Sacrifice Archives - Sermon Illustration Ideas

The Homecoming

Bride of Christ, Children of God, Christmas, Father, Gifts, God Our Father, Love, Sacrifice

Earl Hamner’s novel about one Christmas from his childhood, The Homecoming, is a perfect illustration of God’s love for his bride. At the height…

No Pain, No Gain

Growth, Pain, Resistance, Sacrifice, Struggle

“No pain, no gain!” Have you heard this as you were working out? The phrase stresses the idea that growth comes about painfully, through…

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…

On The Incarnation

Christ, Incarnation, Love, Sacrifice, The Gospel

In a radio address, C. S. Lewis illustrated the incarnation and Jesus’s sacrifice for us this way: “Lying at your feet is your dog….

Our “Stand-In”

Atonement, Forgiveness, Jesus, Propitiation, Sacrifice, Salvation, Sin

Glenn Duhigg, a stand-in actor for Tom Cruise on the set of the movie Mission Impossible 2, explains, “It sounds very glamorous saying you’re…

What Love Looks Like

Generosity, Giving, Love, Sacrifice, Serving Others

What is one of the ultimate expressions of love? Sacrifice. We might think of the direst of examples, like laying down your life for…

What We Deserve

Discipleship, Examination, Lent, Repentance, Sacrifice, Suffering

We do not live in a culture that elevates self-denial. Most often we are told we “deserve” to indulge, to be happy, to put…

The Blue Marble

Generosity, Giving Your Life, Parable, Sacrifice, Salvation, Story, Submission

“[In an article for Decision magazine], Samuel Kamaleson illustrates [the difficulty of submission] through a Christian folk story from South India. … It opens…

Abandoning Comfort

1 John 3:1-3, 2 Peter 1:3, Abandoning Comfort, Following Christ, Following Jesus, Galatians 2:20, Give, Luke 14:27, Luke 9:23-24, Matthew 16:24-25, Sacrifice, Serve, Take Up Your Cross

In the 19th century, a Belgian priest named Father Damien left the comforts of home behind and moved to the Hawaiian island of Molokai…

Denying Our Desires

1 John 3:1-3, 2 Peter 1:3, Denying Ourselves, Following Christ, Galatians 2:20, Giving, Helping others, Luke 14:27, Luke 9:23-24, Matthew 16:24, Sacrifice, Self-Sacrifice, Serving

In 1986, Alan and Eric Barnhart started a crane-and-rigging company. They viewed their company as God’s company, though, and decided to cap their income…

Oncoming Sacrifice

1 Corinthians 13:13, 1 John 4:11, 1 John 4:19-21, 1 Peter 1:2, 2 Chronicles 15:7, Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 5:21, Galatians 5:12, Galatians 5:13, Husband, Love, Marriage, Proverbs 10:12, Redemption, Sacrifice, Self-Sacrifice, Spouse, Wife

Brian Wood made the ultimate sacrifice for his wife and unborn child when he saw a twenty-one-year-old driver about to collide with the car…

The Vigilante Pastor

2 Corinthians 10:5, 2 John 1:6, Broken, Compass, Controversy, Deuteronomy 11:1, Faithful, Fallen, Fearing God, Following, Giving, John 15:14, Revelation 14:12, Sacrifice, Vigilante

The documentary Almost Holy covers the work of Gennadiy, who calls himself “Pastor Crocodile.” His mission is to take homeless and drug-addicted children off…

Crushing Competition

1 Peter 1:19, 1 Peter 2:22, Christ, Christ's Death, Competition, Crushed, Dominate, Envy, Gratitude, Hebrews 7:26, Hero, Isaiah 11:5, Isaiah 53:7, Sacrifice, Victory

“The price of greatness is more than you want to pay. The world’s most legendary athletes are usually the ones most wildly out of…

Superhuman?

Cross, Easter, Fully Human and Fully God, Galatians 4:4, Good Friday, Hebrews 2:9, Jesus, Jesus's Death, John 17:1-5, John 19:17, Mark 15:34, Matthew 27:37, Matthew 27:46, Philippians 2:7, Psalm 22:14-18, Sacrifice, Suffered

The following clip from the movie Batman v Superman displays the otherworldly strength of Superman(just play the first minute of the video). We might…

Man of Sorrows

1 Corinthians 15:31, Dying to Self, Faith, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 5:24, God's Will, John 12:24, Lamb of God, Luke 9:23, Mark 8:35, Matthew 10:38, Philippians 2:1-30, Righteousness, Romans 6:1-23, Sacrifice, Sin, Suffered, Surrender

Now Jesus, the perfect and final sacrifice, would die for the sins of all humanity in order to deliver all who believe from sin…

Mindfulness

Active, Attentive, Distraction, Focus, Luke 12:24-34, Matthew 6:25-34, Meditation, Mindfulness, Philippians 4:6-7, Present, Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans 8:38-39, Sacrifice, Single-Minded, Trusting God

In this time when multi-tasking is so popular, we often forget how valuable being single-minded can be. When we focus on one mission, we…

Empowered To Sacrifice

Comparison, Contentious, David Livingstone, Empowerment, Explorer, Gain, Hebrews 10:34, Love, Luke 14:27, Luke 18:22, Luke 9:24, Matthew 10:37, Missionary, Respect, Sacrifice

David Livingstone is one of the more well-known missionaries and explorers to southern Africa. Though he is also known for being contentious and a…

Credit Score

2 Corinthians 5:21, Bank, Christ's Death, Credit Score, Debt, Future, Imputed, Investment, Isaiah 46:13, Isaiah 56:1, Psalm 89:16, Replacement, Righteousness, Romans 3:21, Sacrifice

If you pay off a large debt you’ve accumulated from credit cards, it won’t necessarily erase all your problems. Your debt is paid, but…

Equal Value

Brothers, Cerebral Palsy, Colossians 1:15, Colossians 3:10, Disability, Genesis 1:26, Genesis 1:27, Grace, Inclusion, James 3:9, Joy, Sacrifice, Universal, Value, Worth

Cayden, born with cerebral palsy, was unable to help himself. His parents said they were told he would be helpless, a “vegetable” his whole…

No Repayment

1 Corinthians 4:12, Altruism, Calling, Compassion, Freedom, Kindness, Love, Luke 6:33, Matthew 5:39, Matthew 5:44, Repayment, Romans 12:17, Sacrifice, Satisfaction, Service

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”- John Bunyan Our compassionate God calls us…