The Contenders

Let’s face it, Christian radio stations, podcasts, and internet sermons are full of gems that give encouragement to the believer. But it is also filled with a bunch of garbage and unsound doctrine that could be dangerous to the mind. I wanted to do a series on good resources for Christian audio in the form of apps, podcasts, and sermon websites that can encourage you in your walk with Christ. This is obviously not an exhaustive list of Christian content, but they are a few that I found most helpful. Since these recommendations come from a wide-range of circles (and mostly from the Gospel-believing Reformed circle), please take these recommendations but use caution and discernment in everything you hear.

Some of us love everything consolidated into one place and one app. The later posts will address such an audience. But for those of you who love to clutter your phones with several apps and who enjoy their unique trinkets, this post is for you. Disclaimer: I may update this in the future as I may get more recommendations.

• Sermon Audio – A good general app for searching more popular preachers and even local church pastors. You can download sermons onto your device without using data on the road. The downside is that every preacher doesn’t uploads their sermons to this website. You also come across a mix-bag of different preachers and theologies. Again, please use discernment!

• Documents App by Readdle –
  This app is not specifically designated for sermon listening. It is a general app for downloading documents straight to your device without any third party prog
  rams (e.g. iTunes). For sermon audio, you can go to your favorite website with Christian or sermon MP3 audio content, and you can download it directly to the app. The app also acts as a player where you can listen to your audio without using data on the go.  Though the app remembers the last file you played, the downside is that it does not bookmark where you left off. So you’ll have to do some scrolling to get back to your spot.

• RefNet – “24-hour Internet Radio Committed to the Historic Christian Faith.”
  This is filled with preaching, teaching, music, readings from the Bible, news and other audio. This requires Wifi or data (no download options).

• Grace to You – This is the app for listening to John Macarthur sermons. It is easy to navigate and gives you the option to listen through data or download to your device directly.

• Truth For Life – The app for sermons from Alistair Begg. Latest broadcasts, daily devotionals, and connections to the blog are all here. Sermons can also be streamed or downloaded to the device.

• Ligonier – This app is from the ninistry of R.C. Sproul. It includes the message of the day, daily videos, devotionals, and podcasts. Sermons can also be streamed or downloaded to the device.

• The Gospel Coalition – This app connects you directly to TGC’s blog website where you can navigate it by author. It has a media section that connects you to their podcasts and Bible teaching. You can stream or download directly to your device.

• Sermon of the Day by John Piper – Gives a daily sermon from the ministry of John Piper. You can search the past history of sermons and listen to those as well. It needs internet upon startup to download at least one sermon in order to play offline. It is a bit hard to navigate through the audio in case you want to pick a specific time in the sermon. I would’ve liked a general Desiring God app that connects you to the archive of John Piper sermons, which the John Piper Daily Devotional App does to an extent.

**For a list of iOS Apps that are helpful for Christians in studying and listening, check out Tim Challies’ post on iOS Apps for Christians.