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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?”

24,087 sermon illustrations through the Reformed/Presbyterian lens

Sermon Illustration

The Stars That Were Always There

In 1995, astronomers pointed the Hubble Space Telescope at a tiny patch of sky near the constellation Ursa Major — a patch so small you...

Universalhope

241 words

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Sermon Illustration

The Uninvited Rescue Fleet

When Hurricane Harvey stalled over Houston in August 2017, Marcus and Elena Ruiz climbed to their second floor on Tidwell Road and waited. They had...

Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10Universal

260 words

Sermon Illustration

Ten Thousand Repairs You Never Feel

In 2015, Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich, and Aziz Sancar received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for mapping how our cells repair damaged DNA. Their research...

Universalgrace

237 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: Luke 2:21-40

Vivid sensory description for preaching Luke 2:21-40

Universalhomileticspreaching technique

adults

273 words

Sermon Illustration

The Brushstrokes That Refused Silence

In 1611, a seventeen-year-old painter named Artemisia Gentileschi was assaulted by her tutor in Rome. The trial that followed was public and humiliating — she...

Universalcourage

255 words

Sermon Illustration

Standing Before the Stone

On Easter Sunday, 1939, Marian Anderson stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and opened her mouth to sing. Seventy-five thousand people stretched across...

Universalcourage

251 words

Sermon Illustration

When the Music Outlasts the Silence

In 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven stood on stage in Vienna for the premiere of his Ninth Symphony. He had spent years composing it — carefully...

Universalhope

234 words

Sermon Illustration

When the Ocean Itself Became a Hymn

In November 1873, Horatio Spafford stood on the deck of a ship crossing the Atlantic and stared down at the cold water below. Somewhere beneath...

Universalhope

234 words

Sermon Illustration

The Deepest Look at Nothing

In 1995, astronomer Robert Williams made a decision that many of his colleagues called foolish. As director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, he pointed...

Universaltrust

248 words

Sermon Illustration

The Song That Survived the Asylum Wall

In 1917, Frederick Lehman sat down to write a hymn about the boundless love of God. He composed two verses easily enough, but the third...

Universallove

243 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: Psalm 50

Vivid sensory description for preaching Psalm 50

Universalhomileticspreaching technique

adults

308 words

Sermon Illustration

The Song Written Over the Waves

In November 1873, Horatio Spafford stood at the railing of a ship crossing the Atlantic and stared down at the cold, gray water. Somewhere beneath...

Universalfaith

234 words

Sermon Illustration

The Hymn That Took Five Minutes and a Lifetime

In June of 1882, Scottish pastor George Matheson sat alone in his manse on the evening of his sister's wedding. Nearly blind since his university...

Universallove

250 words

Sermon Illustration

The Name No Prison Could Define

In Victor Hugo's *Les Misérables*, Jean Valjean is released from nineteen years in prison carrying a yellow passport that marks him as a convict. Every...

Universalidentity

223 words

Contemporary

The Seat That Shook a City

On the evening of December 1, 1955, forty-two-year-old Rosa Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus in Montgomery, Alabama, after a long day stitching seams at...

Micah 6:8Universalcouragejustice

237 words

Historical

The Hand That Trembled for Freedom

On the morning of January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln shook hands for three hours at the traditional New Year's Day reception in the White House....

Isaiah 61:1Universalfreedomjustice

264 words

Sermon Illustration

Warsaw Rising from the Rubble

In January 1945, when Soviet forces entered Warsaw, they found a graveyard. The Nazis had systematically demolished the city block by block after the 1944...

Ezekiel 37:1-14Universal

248 words

Sermon Illustration

The Watchmaker Who Said Yes

In February 1944, an eighty-four-year-old watchmaker in Haarlem, Holland, faced a choice that would cost him everything. Caspar ten Boom had been hiding Jewish families...

Matthew 1:18-25Universal

237 words

Sermon Illustration

The Songs They Carried Out of Bondage

In 1871, a small group of students from Fisk University in Nashville stood before audiences who did not want to hear them. They were formerly...

Universalfreedom

248 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: Luke 21:5-38

Vivid sensory description for preaching Luke 21:5-38

Universalhomileticspreaching technique

adults

258 words

Movie Analogy

Romero: Subversive Prayer for Liberation - Liberation (Matthew 6:9-13)

In the heart of El Salvador, amidst the turmoil of a nation under the grip of oppressive military rule, Archbishop Oscar Romero found himself in a sacred yet perilous position. Imagine a dimly lit church, its walls adorned with the...

Matthew 6:9-13Universal

363 words

Sermon Illustration

The Teenager Who Said Yes to History

In 1955, a soft-spoken seamstress named Rosa Parks boarded a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She was tired — not just physically, but soul-tired from...

Luke 1:26-38Universal

242 words

Contemporary

Hungry at the Counter

In the winter of 1960, Diane Nash and dozens of Fisk University students sat down at segregated lunch counters across downtown Nashville. They ordered coffee....

Matthew 5:6Universalleadershipcourage

243 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: Mark 10:32-34

As Jesus and his disciples journeyed toward Jerusalem, the dusty road beneath their feet felt heavier with each step. The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows that intertwined with their anxious hearts. Among the throngs of pilgrims...

Universalhomileticspreaching technique

adults

298 words