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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

Launched with a Purpose

In 1977, NASA launched Voyager 1 on a mission made possible by a rare planetary alignment that occurs only once every 175 years. Scientists had...

Universalpurpose

207 words

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Movie Analogy

Chariots of Fire: Ordered Life, Fearless Living - Anglican (Isaiah 41:10)

Imagine a foggy morning in the Scottish Highlands, where the world feels shrouded in uncertainty—much like the fears that often loom large in our own lives. In the midst of this, Eric Liddell, the famed Olympic runner, steps onto the...

Isaiah 41:10Universal

278 words

Sermon Illustration

Nature Illustration: Seasons of Growth and Rest

There is a small garden at the edge of my backyard, a patch of earth that tells a beautiful story each year. In early spring, it bursts forth with life — delicate buds unfurling, the earth awakening from its long...

Revelation 21:1-5Universal

237 words

Historical

Good Understanding Giveth Favour: The Mind as Treasury

First, *enlightenment*—the soul without knowledge cannot flourish; true understanding must be informed by the science of duty and knowledge of Elohim.

Proverbs 13:15Universalintellectual cultivation as spiritual practiceunderstanding as gateway to favour

Joseph S. Exell

223 words

Sermon Illustration

Two Hundred Feet Up and Frozen

In the climbing community, they call it "sewing machine leg" — that uncontrollable trembling that seizes your calf when fear takes over on the rock...

Numbers 21:4b-9Universal

245 words

Historical

The Faithful Messenger: Refreshment to the Weary Master

The wealthy preserved winter ice and snow in cisterns to cool summer beverages.

Proverbs 25:13Universalcharacter and conducttrustworthiness as refreshment

Joseph S. Exell

203 words

Sermon Illustration

Nature Illustration: Seeds, Roots, and Fruitfulness

As I walked through a vibrant garden last week, I was struck by the intricate beauty surrounding me. Each flower seemed to dance in the gentle breeze, their colors shimmering under the sun. It reminded me of Psalm 19:1-6, where...

Psalm 19:1-6Universal

244 words

Historical

Endurance to the End: The Mark of True Conversion

Perseverance is the badge of the saint—marked in Scripture, confirmed by analogy, and vindicated by common sense.

Matthew 10:22Universalperseverance under trialcompletion of faith

Joseph S. Exell

221 words

Historical

Childlike Faith United with Mature Understanding

First, we must preserve childlike simplicity of character—the freshness and moral innocence the gospel restores.

1 Corinthians 14:20Universalspiritual maturitydiscernment in faith

Joseph S. Exell

192 words

Sermon Illustration

The Fire at Herrnhut

In the summer of 1727, a ragged community of refugees was falling apart. Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf had opened his estate in Saxony to persecuted...

John 17:20-26Universal

225 words

Historical

The Harvest of Diligent Small Labour Among the Poor

It was "the tillage of the poor"—the careful, diligent husbandry of the man with only a small patch of land—that filled the storehouses of the Holy Land.

Proverbs 13:23Universalpersonal responsibility in modest circumstancesthe dignity of small labour

Joseph S. Exell

219 words

Sermon Illustration

The Tinker Who Chose the Cell Over Silence

In 1661, a Bedford tinker named John Bunyan stood before English magistrates who offered him a simple bargain: stop preaching and go home to your...

Acts 5:27-32Universal

231 words

Sermon Illustration

The Debt That Disappeared

In 2005, a medical billing error in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, left a young teacher named Margaret Holloway with a $47,000 hospital bill that wasn't hers....

Romans 8:1Universal

240 words

Historical

Home Instruction as Foundation for Godly Character

The Victorians understood this principle with particular clarity: the boy who disparages his home affections in pursuit of worldly manhood betrays the very source of true manliness.

Proverbs 5:20Universalparental instruction and faith transmissionintegration of sacred and secular learning

Joseph S. Exell

193 words

Historical

The Sun Turned to Darkness: Christianity's Threatened Light

Yet Exell extends the image to Christianity itself as the *helios* (sun) of our moral age.

Acts 1:20Universaldivine protectionspiritual warfare

Joseph S. Exell

202 words

Sermon Illustration

The Farmer Who Watched the Floodwaters Rise

In March 2019, the Missouri River swallowed whole towns across Nebraska and Iowa. Farmer Nick Galanakis stood on a bluff outside Hamburg, Iowa, and watched...

Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9Universal

215 words

Sermon Illustration

The Emperor's Forgotten Column

In 303 AD, Emperor Diocletian launched the most savage persecution the early church had ever faced. He ordered scriptures burned in public squares, church buildings...

Psalm 2Universal

234 words

Historical

Pride and the Peril of Spiritual Complacency

The Apostle Paul warns against a dangerous illusion: the believer who imagines himself beyond the reach of temptation.

1 Corinthians 10:12Universalspiritual vigilance against prideuniversal susceptibility to temptation

Joseph S. Exell

209 words

Sermon Illustration

The Bird That Forgot to Worry

There is a species of sparrow called the white-throated sparrow — small, brown, easily overlooked. Ornithologist Margaret Morse Nice spent seven years in Columbus, Ohio,...

Matthew 6:25-34Universalanxiety

235 words

Historical

Monte Testaccio: A Mound of Irreparable Fragments

Paul's in Rome stands Monte Testaccio, an artificial mound nearly one-third of a mile in circumference and one hundred fifty feet high.

Isaiah 30:14Universaldivine judgment as irreversibleconsequences of human rebellion

Joseph S. Exell

208 words

Sermon Illustration

The Sewing Machines at Thistle Farms on Charlotte Avenue

Every Sunday morning, Becca Stevens preached from the pulpit at St. Augustine's Chapel in Nashville. Every Monday morning, she unlocked the doors of Thistle Farms,...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

234 words

Vivid Retelling

I Am Joseph: Genesis 45:1-15

Cinematic retelling of Joseph revealing his identity to his brothers

Universal

781 words

Sermon Illustration

The First Fire of a Newborn Star

Deep in the constellation Orion, roughly 1,300 light-years from Earth, the Orion Nebula hangs like a vast cosmic nursery. Astronomers have watched this region for...

Genesis 1:1-3Universal

229 words

Sermon Illustration

Learning to Walk Again

When Maria Chen shattered her knee in a cycling accident outside Portland, her physical therapist, James, told her something she did not want to hear:...

Psalm 25:1-10Universal

250 words