Browse Sermon Illustrations
816 illustrations available
Tim Keller on Life-Giving Mission - Missional (John 10:10)
"Jesus came to give life—this is the missionary message. Not rules but life. Not religion but relationship. Not scarcity but abundance. The mission offers what every culture seeks: life to the full. W
Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Following the Worry-Free Christ - Christocentric (Matthew 6:25-27)
"Jesus lived without worry—wholly dependent on the Father, free for others. Following Him means learning His freedom. Anxiety binds us to ourselves; trust in Christ frees us for discipleship. 'Do not
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
Martin Luther on Letting God Be God - Lutheran (Psalm 46:10)
"'Be still'—let God be God! Our striving says we must do what only God can do. Our anxiety says God cannot be trusted. Stillness is faith's posture: God works while we rest. 'A mighty fortress is our
Howard Thurman on Stillness for the Storm-Tossed - Black Church (Psalm 46:10)
"In the midst of life's tempests—and Black folk know tempests—God speaks: Be still. Not passive resignation but profound trust. In the eye of the hurricane, there is calm. God is the still point in th
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
N.T. Wright on God's Covenant Love - Anglican (Romans 5:8)
"Here is the demonstration of God's love—concrete, historical, costly. While we were sinners, Christ died. This is not legal transaction but covenant faithfulness: God keeping His promise to rescue Hi
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
T.D. Jakes on Free Gift - Pentecostal (Romans 6:23)
"You can't EARN eternal life—it's a GIFT! Sin pays wages; you work for death! But GOD gives FREELY! You don't deserve it; you can't afford it; but He GIVES it! In Christ Jesus—LIFE! Not wages, not pay
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
T.D. Jakes on Heart Transformation - Pentecostal (Psalm 51:10)
"God can CREATE in you a CLEAN heart! Not patch, not repair—CREATE! New! Fresh! The Holy Spirit does HEART SURGERY! Whatever mess is in there—guilt, shame, bitterness—GOD CAN CLEANSE IT! Ask Him! He's
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
Karl Barth on Christ Alone as Source - Christocentric (John 15:5)
"'I AM the Vine'—Christ Himself is the source of all spiritual life. Not Christ plus our effort; not Christ and our additions—Christ alone. The branches exist only in relation to the Vine; apart from
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
Tim Keller on Spirit-Empowered Witness - Missional (2 Timothy 1:7)
"Power for witness, love for the lost, sound mind for cultural engagement—this is the Spirit's missionary equipment. Fear cripples mission; the Spirit liberates. We go not in timidity but in Spirit-gi
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
Billy Graham on Coming to Christ - Baptist (Matthew 11:28-30)
"Are you tired? Burdened? Anxious? Jesus says 'Come.' Not 'clean up first,' not 'try harder,' just 'come.' Come as you are, with all your weariness, and He will give you rest. This is the invitation o
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,
Billy Graham on Personal Assurance - Baptist (John 16:33)
"Whatever trouble YOU face—Jesus has overcome. YOUR difficulties, YOUR opposition, YOUR struggles—He has conquered. Take heart, YOU personally: the world that oppresses YOU is a defeated world. In Chr
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
Walter Brueggemann on Courage for Justice - Progressive (Joshua 1:9)
"Courage is needed not for conquest but for justice. The call to 'be strong' is not military machismo but prophetic nerve—courage to speak truth, to stand with the vulnerable, to challenge systems. Go
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
John Stott on Balanced Wisdom - Anglican (James 1:5)
"James offers wisdom for trials (context of the verse). We need wisdom not just for moral decisions but for suffering—how to endure, what to learn, when to speak. God gives this wisdom generously: pra