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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

Painting with Scissors

In 1941, Henri Matisse was seventy-one years old and recovering from surgery that left him largely confined to a wheelchair or bed. The man who...

Universalfreedom

242 words

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Sermon Illustration

The Open Door at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

In 1963, photographer Stanley Tretick captured one of the most iconic images in White House history. Two-year-old John F. Kennedy Jr. is crawling through the...

Hebrews 4:16Universal

243 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: Matthew 10:1-15

In a dusty corner of Galilee, beneath the shade of a gnarled olive tree, Jesus called His twelve disciples together. Imagine the scene: the sun setting low, casting long shadows on their sun-kissed faces, filled with uncertainty and anticipation. As...

Universal

355 words

Movie Analogy

Without a Weapon

In Mel Gibson's 2016 film *Hacksaw Ridge*, Army medic Desmond Doss refused to carry a gun. Mocked by his unit, threatened with court-martial, he stood...

Universalobedience

233 words

Sermon Illustration

Clarence Jordan's Sermon in the Soil

In 1942, Clarence Jordan — a Greek scholar with a doctorate in New Testament — did something his colleagues found baffling. He left a promising...

Matthew 5:1-12aUniversal

226 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: John 2:12

As the sun began to dip beneath the horizon, casting a golden glow over the rolling hills of Galilee, Jesus set out for Capernaum, a small lakeside town bustling with life. Imagine the scene: the air thick with the scent...

Universalhomileticspreaching technique

adults

254 words

Contemporary

Ten Days Staring at Nothing

In December 1995, Robert Williams, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, made a decision his colleagues called reckless. He pointed the Hubble...

Psalm 19:1Universalwondercreation

242 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: Matthew 13:51-52

Imagine the scene: a sunlit afternoon in a quaint Israeli village, where the air is thick with the scent of ripe figs and fresh bread from the nearby marketplace. At the heart of this village stands a grand home, its...

Universalhomileticspreaching technique

adults

292 words

Sermon Illustration

The Seed That Refused to Give Up

In 2005, Dr. Sarah Sallon and Dr. Elaine Solowey did something botanists considered impossible. They germinated a date palm seed that had been buried in...

Universalhope

234 words

Sermon Illustration

From Ruin to Hallelujah

In the summer of 1741, George Frideric Handel was a broken man. The composer who had once captivated London was now drowning in debt, his...

Universaltransformation

234 words

Sermon Illustration

The Thread That Holds Us Together

In 2009, molecular biologist Elizabeth Blackburn won the Nobel Prize for her research on telomeres — the protective caps at the ends of our chromosomes....

Universallove

241 words

Sermon Illustration

The Weight She Finally Set Down

For twenty-three years, Maria Gutierrez carried a sealed envelope in the bottom of her jewelry box. Inside was a letter from her birth mother —...

John 8:32Universal

262 words

Sermon Illustration

The Strangled Scholar Who Set England on Fire

In October 1536, William Tyndale was led from his prison cell in Vilvoorde Castle near Brussels to a stake surrounded by bundled sticks. His crime...

Romans 1:16Universal

242 words

Sermon Illustration

The Zinc Spark

In 2016, a team of researchers at Northwestern University led by Teresa Woodruff captured something extraordinary on camera. At the exact moment a human egg...

Genesis 1:1-3Universal

241 words

Sermon Illustration

The Unfolding

On Christmas Day 2021, NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope into space. After twenty-five years of development, delays, and budget overruns, the most powerful...

Universalpatience

239 words

Sermon Illustration

The Composer Nobody Remembered

In 1741, George Frideric Handel was a man the world had finished with. The composer who once filled London's grandest concert halls was now fifty-six,...

Universalidentity

233 words

Vivid Retelling

The Glory Descends: Exodus 40:34-38

Cinematic retelling of God's glory filling the tabernacle

Universal

424 words

Sermon Illustration

Music from a Paralyzed Hand

In 1737, George Frideric Handel suffered a massive stroke that paralyzed the right side of his body. Doctors doubted he would ever play again, let...

Universalhealing

228 words

Sermon Illustration

The Scar That Opened the Door

In 2018, a trauma surgeon named Dr. Liz Scarlett gave a talk at a medical conference in Nashville. She rolled up her sleeve and showed...

John 20:19-31Universal

252 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: Matthew 3:1-12

Imagine stepping into the rugged wilderness of the Jordan Valley, where the sun beats down mercilessly on a landscape of parched earth and jagged rocks. The air is thick with the scent of dust and distant spices, a foretaste of...

Universalhomileticspreaching technique

adults

359 words

Sermon Illustration

The Divine Right to Be Forgotten

In 2014, the European Court of Justice handed down a landmark ruling that changed the internet forever. A Spanish man named Mario Costeja González had...

Universalforgiveness

238 words

Sermon Illustration

Pointing at Nothing

In 1995, astronomer Robert Williams made a decision that nearly cost him his career. As director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, he pointed the...

Universalfaith

232 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: Matthew 12:9-14

As the sun began its descent, casting a golden hue across the bustling streets of Capernaum, Jesus made His way to the synagogue, the air thick with anticipation. This wasn’t just another Sabbath gathering; today, a profound confrontation awaited. The...

Universalhomileticspreaching technique

adults

346 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: Mark 2:23-28

As the sun rose higher in the sky, casting a warm golden light over the grainfields of Galilee, Jesus and his disciples strolled through the swaying stalks of wheat, their laughter mingling with the soft rustle of the breeze. The...

Universalhomileticspreaching technique

adults

339 words