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Home›Traditions›Reformed/Presbyterian

Reformed/Presbyterian Illustrations

God's absolute sovereignty, covenant theology, and Westminster Confessional standards.

Key question: “How does this text display God's sovereign grace and purpose, and ultimately bring glory to His name?”

23,851 sermon illustrations through the Reformed/Presbyterian lens

Sermon Illustration

The Olive Tree on Masada

In 2021, archaeologists working near Masada in Israel discovered olive tree roots still alive in soil that hadn't seen steady rain in decades. The roots...

Psalm 52Universal

236 words

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Historical

The Vulture and the Carcass: Divine Judgment's Certain Law

This is not arbitrary cruelty but the operation of a law that has governed history from its beginning.

Matthew 24:28Universaldivine judgmentmoral corruption

Joseph S. Exell

191 words

Sermon Illustration

The Blind Woman Who Sang Her Way Through the Gates

When Fanny Crosby was only six weeks old, a doctor's mistake left her permanently blind. She never once saw a sunrise, a flower, or the...

Psalm 100Universal

234 words

Sermon Illustration

The Ruin on the Rail Line

For decades, the rusted elevated tracks of the High Line cut through Manhattan's West Side like an iron scar. Built in the 1930s to carry...

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24Universal

240 words

Sermon Illustration

Clarence Jordan and the Red Clay of Koinonia

In 1942, Clarence Jordan — a Baptist minister with a doctorate in Greek New Testament — drove his family into the red clay countryside outside...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

222 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 Surgeon Who Traded the Scalpel for a Mop

In 2015, Dr. Hawa Abdi — one of Somalia's first female surgeons and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee — ran a sprawling camp outside Mogadishu...

Philippians 2:6-11Universal

220 words

Sermon Illustration

Science Illustration: Order and Design in Creation

Years ago, I visited a local planetarium, where I was mesmerized by a stunning display of our universe. As the lights dimmed, the vast expanse of stars unfolded before my eyes. I found myself enveloped in the beauty of the...

Colossians 1:15-20Universal

242 words

Sermon Illustration

The Peanut Farmer God Knew Before Anyone Did

George Washington Carver was born into slavery in Diamond, Missouri, around 1864. Within weeks of his birth, Confederate raiders kidnapped him and his mother. His...

Psalm 139:1-3, 13-15Universal

246 words

Sermon Illustration

The Exiles of Herrnhut

In 1722, a ragged band of Moravian refugees stumbled onto the estate of Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf in Saxony. They had been driven from their...

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19Universal

237 words

Sermon Illustration

The North Star and the Conductor Who Never Looked Down

Harriet Tubman led nineteen missions through the Underground Railroad, guiding more than three hundred men, women, and children from the plantations of Maryland to freedom...

Psalm 121Universal

242 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

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

Written in Permanent Ink

In 1974, Swedish biochemist Tomas Lindahl made an unsettling discovery: human DNA is chemically unstable. Every cell in your body experiences tens of thousands of...

Universalrestoration

242 words

Historical

John's Desert Ministry: From Dead Forms to Living Repentance

Under Tiberius, as in the Victorian era, three religious postures competed.

Mark 1:4Universalspiritual renewal versus religious formalismwilderness as divine training ground

Joseph S. Exell

185 words

Sermon Illustration

The Foxe's Fire at Vilvoorde

On an October morning in 1536, guards led William Tyndale from his cell in Vilvoorde Castle near Brussels to a stake surrounded by bundled wood....

Romans 1:16Universal

232 words

Historical

Seeing Through a Glass Darkly: The Limits of Mortal Vision

The Apostle Paul speaks of a fundamental constraint upon human perception.

1 Corinthians 13:12Universallimitation of human knowledgedivine revelation

Joseph S. Exell

240 words

Sermon Illustration

The River That Carved the Grand Canyon

For six million years, the Colorado River has done one thing with unwavering commitment — it has followed gravity downhill. It did not set out...

Proverbs 16:3Universal

244 words

Historical

Deception in the Path: Why Right-Seeming Ways Lead to Death

Elohim has endowed mankind with powers of variation and complexity unmatched in creation, yet this very richness becomes our peril.

Proverbs 13:12Universalmoral deceptionhidden consequences

Joseph S. Exell

221 words

Historical

The Assyrian's Boast: Riches Gathered Like Abandoned Eggs

Isaiah 10:14 records the Assyrian conqueror's arrogant declaration: "My hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people." This metaphor exposes the depth of human depravity when power corrupts the soul. The imagery is deliberately contemptuous. A child...

Isaiah 10:14Universaldivine judgment of pridethe corruption of power

Joseph S. Exell

208 words

Sermon Illustration

The Parking Lot Clinic

Every Sunday morning, the congregation of Grace Fellowship in Baton Rouge sang three hymns, bowed for a long pastoral prayer, and drove home past the...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

255 words

Historical

The Hoary Head: Glory Through Righteousness in Age

Every season of life carries distinct duties and temptations.

Proverbs 16:31Universalaging with integrityvirtue in decline

Joseph S. Exell

217 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

Divine Recompense: The Righteous Rewarded in This Earth

First, Elohim has appointed that a portion of happiness accrues to the righteous in this present world, while the misery wages of sin fall yet more abundantly upon the wicked.

Proverbs 11:31Universaldivine justice in earthly lifeconsequences of righteousness versus wickedness

Joseph S. Exell

218 words