Loving Others Archives - Sermon Illustration Ideas

God Calls Us To Care

Indifference, Loving Others, Lukewarm, Relationship with God, Relationships, Taking care of others

In her song, “I Forgot That You Existed,” Taylor Swift takes the listener through getting over someone who did them wrong: “It isn’t love,…

Love Overcomes

Forgiveness, Forgiving Others, Journey, Love, Loving Others, Loving Our Neighbor, Peace, Truth

NPR interviewed Koko Kondo, a woman who was just eight months old when the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on her city, Hiroshima….

Caring For Strangers

Caring for Others, Loving Others, Loving Our Neighbor, Self-Sacrifice

Folk tales throughout the ages have been told to express the sacred human duty of caring sacrificially for strangers. In these tales, a god,…

Being in One Another’s Lives

Brokenness, Love, Loving Others, Relationships, Unity

Jesus did not become a heretic because he ate with sinners, showed mercy to adulterers, or bucked certain religious traditions. Loving others well happens…

Tires Out of Balance

Failure, Imago Dei, Loving God, Loving Others, Pharisees, The Church

When our theology doesn’t extend to loving action, we look a lot like the Pharisees. We see this in the high-profile exodus of folks…

Radical Change

Change, Character, Loving Others, Path of Life, Sanctification

The best stories have a character arc, in which a character changes throughout the events of the story. The movie Iron Man (directed by…

Practicing Hospitality

Generosity, Hospitality, Kindness, Loving Others, Serving, Serving Others

In an episode of the television show Gilmore Girls, Lorelai Gilmore is having her home remodeled. Consider showing clips from this episode (season 6, episode…

Radically Ordinary Hospitality

Hospitality, Loving Others, Serve, Serving, Serving Others

The point is that hospitality is an opportunity to serve others. It isn’t about getting “repaid” but about serving someone who otherwise might not…

Invitations

Community, Generosity, Invitation, Loving Others, Serving Others

Jesus says, “But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” (14:13). Invite people, then, who normally are…

Enhancing Others’ Lives

Community, Kindness, Loving Others, Serving, Serving Others

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses two sensory-rich descriptions for the people who are his disciples. He states, “You are the salt…

Being a Light

Evangelism, Light, Light of the World, Love, Loving Others

Like salt, light is something that can have a dramatic effect on everything it touches. Light makes it possible to see. A lighthouse warns…

Transformed By Love

Change, God's Love, Love, Loving Others, Transformation

A good modern example of a character transformed by love is Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When we first meet Tony in Iron…

Messy

Evangelism, Helping others, Loving Others, Serving, Serving Others

Pulling someone from a raging river requires us to get muddy too. If we simply toss a rope, the current pulls the rope downstream…

Embracing God-Given Zeal

Apathy, Loving God, Loving Others, Passion, Purpose, Zeal

The book Nothing to See Here (Kevin Wilson [New York: Ecco, 2019]) is a story about two children who have a tendency to spontaneously burst into…

Unfazed

Apathy, Caring for Others, Distraction, Good Samaritan, Loving Others, Paying Attention

In the movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman [Columbia Pictures, 2018]), two Spider-Men, in full Spidey gear, become entangled…

Unsee

Inclusion, Loving Others, Loving Your Neighbor, Neighbors

China Miéville’s 2009 award-winning book The City and the City has a bit of a preposterous setting: two city-states that overlap in time and space (placed…

Introductions

Identity, Identity in Christ, Loving Others, Value

Consider how you introduce yourself to someone new. In many cultures, we begin with our name, then describe ourselves based on what we feel…

Recognizing An Opportunity

Generosity, Gift, Helping others, Loving Others, Opportunity

The story of Esther is an amazing example of a young woman who wisely took advantage of her resources and influence and, with God’s…

Sacrificial Love

Disciplines, Love, Loving Others, Sacrifice, Technology

No doubt, most of us, if given the choice, would gladly give up things to help our best friend. If he or she was…

Christ-Like Empathy

Christlikeness, Empathy, Following Jesus, Loving Others, Loving Our Neighbor

Empathy is not impossible, but it is an exercise. Jesus expects us to be empathetic because he is empathetic. However, we have to learn…