Terms and conditions

1. Introduction

Welcome to Bible Homiletics. These terms and conditions govern your use of our website and services at biblehomiletics.com. By creating an account or using the platform, you agree to be bound by these terms.

If you do not agree with these terms, please do not use Bible Homiletics. For questions or concerns, contact us at contact@biblehomiletics.com.

2. About the service

Bible Homiletics is a free online platform that helps users study Bible passages using a structured 5-step homiletics method. The service includes:

• Weekly Bible passages published for the community
• A guided 5-step homiletics form (observe, divide, summarize, core truth, apply)
• Publishing and browsing homiletics shared by the community
• Groups for churches, small groups, and study teams
• Comments and likes on published homiletics

3. Account registration

To use Bible Homiletics, you must create an account using Google sign-in or email and password. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials. You must provide accurate information and keep it up to date.

You must be at least 13 years old to create an account. By registering, you confirm that you meet this age requirement.

4. Free use

Bible Homiletics is completely free to use. There are no paid plans, subscriptions, or hidden fees. All features - including writing homiletics, joining groups, creating groups, commenting, and browsing the community feed - are available at no cost.

5. User-generated content

When you write and publish a homiletic, post comments, or create group content, you retain ownership of your work. However, by publishing content on Bible Homiletics, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display, distribute, and make your content available to other users on the platform.

Drafts are private and visible only to you. Published homiletics are visible to the community or your group members, depending on the context.

6. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Post content that is offensive, abusive, or unrelated to Bible study
• Copy or plagiarize other users' homiletics
• Use the platform for spam, advertising, or solicitation
• Attempt to access other users' accounts or private data
• Interfere with the proper functioning of the platform

We reserve the right to remove content and suspend accounts that violate these guidelines.

7. Groups

Users can create and join groups for collaborative Bible study. Group leaders can invite members, post custom passages, and manage group settings. Group leaders are responsible for the content and conduct within their groups.

8. Comments and likes

Users can leave comments and likes on published homiletics. Comments should be constructive, respectful, and relevant to the homiletic or passage being discussed. Comments are meant to encourage growth and provide helpful feedback.

You agree not to post comments that:

• Are disrespectful, hateful, or personally attack another user
• Contain spam, self-promotion, or links to external services
• Are unrelated to the homiletic or Bible study
• Contain profanity or inappropriate language

We reserve the right to remove comments that violate these guidelines without notice. Repeated violations may result in account suspension.

9. Privacy

We collect and use your personal information (name, email, profile image) solely to provide the Bible Homiletics service. We do not sell your data to third parties. Your drafts are private. Published content is visible to other users as described in these terms.

10. Intellectual property

The Bible Homiletics platform, including its design, code, and branding, is our intellectual property. Bible passages displayed on the platform are sourced from publicly available translations and belong to their respective rights holders.

11. Limitation of liability

Bible Homiletics is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. We do not guarantee uninterrupted access or that the platform will be free of errors. We are not liable for any damages resulting from your use of the platform, including loss of data or content.

12. Account termination

You may delete your account at any time from your account settings. We may also suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms.

When you delete your account:

• Your profile information (name, email, image) is permanently deleted
• Your drafts and unpublished work are permanently deleted
• Published homiletics remain visible but are attributed to "Deleted user"
• Your comments remain visible but are attributed to "Deleted user"
• Your likes are removed

Published homiletics and comments are kept to preserve the integrity of community discussions and feedback threads. This action is irreversible.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. We will notify users of significant changes by updating the "last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the platform after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

14. Contact

If you have any questions about these terms, please contact us at contact@biblehomiletics.com or visit our contact page.