Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Great Sermon Illustration Videos For the 21st Century Church

In the 21st century church, sermon illustration videos are a great way to keep the congregation engaged in the message.  In our fast paced society with cell phones ringing and spam emails trying to get our attention, it is hard than ever to keep the members of the congregation focused during the sermon.  Pastors can either choose to embrace new technology, or they can choose to run from it!  It is not just children and teenagers that have short attention spans.  The average adult can only focus on most speakers for 20 minutes at a time. 
Sermon illustration videos are a great way to embrace new technology while keeping the congregation focused.  Streaming videos and overhead projectors have made it easy to show videos in the church service. 

Here are a few examples of sermon illustration videos that are perfect for most messages:

Short Videos for Memorial Day & Labor Day
It is important for the congregation to recognize the fallen heroes of the United States during Memorial Day weekend.  It is because of the sacrifices that these individuals made that we can freely worship today without fear of persecution.  If you are preaching a sermon near Memorial Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Independence Day, or other historical holidays, this is a great way to get the attention of the congregation. Almost everyone knows someone that serves in the military, so these types of videos can usher in a time of reverence and seriousness during a sermon.  

Short Funny Videos for Opening a Sermon
There are many short funny video clips you can use at the beginning of a sermon.  These short videos give you a chance to break the ice with the congregation.  Another great use of funny video clips is to save them for times when it seems like the congregation needs to wake up on Sunday morning.  Sermon illustration videos can be funny too, and you can reach people who otherwise wouldn’t be pay attention to what you have to say.

Sermon Illustration Videos Just Before the Altar Call
If you know you are going to be giving an altar call during the service, showing a video right before the altar call is a great idea.  There are many Christian videos that are designed to get the viewer to consider their salvation or their walk with the Lord.  If it is Mission Sunday, there may be a call for people to join the mission field.  There is always a need for more missionaries, and videos can stir the emotions of Christians to take action!


Sermon illustration videos are a growing part of church services today.  People are used to spending hours watching TV or surfing the internet, so we need to be willing to adapt to the changing attention spans of our society!

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