George Whitefield Sermon Notes: Where to Find Them (+ How to Make Your Own)
George Whitefield (1714-1770) crossed the Atlantic thirteen times and is estimated to have preached to eighty percent of the American colonial population in person at least once, often outdoors to crowds Benjamin Franklin calculated at 30,000. He died in 1770, so his surviving sermons are public domain, and sites such as BibleBB and Christian Classics Ethereal Library host his best-known texts free.
There is a real wrinkle here that other public-domain preachers on this page do not have: Whitefield was an extemporaneous, largely unscripted preacher, and for much of his career he actively resisted publishing his own sermons because pirated shorthand transcripts — some inaccurate — were already circulating without his consent. What survives and is most reliably attributed to him today, including 'The Method of Grace' and 'Marks of a True Conversion,' comes down to us through shorthand transcription rather than a manuscript he prepared for print himself.
So reading Whitefield well means reading with that origin in mind: these are records of spoken, evangelistic preaching, built to diagnose the state of the hearer's soul and press for a decision, not doctrinal essays written for a reader. This guide covers where the free texts live and an outline method built for that diagnostic, appeal-driven style.
Where to find official George Whitefield sermon notes
Because the works are public domain, the sources are text archives that specialize in Great Awakening and Reformed sermon material:
BibleBB — George Whitefield Sermon Archive
Hosts a large collection of Whitefield's sermons in free, reproducible text, including 'The Method of Grace,' 'What Think Ye of Christ?' and 'Marks of a True Conversion.'
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Also carries a selection of Whitefield's sermons and journals, useful for cross-referencing a sermon against his own account of the tour or occasion he preached it on.
The Reformed Reader
Hosts a curated selection of Whitefield's most-cited sermons, a useful starting point if you are new to his preaching and want the texts scholars return to most often.
A note on copyright: George Whitefield's sermons and any official notes remain the intellectual property of BibleBB & the Reformed Reader. Everything below is about making notes for your own study — not about republishing the ministry's content.
How to create your own sermon notes from any George Whitefield sermon
The text is already free, so the work is recognizing the diagnostic structure underneath what can read, at first, like a loosely organized sermon:
Get the sermon text
Find the sermon at BibleBB or CCEL. Note that most surviving Whitefield texts come from shorthand transcription rather than his own manuscript — write that at the top of your page as a reminder of what kind of source you are reading.
Or transcribe an audio reading
If you are working from a recorded reading of a Whitefield sermon, upload the audio and get the text in minutes, first sermon free.
Transcribe an audio readingRecover the diagnosis and the appeal
Run the text through the free outline generator. Whitefield's sermons typically move from a diagnosis of the hearer's spiritual state to a direct appeal for response — the outline generator will surface the main claims even where his own transitions are looser than a written essay's.
Generate sermon notes freeMark where he turns to address the hearer directly
Like Spurgeon after him, Whitefield frequently turns from exposition to speak straight at categories of hearers — the awakened, the careless, the self-righteous. Note where this happens and who he is addressing; it is usually where the sermon is doing its real work.
The Diagnosis-and-Appeal Method
Text, Diagnosis, Marks, Appeal
Whitefield preached to convict and convert, and his sermons are built to do that rather than to instruct like a lecture. Four sections on one page:
The verse, written out in full. Whitefield's texts are often short and become the sermon's return point every time he circles back to the main appeal.
The false or counterfeit spiritual state he names and warns against — nominal religion, false peace, self-righteousness. Write it as he states it.
The distinguishing signs he gives for telling the true state from the counterfeit one — as in 'Marks of a True Conversion.' List each mark separately; Whitefield usually gives more than one.
The direct call to the hearer at the sermon's close. Note exactly what he asks the listener to do, and to whom the appeal is specifically addressed.
Tip: Read for the appeal first, then go back through the diagnosis and marks. Whitefield's rhetoric is built to arrive somewhere; knowing the destination makes the earlier sections read as the case for it rather than as digression.
Study tips for George Whitefield's preaching
Remember these are transcriptions, not manuscripts
Whitefield preached extemporaneously and resisted publishing his own sermons, so most surviving texts come from shorthand transcription by hearers. Treat small variations between editions as a feature of the source, not an error in your reading.
Compare his 'Free Grace' response to Wesley's
Whitefield and John Wesley split publicly in 1740 over the doctrine of free grace while remaining lifelong friends. Reading Whitefield's Calvinist sermons alongside Wesley's Arminian 'Free Grace' sermon is a direct way to see the actual disagreement rather than a summary of it.
Notice how short his texts often are
Whitefield frequently preached from a single short verse or clause and returned to it as a refrain. Keeping that verse visible at the top of your notes page helps the sermon's structure stay legible even when his delivery ranges widely.
Frequently asked questions
Are George Whitefield's sermons public domain?+
Did Whitefield write his own sermons down?+
Where can I read 'The Method of Grace' or 'Marks of a True Conversion' for free?+
What's the best note format for a Whitefield sermon?+
Why does Whitefield's writing style vary between sources?+
Transcribe any sermon free
Whitefield's words survive only because someone in the crowd wrote them down. Do the same for your own pulpit. Your first full sermon is free — no credit card to start, then $19/month for unlimited sermons.
Start Transcribing FreeThen turn the transcript into notes with the free sermon outline generator.
Want the bigger picture on George Whitefield's ministry and most notable messages? See our George Whitefield sermon archive guide in the Famous Sermons library.
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