON object per line, gzipped. Streams into almost anything without loading the whole file into memory.

26.6 MB

Download

speakers.json.gz Every preacher — name, biography, portrait, sermon count and the themes he is most heard on.

266 KB

Download

topics.json.gz Every theme with its description, sermon count and the passages most often preached under it.

9.9 MB

Download

scripture-index.json.gz The verse-to-sermon map on its own: one line per scripture reference with the ids of every sermon that opens it. Small, and the quickest way to add "sermons on this verse" to an existing Bible site.

3.6 MB

Download

The Bible

Over a thousand translations, complete. We host this ourselves rather than linking elsewhere for a simple reason: SermonIndex has been running since 2002 and we intend it to still be here in a hundred years, which means not depending on anyone else's server staying up.

sermonindex-bible-api.zip The full Bible corpus as static JSON — every translation, book by book and chapter by chapter. Unzip and serve, exactly like the API above.

1.8 GB

Download

Where this comes from. The Bible corpus is built on the work of the Free Use Bible API by AO Labs, who gathered these translations and put them in the public square. We are grateful for it, and we mirror rather than replace — if you can use their service, please do. Each translation carries its own licence in available_translations.json; most are public domain or freely redistributable, but check before you republish one.

Verifying what you downloaded

Every file's exact size and SHA-256 is listed in MANIFEST.json, along with the date the bundle was built.

curl -O https://api.sermonindex.net/downloads/sermonindex.db curl -s https://api.sermonindex.net/downloads/MANIFEST.json | grep -A2 sermonindex.db shasum -a 256 sermonindex.db

Working with the SQLite copy

-- who preaches most on Romans 8? SELECT s.speaker, COUNT(*) AS n FROM sermon_scripture x JOIN sermon s ON s.id = x.sermon_id WHERE x.book_id = 'ROM' AND x.chapter = 8 GROUP BY s.speaker ORDER BY n DESC LIMIT 10; -- every sermon on a theme, with its audio SELECT s.title, s.speaker, s.mp3_url FROM sermon_topic t JOIN sermon s ON s.id = t.sermon_id WHERE t.topic_slug = 'revival';

What you may do with it

Use it. Build on it. Give it away. SermonIndex exists to get this preaching into people's hands, and a copy of the data sitting on your server serves that end as well as ours does.

One practical ask: if you are planning to mirror the audio itself — which is terabytes, not gigabytes — write to us first so we can help you do it without either of us paying for a stampede.

The sermons themselves remain the property of the men who preached them and the ministries that hold their rights. The metadata, the indexing and the transcripts are ours and we give them freely. A few individual works in the library carry their own restrictions; where that is so, it is noted on the sermon.

For Personal and Ministry Use

All materials on SermonIndex are freely available for personal edification and for the work of discipleship and evangelism. These messages may be shared with others, played in churches, homes, Bible studies, and ministry gatherings, and used in teaching and other ministry settings. Online sharing or translation into other languages may also be undertaken where it serves the purpose of personal ministry, missionary outreach, or the edification of believers, and is done in a careful and respectful manner that honors the original message.

Our desire is that these messages remain freely given and not used for commercial gain, in keeping with the words of our Lord: Freely you have received; freely give (Matthew 10:8). It brings us great joy whenever these sermons are used to encourage believers, strengthen the Church, and lead many into a deeper devotion to Jesus Christ.

Guarding Against Commercial Use

While these materials are freely available for ministry purposes, they are not intended to be bought or sold for commercial gain.

The sermons and recordings hosted on SermonIndex represent the lives and ministries of many faithful servants of God. We desire to honor both their legacy and the sacred message they preached by ensuring these materials remain freely available to all.

For this reason, we ask that the materials not be packaged, sold, or used in commercial products or profit-driven ventures. Our hope is that the messages entrusted to us will always remain freely accessible to the Body of Christ, without financial barriers.

Attribution to SermonIndex.net in some way, to safeguard these principles, is strongly encouraged.

Not sure whether your use fits? Write to us at sermonindex@gmail.com — you are always free to reach out, and we would far rather talk it through than have anyone guess. The full terms are on the copying permissions page.