Browse Sermon Illustrations
816 illustrations available
E. Stanley Jones on Practiced Confidence - Wesleyan (Psalm 27:1)
"'Whom shall I fear?' is a question to answer daily. The Lord IS your light—practice seeing by it. He IS your salvation—practice trusting it. He IS your stronghold—practice running to it. Confidence g
Stanley Hauerwas on Communal Tasting - Anabaptist (Psalm 34:8)
"We taste and see together—around the table, in shared meals, through mutual aid. God's goodness is experienced in community; solitary tasting misses the fullness. The church is meant to be a foretast
Charles Stanley on Personal Application - Baptist (Jeremiah 29:11)
"Whatever you're facing today, God has not forgotten you. He knows the plans He has for YOU—personally, specifically, lovingly. Not harm, but hope. Not dead ends, but a future. Trust His plan even whe
T.D. Jakes on God's Expected End - Pentecostal (Jeremiah 29:11)
"'An expected end'—God has already seen your future and it's GOOD! You may be in exile now, but God has prepared something beyond what you can imagine. Hold on! Your breakthrough is coming. The same G
Martin Luther on Christ Living in the Believer - Lutheran (Galatians 2:20)
"Christ is so closely united with me that He lives in me. The life I now live is not mine but His. I still have my sinful flesh, but Christ's life overcomes it. This is the 'happy exchange': He takes
David Wilkerson on Spirit-Empowered Dying - Pentecostal (Galatians 2:20)
"You cannot crucify yourself—it takes the Spirit! When you yield to the Holy Spirit, He applies Christ's death to your flesh. Your old man dies not by your effort but by Spirit-power. Then Christ LIVE
Martin Luther on Simul Justus et Peccator - Lutheran (2 Corinthians 5:17)
"We are new creations—yet we remain sinners. Simul justus et peccator: simultaneously justified and sinner. The old has passed in God's verdict; the new has come in Christ's righteousness. But we live
N.T. Wright on Renewed Humans Renewing Creation - Anglican (Romans 12:1-2)
"The transformed mind participates in new creation. Renewed humans are God's agents for renewing the world. 'Prove what is good'—discern and enact God's will in every sphere. Mind-renewal is not priva
N.T. Wright on Kingdom Present and Future - Anglican (Matthew 6:33)
"The kingdom is both present and coming—already and not yet. We seek what is already breaking in. God's righteousness is His setting-things-right project, culminating in new creation. Seek this first,
A.W. Tozer on Knowing God's Presence - Pentecostal (Psalm 46:10)
"Be still—quiet your soul, silence the noise, enter His presence. And KNOW—experience, encounter, feel His reality! This is not head knowledge but heart-knowing. In the stillness, the Spirit speaks; i
E. Stanley Jones on Active Waiting - Wesleyan (Isaiah 40:31)
"Waiting on God is not inactivity but receptivity. We open ourselves to divine strength; we position ourselves for renewal. God gives the power; we must receive it. The promise is conditional: THOSE W
Bill Johnson on Love That Wins - Charismatic (Romans 8:38-39)
"Nothing! Not demons, not sickness, not circumstances, not your worst day! God's love WINS! You are more than a conqueror because the Love that conquered death lives in you! Declare it: NO WEAPON form
Bill Johnson on Accessing Higher Thoughts - Charismatic (Isaiah 55:8-9)
"God's thoughts are HIGHER—but He wants to SHARE them! Through the Spirit, through prophecy, through revelation, we access HEAVEN'S perspective! Don't stay limited to natural thinking—press into the S
John Piper on Covenant Faithfulness - Reformed (Lamentations 3:22-23)
"'His mercies never cease'—this is covenant faithfulness. God binds Himself by promise; His character guarantees continuity. Morning by morning, new mercies—not because we deserve them but because He
Tim Keller on Work as Mission Field - Missional (Colossians 3:23-24)
"Your workplace IS your mission field. Working as unto the Lord means excellence that witnesses, integrity that intrigues, service that points to Christ. Every job is full-time ministry when done for
Gustavo Gutiérrez on Mercy for the Devastated - Liberation (Lamentations 3:22-23)
"Lamentations speaks from rubble—Jerusalem destroyed, people crushed. This is the cry of refugees, slum-dwellers, victims of violence. Yet FROM this devastation comes: 'His mercies never cease.' God i
Pope John Paul II on Human Work - Catholic (Colossians 3:23-24)
"Work is participation in God's creative activity. Through labor, we image God the Worker. 'As unto the Lord'—work offered to God shares in Christ's redemptive work. The dignity of work flows from the
Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Christ as Escape - Christocentric (1 Corinthians 10:13)
"Christ Himself is the way of escape. He was tempted in every way yet without sin—He knows temptation from the inside. We flee TO Him, not just FROM sin. In union with Christ, His victory becomes ours
Gustavo Gutiérrez on Temptation of the Powerful - Liberation (1 Corinthians 10:13)
"The powerful face temptations the poor do not: the temptation to oppress, to exploit, to ignore suffering. The poor face temptations too: despair, violence, collaboration with injustice. God is faith
Lesslie Newbigin on Word for the Way - Missional (Psalm 119:105)
"The missionary walks into cultural darkness needing light. God's Word illumines not just personal morality but missional direction: where to go, what to say, how to witness. Scripture guides the sent
R.C. Sproul on Scripture's Authority - Reformed (Psalm 119:105)
"The Word is lamp and light because it is GOD'S Word—authoritative, inspired, sufficient. Human wisdom gropes in darkness; divine revelation illumines. Sola Scriptura: Scripture alone provides sure li
Bill Johnson on Word of Wisdom - Charismatic (James 1:5)
"God gives wisdom through the gifts of the Spirit—word of wisdom, word of knowledge! When you need breakthrough wisdom, ask and EXPECT supernatural download! The Spirit will give you insight you could
Charles Spurgeon on Divine Preservation - Traditional (Isaiah 43:2)
"Not IF you pass through waters, but WHEN. Trials are certain; drowning is not. Not IF you walk through fire, but WHEN. Suffering is promised; destruction is prevented. God does not promise to keep us
Charles Spurgeon on Christ's Invitation - Traditional (Matthew 11:28-30)
"'Come unto ME'—not to a creed, not to a church, not to a ceremony, but to ME. Christ Himself is the rest. His yoke is easy because He bears the heavy end. His burden is light because He carries it wi