10 Christian Movies about Restoration & Rebirth of Broken People Who Rebuilt Their Lives

A Friday night with pizza, chips, my husband, and great Christian movies. This is a perfect Friday night for me.

I love nothing more than to cuddle on my couch with my family while I watch an inspirational story. I have used inspirational films for more than just a perfect movie night with the family.

We have hosted movie nights in the park for neighborhoods we were ministering in. We have played these great Christian movies at camps, AWANA nights, and Sunday events.

There are a few really great Christian movies about restoration, here are a few that I really enjoy.

 

Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon

My father-in-law loves Johnny Cash. He has his records, which he plays in his old-fashioned record player.

It was not until last year when I saw Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon that I learned the story of how Jesus Christ saved the life of Johnny.

This is a documentary that tells the story of a point in Johnny's life when he hit rock bottom. Johhny grew up singing hymns in a cotton field.

He rose to fame as an adult selling out stadiums to screaming fans. But fame and money did not fill the emptiness inside him. Johnny battled depression until the moment he met Jesus Christ in a dark cave.

Johnny believes in God. What I loved about this documentary was the video clips of Johnny himself talking and sharing his testimony of the amazing grace that rescued him from despair and brought him to the Christian faith.

This is a true story. I find true stories to be my favorite type of Christian film.

 

Same Kind of Different As Me

When I was in college, I spent a summer working at a camp for children from the inner cities of Detroit and Chicago. The children were a different race than my family. They lived in a different country.

And yet their stories were very similar to my father's story who grew up in the slum areas of Mexico.

I shared the stories of my father's life, and how he overcame his past to get a doctorate degree, marry a wonderful woman, and adopt children such as myself.

There is something powerful in realizing that someone very different from you shares a similar story. The movie, "Same Kind of Different as Me”, tells the story of two men.

They could not be more different. And yet, they share a similar past. Living a life with a story of a hard time surviving childhood trauma, both men face a life overcoming trauma.

This movie is a great reminder to each of us, that just because someone looks different than us, or comes from a different background, doesn’t mean we don’t have anything in common with them.

 

Victor

My father came to this country as an immigrant when he was nine years old. He faced challenges in school and to prove he was tuff he got involved in a very bad crowd.

He was 19 when he came to Christ. During his teen years, he was involved in fighting and was known as one of the worst cases in town.

But when he came to Christ he changed immediately and was attending Bible school to be a pastor only a few months after his salvation.

Because of his story, I have a heart for the immigrant children who come to our country only to end up on the wrong side of the law. This movie is the true story of Victor Torres.

As a child, Victor came to America as an immigrant. In America, he finds gang life and drugs. Visiting drug rehab centers does not help. Victor is heading toward the death of drug addiction.

And then he meets Jesus Christ. The power of God changes Victor and after changing his own life, he starts the hard work of helping others change theirs.

 

Unconditional

A few years ago, I was working as the Bible Teacher at a Christian Camp for at-risk youth from Toronto. On Friday we had a movie night, and this is the movie they showed the kids.

Although there are some darker themes such as suicide, murder, and graphic violence, the children we were working with had seen those bad situations in real life.

The movie showed these kids that God will still be there for them even if they face hard times. God does love us unconditionally. We don’t have to work to earn his love.

That is the most powerful message we can share with everyone we meet.

 

The Father’s Love

When I was newlywed, I met a lady who was desperate and at the deep end of despair. When I shared the Gospel with her, she told me God could not love her because she had spent years in an affair with a married man.

I was able to tell her that God’s love is unconditional. God can and will forgive you even if you had a lot of that type of relationship. This movie is a story of an affair with a married man.

She knows this is not the right thing, and yet she continues. This is a movie that will give you a chance to talk to your teens or youth group about love.

What is love? Can there be rules around love? I recommend this movie to adults.

If you watch this with teenagers, be prepared to end the night with some conversations.

 

1500 Steps

This is an adult father-son story. It can be hard for fathers and sons to share their feelings with each other. Sometimes watching a movie can be a great way to start a conversation.

We have all girls in our home, but even though this is a story of a father and son, it is still a great movie to watch with your teenage daughters.

In this movie a retired ex-Olympian Harry White mentors a young man named Jobe O'Brian who lives with his alcoholic father.

Jobe has a chance to be a professional runner, and Harry Whites help him find what he needs to be a Man of God. We all know the biblical story of the prodigal son.

But what if you have a prodigal father story in your life? One of my best friends has had to deal with having a father who is an alcoholic, who even now he is not a man she can have a relationship with.

If you work with teenagers who don’t have parents they can lean on, this is a great option for a movie to watch with them.

This is a great option for a movie night with your youth group.

 

Unplanned

This is one of my favorite Christian movies. This is the true story of Abby Johnson, a woman who convinced pregnant woman to end their pregnancy by killing their child in the form of abortion.

The message of restoration in this movie is one you will not forget. The part of the movie that hit me really hard was Abby’s mother, who prays for her daughter.

This movie shows the power of prayer and her mother’s prayers are answered. Abby’s mother is not the only one praying. The people praying outside her planned Parenthood clinic also have their prayers answered.

This touched me because I have stood outside hospitals where abortions take place. Sometimes it can seem like nothing is happening.

This movie inspired me to not give up praying for abortion to end in the area where I live.

 

October Baby

I am adopted. I began searching for my birth family when I was 24. Looking for the birth family is difficult, and also scary. In the movie, October Baby, a young woman who is a college student goes on a road trip to find her birth mom.

She learns she survived an abortion. So now she is looking for her birth mom who tried and failed to kill her.

I picked this movie to watch while I was doing laundry, however, I was so drawn into the story that I ended up sitting on the couch surrounded by my unfolded laundry, watching the movie.

This is a great movie that I highly recommend. Not only does it have the theme of adoption, but it also shows the horror of abortion.

However, for those who have had abortions, there is the message of restoration. For those who have had an abortion, there is forgiveness.

 

War Room

In my office, I have a chalkboard with my prayers written on them. This was inspired by watching the movie War Room.

Miss Clara is the elderly woman in this movie who helps a woman who is struggling as a wife and a mother to a little girl.

What the mother learns is that she can not love her family if she has not experienced the love of Jesus.

This movie will motivate you to believe in the power of prayer and to take a chance to change your life.

You can change your marriage and your family. It will take some powerful prayers.

 

Blue Miracle

When I was a young girl, I lived in Newfoundland Canada. My father was a missionary to the area. I lived close to the ocean and loved my time spent by the ocean.

This is a movie that takes place on the ocean. I watched this movie with my children when they were young, and this is a good option for a family-friendly film. I have always had a heart for ministry to at-risk youth.

This movie is the story of a missionary running an orphanage. Like all children’s ministries, they are strapped for cash. They come up with a creative way to make some money.

They join a lucrative fishing competition. This movie has the Christian Themes of caring for orphans in their distress and also living a pure life. The captain they team up with has given up on life.

He believes the sins of his past are too much for God to forgive. But God is in the business of redemption.

But can God change the heart of an atheist?

What I really saw with this movie is the reminder that God wants us to share his love, not only with the cute orphans who desperately need us but also with the elderly men and women who have lived a life full of regrets and need to know that God can redeem them.