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Home›Traditions›Charismatic

Charismatic Illustrations

The present-day operation of all spiritual gifts and the experiential dimension of the Holy Spirit.

Key question: “How is the Holy Spirit actively manifesting His power and gifts in the church today?”

23,224 sermon illustrations through the Charismatic lens

Sermon Illustration

Behind Marcus's Bedroom Door

When Marcus first arrived at the Hendersons' foster home in Cleveland, he locked his bedroom door and wouldn't come out. Nine years old, three placements...

John 20:19-31Universal

251 words

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Sermon Illustration

The Bales That Made England Weep

In the autumn of 1526, bales of cloth arrived at the London docks from Antwerp. Tucked inside the fabric were copies of William Tyndale's English...

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10Universal

236 words

Historical

Ephraim's Envy: When Tribal Jealousy Divides God's People

Jacob's blessing gave pre-eminence to Judah and Joseph's son Ephraim, yet structural inequality festered.

Isaiah 11:13Universaltribal conflict and reconciliationGod's sovereign choice

Joseph S. Exell

192 words

Sermon Illustration

The Parlour Maid Who Walked to China

In 1930, a London parlour maid named Gladys Aylward sat in a small room and wept. The China Inland Mission had rejected her application. At...

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24Universal

257 words

Historical

The Restless Energy of Error and the Steadiness of Truth

Observe the paradox: error displays surprising zeal, while truth often appears passive.

Proverbs 4:16Universalthe nature of falsehood versus truthaccountability before God

Joseph S. Exell

212 words

Vivid Retelling

The Beast from the Sea: Revelation 13:1-18

Cinematic retelling of the two beasts

Universal

881 words

Sermon Illustration

The Fast That Maria Kept

Every Lent, Maria Dominguez gave up coffee, chocolate, and social media. She marked each day of self-denial on a calendar taped to her refrigerator. She...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

248 words

Sermon Illustration

The Laundromat on Franklin Avenue

Every Tuesday night, Maria Santos unlocks the doors of Spin Cycle Laundromat on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis and puts up a hand-lettered sign: "Free Wash...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

230 words

Sermon Illustration

The Breakfast Tables at Haley House in Roxbury

Every Friday morning at Haley House Bakery Cafe in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood, something quietly radical happens. Volunteers who spent the previous evening in prayer groups...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

249 words

Sermon Illustration

George Washington Carver's Laboratory of Wonder

In 1921, George Washington Carver stood before the United States Congress holding a handful of peanuts. From that humble legume, he had derived over three...

Genesis 1:1-2:4aUniversal

229 words

Sermon Illustration

The Wi-Fi That Runs Through the Walls

In 2018, a small church in Christchurch, New Zealand, shared a building with a Korean Presbyterian congregation. They worshiped at different hours, spoke different languages,...

John 17:20-26Universal

244 words

Sermon Illustration

The Woman Who Saw Light Without Eyes

Fanny Crosby lost her sight at six weeks old due to a doctor's error. She lived ninety-four years in total darkness — and wrote over...

Psalm 36:5-10Universal

232 words

Sermon Illustration

Millard Fuller's Million-Dollar Repentance

In 1965, Millard Fuller was a thirty-year-old millionaire in Montgomery, Alabama, with a law practice, a Lincoln Continental, and a marriage falling apart. His wife...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

237 words

Sermon Illustration

The Dawn Chorus

Every spring morning in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, something extraordinary happens in the hour before sunrise. Ornithologists call it the dawn chorus —...

Psalm 100Universal

257 words

Sermon Illustration

The Astronomer Who Followed a Different Light

In 2015, NASA scientist Lucianne Walkowicz stood before a TED audience and said something that stopped the room cold: the most important discoveries happen when...

Matthew 2:1-12Universal

235 words

Sermon Illustration

Nature Illustration: Seeds, Roots, and Fruitfulness

As the frost of winter begins to thaw, I remember a time I stood in a quiet garden, a simple patch of earth that had lain dormant for months. The gardener, an elderly woman with hands as rough as the...

Hebrews 11:1-3Universal

242 words

Sermon Illustration

The Astronomer Who Heard the Planets Sing

In 1619, Johannes Kepler published a book with a remarkable claim: the planets were singing. The German astronomer had spent years charting the orbits of...

Psalm 98Universal

233 words

Sermon Illustration

The Cathedral That Took Five Centuries

In 1296, workers in Florence laid the first stone of what would become the Duomo — the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The original...

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14Universal

224 words

Historical

The Profaning of Holy Princes: Judgment Upon Leadership

The *hierarchs* (ἱεράρχης, those holding highest spiritual rank), distinguished from secular magistrates as recorded in 1 Chronicles 24:6, faced humiliation beyond mere political defeat.

Isaiah 39:28Universaldivine judgmentleadership accountability

Joseph S. Exell

206 words

Historical

The Moral End of Business: Virtue Beyond Acquisition

We must distinguish between the purpose for which property is sought and the moral purpose answered by the process itself.

Proverbs 20:15Universalmoral characterProvidence

Joseph S. Exell

215 words

Historical

Virtue Embodied: Why Goodness Provokes the World's Hatred

The pattern repeats throughout Scripture: Saul bribed assassins to hunt David (1 Samuel 22:6–19); the Jewish leaders later bribed Judas to betray the Son of David into their hands.

Psalms 25:10Universalopposition to righteousnessvirtue persecuted

Joseph S. Exell

209 words

Historical

God's Strength to the Poor: Three Hebrew Words of Affliction

*Dal* means "wavering, tottering, infirm"—those whose foundations crumble.

Isaiah 25:4UniversalGod's compassion for the marginalizedDivine strength in human weakness

Joseph S. Exell

193 words

Historical

Yoke-Fellows in Sin, Yoke-Fellows in Pain

The soul is punished for informing; the body for performing.

Psalms 6:3Universaldivine timingconsequences of sin

Joseph S. Exell

235 words

Sermon Illustration

Kagawa's Six-Foot Room

In 1909, a young Japanese seminary student named Toyohiko Kagawa did something his professors could not understand. He left his comfortable dormitory in Kobe and...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

240 words