Relationships – Sermon Illustration Ideas

Be Careful When Choosing Friends

Friends, Friendship, Gaining Wisdom, Relationships, Wise choices, Wise Friends

In Disney’s Luca (directed by Enrico Casarosa [Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2021]), the title character discovers life above the surface of the water….

Transformational Love

Character, Love, Relationships, transformational love, Unconditional Love

In Disney’s remake of Beauty and the Beast (directed by Bill Condon, Walt Disney Pictures, 2017), the cursed prince, the Beast, is slowly transformed by the…

Rejection

Acceptance, Costs, Following Jesus, Rejection, Relationships

Has following Jesus ever left you feeling like an outcast from your friends, family, or those you interact with in your community? There are…

Trust And Understanding

Culture, Evangelism, Learn, Listen, Love of Others, Missions, Observe, Relationships, Trust, Understanding

Denine Blevins shared her story of working in the Dominican Republic and being called out for being arrogant and culturally insensitive: “One of my…

Love Covers A Multitude Of Sins

Genuine Love, God is Love, Love, Mistakes, Overcome Sin, Relationships

As long as we possess a genuine love for one another, we can have all kinds of miscues and mistakes and yet still experience…

Success In Relationships Requires Truth

Godly Relationships, Love, Relationships, Requirements, Successful Relationships, Truth

The film Crazy Rich Asians (directed by Jon M. Chu, Warner Bros., 2018) depicts the relationship of mega-rich Nick Young with not-so-rich professor Rachel…

Love Is More Than Words

Love, Love One Another, Relationships, Serving

Love is celebrated in Christian hymns and praise songs, as well as an avalanche of popular music. One song includes the refrain, “And they’ll…

Gratitude

Dignity, Gratitude, Humility, Leadership, Relationships

Sheldon Yellen, CEO of BELFOR Holdings Inc., writes 9,200 holiday and birthday cards every year: one for every employee. He started this gesture in…

Please Remember

God Remembers, Love, Relationships, Remember, Rescue, Struggles

“Please Remember Me” is the sorrowful cry from Tim McGraw’s 1999 single. While the country song describes the love and struggle of human relationships,…

“Remember Me”

Covenant, Father, God Remembers, Relationships, Remember

Relationships create the opportunity for remembrance. The film Coco (directed by Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina [Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2017]) reveals the…

Feeling Inadequate By Comparison

Comparison, God's Righteousness, Inadequacy, Relationships, Righteousness

In the sitcom The Good Place, Tahani Al-Jamil is beautiful, intelligent, a wonderful hostess, and a philanthropist with connections to many celebrities. However, she…

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,…

Familial Relationships

Church Family, Differences, Different Worldviews, Family, Gathering, Relationships

We all have different definitions and experiences of family. Karis Lee describes how living in the Middle East changed her and her family’s understanding…

Viewing Relationships Like Hexagons

Hexagon, Hexagonal Patterns, Honeycombs, Relationships, Strongest Shape

Although perfect circles don’t exist in nature—we always find a lump or a bump—look for spheres. When spheres connect naturally, such as with bubbles,…

House Fires

Friends, Relationship, Relationships, Words

Smokey Bear is an iconic character who has been used to encourage fire safety for decades. This clip from a public service announcement could…

Covenanting

Covenant, Promise, Relationship, Relationships

A modern-day example of covenanting with a group and valuing visible identifiable markers is the Greek system on our university campuses. Students pledge, or…

Humility Over Prestige

Humble, Humility, Power, Relationships

Dave Anderson relates a story about a powerful man choosing humility instead of prestige. Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn turned down breakfast with…

Proof of Our Relationship

Lament, Needs, Relationship with God, Relationships

Packiam writes, “On a Saturday morning, when my wife and I are trying to sleep in until that luxurious hour of 8am but our…

Invented Drama

Faithfulness, God's Love, Love, Relationship with God, Relationships

In the teen rom-com The Kissing Booth 2 (directed by Vince Marcello [Netflix, 2020]), main characters Elle and Noah are long-distance dating. Noah was previously known to…

One-Sided Relationships

God's Love, Love, Relationship with God, Relationships, Seeking God

Have you ever had a relationship where you were the only one putting in the effort? Maybe it was a friendship or romantic relationship…