Hope – Sermon Illustration Ideas

Is the Past your Future

Future, Hope, regret

Imagine that you started your career working for yourself. You enjoyed thefreedom that comes with self-direction. Unfortunately, you also developed badhabits that eventually forced…

“The Lord Strengthened Me”

Faith, Grief, Hope, Hope in God, Reactions, Response, Strength, Unexpected

When John Newton lost his wife, Polly, his reaction was not what people expected. The next day he resumed his duties as a pastor,…

Finishing The Race

Christian Walk, Finish the race, Hard Circumstances, Hope, Race, Reward, Training

When Paul described the Christian walk, he sometimes likened it to a race. Using the images of the Roman Colosseum, he pictures us running…

Hope Through Love

Grief, Hope, Love, Sacrificial Love

In the movie Spider-Man: No Way Home (directed by Jon Watts [Columbia Pictures, 2021]), Peter Parker realizes that the only way to save the…

Good News

Good News, Hope, Loving Others, The Gospel

When a weary world receives good news, it rejoices. It pays attention and wants more. During the height of the global shutdown from the…

A Hopeful Hymn

Circumstances, Grateful Heart, Hope, Hymn, Imprisonment, Song

In 2017, while imprisoned in Turkey for his faith, missionary Andrew Brunson wrote the hymn, “You Are Worthy of My All.” After being arrested…

Emily Dickinson wrote a beautiful poem about hope in the face of trials and opposition, “‘Hope’ Is the Thing with Feathers” (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers-314). Hope is…

Hope In Jesus Christ

Faithfulness, Hope, Hope In Christ, Jesus Christ, Obedience

In a moving scene in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Jyn Erso asks the rebels to join her in fighting an unwinnable battle….

Despair Into Hope

Agapé, Despair, Future Hope, God's Love, Hope, Salvation

In movies and literature, the main characters often face dark times and difficult circumstances. When the situation seems hopeless, something happens to turn their…

Responsibility To Make A Difference

Activism, Future Hope, Hope, Hope Of the World, Redemption, Responsibility, Stewardship

The blockbuster film Interstellar (directed by Christopher Nolan [Paramount Pictures, 2014]) is set in a not-so-distant future devastated by global warming, where a global…

Reflecting On Climate Change

Apocalypse, Frailty, God's Creation, Hope, Stewardship, Suffering

The post-apocalyptic movie genre has become very popular in recent decades— maybe too popular! Here is a good article chronicling “10 Apocalyptic Movies That…

Anchors

Anchor, Christ, Hope, Relationship with Christ

This video shows how an anchor works in the water. The Ultra Anchor (the one seen in this video) buries itself deep in the…

Hope in the Midst of Pain

Fear, Hope, Pain, Violence, War

In our passage today, Isaiah is speaking to the nation of Israel, which was entering a really bad time. Through God’s righteous judgment, they…

Perfectly Built Model

Future, Healing, Hope, Restoration

Imagine a perfectly built model of something (LEGOs, toothpicks, clay) that you have spent so much time designing into the exact idea in your…

Messing Up

Failure, Forgiveness, Healing, Hope, Sin

On his podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, Mike Cosper interviewed Joshua Harris about Harris’s path from evangelical golden boy to leaving…

Giving Him Time

Devotion, Habit, Hope, Restoration, Salvation, Time With God

In her book In Pursuit of Love, Rebecca Bender shares how she was lured by a boyfriend from the safety of friends and family…

“I Can Carry You”

God's Care, God's Faithfulness, Help, Hope, Reliable

Throughout the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Samwise Gamgee continually demonstrates what reliability looks like. From beginning to end, he is right by Frodo’s…

The Power Of Light

Darkness, Hope, Light, Light of the World

Light is something that can have a dramatic effect on everything it touches. Light makes it possible to see. A lighthouse warns ships of…

At Dawn

God's Timing, Help, Hope, Rescue, Trusting God

In the second movie of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Two Towers (directed by Peter Jackson [New Line Cinema, 2002]), the people of Rohan…

Our Lighthouse

Darkness, Faith, Hope, Light, Trusting God

For centuries lighthouses have been beacons of hope for seafarers. Trusting God is much like trusting the beckoning light of the lighthouse—a hope amid…