Browse Sermon Illustrations
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Hacksaw Ridge: Greater Love Has No One (John 15:13)
In Hacksaw Ridge, Desmond Doss refuses to carry a weapon but volunteers as a combat medic. On Okinawa, he single-handedly rescues 75 wounded soldiers, lowering them down a cliff under enemy fire. Grea
Arrival: Choosing Love Knowing the Cost (Romans 8:18)
Louise Banks learns the alien language—and it changes how she experiences time. She can see her future: the joy of her daughter's birth, the agony of her daughter's death. Knowing the end, she still c
The Shawshank Redemption: Crawling Through Filth to Freedom (Romans 6:4)
Andy Dufresne escaped through five hundred yards of sewage pipe—"the length of five football fields." He crawled through filth to reach freedom. When he emerged on the other side, rain washed him clea
Just Mercy: Justice Rolling Down Like Waters (Amos 5:24)
In Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson defends Walter McMillian, a Black man wrongly convicted of murder in Alabama. The system is rigged, the judge hostile, the town resistant. But Bryan persists. "Let justi
Schindlers List: Counting Others More Significant (Philippians 2:3-4)
In Schindler's List, Oskar Schindler starts as a war profiteer who wants Jewish workers because they're cheap. Somewhere along the way, their lives become more important than his profit. He spends his
Hotel Rwanda: The Fast God Chooses (Isaiah 58:6-7)
In Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina shelters over 1,200 Tutsi refugees in his hotel during the genocide. He bribes, bluffs, and bargains with killers to keep them alive. "Is not this the fast that I ch
Life Is Beautiful: Count It All Joy (James 1:2-4)
In Life Is Beautiful, Guido Orefice convinces his young son that the Nazi concentration camp is an elaborate game. Points for hiding, staying quiet, not asking for food. The grand prize: a real tank.
To Kill a Mockingbird: Justice, Mercy, Humility (Micah 6:8)
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch defends a Black man accused of rape in 1930s Alabama. He knows he will lose; he defends Tom Robinson anyway. He does not grandstand—he simply does his job with
Everything Everywhere All at Once: Love in the Multiverse (1 Corinthians 13:8)
Evelyn Wang can access infinite versions of herself across the multiverse—every choice she didn't make, every life she could have lived. At first it's overwhelming chaos. But she discovers the secret:
Les Miserables: A New Creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)
In Les Miserables, Jean Valjean is a convict, hardened by nineteen years in prison. A bishop shows him mercy, giving him silver candlesticks, calling him brother. Valjean tears up his parole papers an
Spotlight: Loosing the Bonds of Wickedness (Isaiah 58:6-7)
In Spotlight, Boston Globe journalists uncover the Catholic Church's systematic cover-up of child abuse. They share their roof with survivors, listen to painful stories, bring hidden wickedness into l
The Green Mile: He Took Up Our Pain (Isaiah 53:4-5)
John Coffey, a giant of a man wrongly condemned to death, possesses the gift of healing. He draws sickness into himself, bearing others' pain at great personal cost. "I'm tired, boss," he says. "Tired
Hidden Figures: Not a Spirit of Fear (2 Timothy 1:7)
In Hidden Figures, Katherine Johnson walks into a room full of white male engineers who don't believe she belongs. Every day is a battle against fear—fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of being
12 Years a Slave: The Long Arc of Justice (Amos 5:24)
In 12 Years a Slave, Solomon Northup—a free Black man kidnapped into slavery—survives twelve years of horror. The injustice is so vast it seems unstoppable, a river of evil. Amos cried: "Let justice r
The Lord of the Rings: Sailing to the Undying Lands (Revelation 21:4)
At the end of The Lord of the Rings, Frodo cannot stay in the Shire. His wounds are too deep; Middle-earth holds too much pain. So he sails to the Undying Lands—where suffering ends, where wounds heal
Babettes Feast: The Angel in the Kitchen (Hebrews 13:2)
In Babette's Feast, two elderly Danish sisters take in Babette, a French refugee, as their cook. For fourteen years she serves them plain food. When she wins the lottery, she spends it all on one magn
Groundhog Day: New Mercies Every Morning (Lamentations 3:22-23)
In Groundhog Day, Phil Connors relives the same day hundreds of times. At first he exploits it—eating without consequences, manipulating women. Then he despairs—nothing matters if nothing changes. Fin
Silence: God in the Silence (1 Kings 19:11-13)
In Silence, Jesuit missionaries in 17th-century Japan face persecution and apostasy. Father Rodrigues begs God to speak—and hears nothing. Or so he thinks. In the film's climax, Christ's voice finally
Up: The Adventure of Ordinary Life (John 10:10)
Carl Fredricksen spent his whole life saving for an adventure with his wife Ellie—to Paradise Falls. She died before they could go. So Carl ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies there alon
The Tree of Life: All Things Hold Together in Him (Colossians 1:15-20)
In The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick juxtaposes a 1950s Texas family with the creation of the universe—dinosaurs, galaxies, cells dividing. The connection seems strange until you realize: the cosmic a
WALL-E: It Is Not Good to Be Alone (Genesis 2:18)
WALL-E is the last robot on Earth, compacting trash after humanity fled. He's developed something unexpected: a personality, curiosity, loneliness. He collects treasures from the garbage. He watches o
The Way: Walking Through the Valley (Psalm 23:1-6)
In The Way, Tom walks the Camino de Santiago carrying his estranged son's ashes. He didn't choose this journey—grief thrust it upon him. But somewhere along the 500 miles, the path becomes more than p
The Shawshank Redemption: Institutionalized Freedom (Galatians 5:1)
Brooks Hatlen was paroled after fifty years in prison. Free at last—yet he hanged himself within weeks. "These walls are funny," Red observes. "First you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough t
Chariots of Fire: Seek First the Kingdom (Matthew 6:33)
In Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell refuses to run his Olympic heat on Sunday—the Sabbath. He's mocked, pressured, called unpatriotic. But he's already decided: "I believe God made me for a purpose, but