If you are already familiar with RSS feeds and/or podcasts, then you simply need to know about the following links to which you'll point your portal page, RSS reader, or podcatcher software.

RSS (Written Sermons):	http://feeds.feedburner.com/SaintLukesLutheranChurchSermons
AUDIO PODCAST:	http://feeds.feedburner.com/SaintLukesAudioSermons

If you are new to RSS, read on! If you want to skip the RSS description (for sermons in text form) and immediately learn how to subscribe to sermon podcasts (in audio form), click here.

If neither of these options appeals to you, you can sign up here for an email reminder when a sermon is posted in either written or audio form.

RSS Introduction

Although there's some debate about what RSS stands for, the consensus is that it is Really Simple Syndication. RSS was developed to allow subscribers of frequently updated web content to be notified of updates without visiting the content provider's web site. The first content providers to use RSS were news sites, which would provide the latest headlines via RSS. Users interested in the story behind a headline could click on its headline to read the full story at the content provider's site. Today, users can subscribe to RSS "feeds" providing stock quotes, weather, sports scores, music, and, yes, even newly published sermons.

To subscribe to an RSS feed, you need a customizable portal home page (like My Yahoo at my.yahoo.com) or a specific RSS reader program. The instructions and figures below will illustrate both of these options.

Portal Example: My Yahoo

Our portal example will be with My Yahoo (if you have a Yahoo email account, you already have a My Yahoo account & page—it just may not be configured yet), but other portals should be similar (although MSN wants you to choose only from their library of feed providers).

1. When logged into My Yahoo, you can add content by clicking on Add Content as shown below. Note that the image below also has circled some of the existing subscriptions: Saint Luke's Sermons, PC Magazine Radio, and some stock index quotes.

2. You then specify that you want an RSS feed by clicking as shown below. Note on this page that My Yahoo offers a large variety (at least 19 pages) of "pre-packaged" RSS feeds you can add. Feel free to subscribe to those that interest you—you can always delete them later by clicking on the X on the upper right corner of the feed's display box.

3. Enter the URL for the RSS feed (for sermons, http://feeds.feedburner.com/SaintLukesLutheranChurchSermons).
4. Click Add, then
5. Click I'm Done.

If you don't want to learn about configuring FeedReader, click here to learn what to expect from your new RSS feed.

RSS Program Example: FeedReader

A second option for reading RSS feeds is a program specifically written to subscribe to RSS feeds from your computer. A popular RSS reader program is FeedReader, with a free downloadable version available at http://www.feedreader.com. FeedReader can be started automatically when you start your computer, and it will pop up a small window on your desktop when one of your feeds has been updated. Like a portal site, FeedReader comes preloaded with a wide variety of feeds to which you can subscribe; you can browse through them and pick the ones that interest you. You can also specifically request feeds like Saint Luke's sermons by following the steps shown below.

1. Press the New button.

2. Enter the URL of the sermons feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/SaintLukesLutheranChurchSermons)
3. Click OK.

If you aren't interested in subscribing to audio sermons via podcasting, click here to learn what to expect from your new RSS feed.

Podcasting

Podcasting is a specialized form of RSS for which the updated content is a multimedia (in most cases audio) file. Although standard RSS feed readers can notify you when new podcast content is available, "podcatcher" programs can load the content and make it part of your audio or video library. The most popular podcatcher program is Apple's iTunes, which you can download from http://www.apple.com/itunes/download. The figures below show how to subscribe to a podcast using iTunes.

1. Select Advanced.

2. Select Subscribe to Podcast.

3. Type in the desired RSS Feed's URL (http://feeds.feedburner.com/SaintLukesAudioSermons)
4. Click OK.

Now that I've subscribed, what next?

When you initially subscribe, your software will load the current offerings from a feed. You may click on the given links and start reading or listening. After this initial load, the software providing your feed will connect to the content provider at regular intervals, probably daily. While the Saint Luke's webmaster makes a concerted effort to publish written and audio sermons by late Sunday afternoon at the latest, your RSS reader may not recognize the update by itself until Monday. If you aren't that patient, each of the readers we've discussed lets you request an update.

To update with My Yahoo,

1. Click on the icon on the upper right frame around the feed you want to update.

To update with FeedReader,

1. Right-click on the feed title:

2. Choose Update feed from the dropdown menu:: .

To update with iTunes,

1. Right-click on the feed title:

2. Choose Update Podcast from the dropdown menu: .

RSS Wrapup

RSS can be a great time-saving tool that lets you consolidate into one place headlines from sites that you'd otherwise spend a lot of time visiting regularly. Check out interesting feeds provided by the RSS software you're using. You have little to lose—if you don't like a feed, remove it! Look for the icon at all your favorite sites— it indicates that a site provides an RSS feed. Click on this icon, copy the given URL, and paste it into your feed reader as a new RSS feed.

Not Interested?

If neither of the above options appeals to you, you can sign up here for an email reminder when a sermon is posted in either written or audio form. Or, just visit our web site—the sermons are usually posted on Sunday afternoons.