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Home›Browse by Type›Stories & Illustrations

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Stories & Illustrations

9,837 illustrations — Vivid stories and real-world analogies for sermon use

Browse Stories & Illustrations by Book

Psalm (82)Luke (49)Matthew (42)John (36)1 Corinthians (31)Romans (29)Isaiah (29)Genesis (25)Acts (24)Hebrews (17)Ephesians (16)Revelation (14)Jeremiah (14)Galatians (10)Colossians (10)Mark (9)Philippians (8)Deuteronomy (8)2 Corinthians (8)Proverbs (8)

Sermon Illustration

The Gold Medal He Left Behind

In 1924, Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell arrived at the Paris Olympics as the fastest man in Britain. He was favored to win the 100-meter dash....

Universalsacrifice

230 words

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Sermon Illustration

Five Dollars and Fifty Cents an Hour

In 1994, Kurt Warner wanted nothing more than to play quarterback in the NFL. Instead, he got cut from the Green Bay Packers before the...

Universalpatience

255 words

Sermon Illustration

The Cells She Carried

In 1996, researcher Dr. Diana Bianchi at Tufts University made a remarkable discovery. She found that during pregnancy, fetal cells cross the placenta and enter...

Universalidentity

251 words

Sermon Illustration

The Blood That Wasn't His Own

In hematology, one of the most remarkable phenomena occurs after a bone marrow transplant. Once the donor's marrow engrafts and begins producing new blood cells,...

Universalgrace

234 words

Sermon Illustration

The Composer Who Refused to Be Silenced

In 1741, George Frideric Handel was a man the world had written off. His operas had fallen out of fashion. Creditors circled. A stroke four...

Universalperseverance

230 words

Sermon Illustration

A Far, Far Better Thing

In Charles Dickens's *A Tale of Two Cities*, Sydney Carton is a man who has wasted his life. Brilliant but broken, he drinks too much,...

Universalsacrifice

252 words

Sermon Illustration

The Dragon Who Couldn't Undress Himself

In C.S. Lewis's *The Voyage of the Dawn Treader*, the boy Eustace Scrubb turns into a dragon. His greed and selfishness have finally taken outward...

Universaltransformation

242 words

Sermon Illustration

The Butterflies That Trust a Map They've Never Seen

Every autumn, monarch butterflies leave southern Canada and fly up to three thousand miles to a handful of Oyamel fir forests in the mountains of...

Universalobedience

249 words

Sermon Illustration

The Call You Didn't Have to Make

When Apple released the iPhone 14, it introduced a feature called Crash Detection. Using accelerometers, gyroscopes, and barometric sensors, the phone can recognize the precise...

Universalhealing

235 words

Sermon Illustration

The Note in His Hand

In July 1924, Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell stood at the starting line of the 400-meter final at the Paris Olympics — an event that was...

Universalfaith

248 words

Sermon Illustration

The Art of the Long Count

In 1947, Jackie Robinson stepped onto Ebbets Field as the first Black man to play Major League Baseball in the modern era. Branch Rickey, the...

Universalpatience

238 words

Sermon Illustration

Pity That Changed the World

In J.R.R. Tolkien's *The Hobbit*, Bilbo Baggins finds himself alone in the dark beneath the Misty Mountains, standing over a wretched creature named Gollum. Bilbo...

Universalgrace

225 words

Sermon Illustration

The Cello in the Crater

On May 27, 1992, a mortar shell struck a bread line in the besieged city of Sarajevo, killing twenty-two people who had simply stepped outside...

Universalhealing

226 words

Sermon Illustration

The Code Rewritten at the Source

In 2012, biochemists Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier unveiled CRISPR-Cas9, a gene-editing tool that would revolutionize medicine. The technology works with remarkable precision: a guide...

Universaltransformation

209 words

Sermon Illustration

A Modern Story of Environmental Justice

In our modern world, the call for Environmental Justice resonates deeply, presenting both challenges and opportunities for people of faith. Imagine a small community in the heart of a bustling city, where an old park, once vibrant and full of...

Proverbs 3:5-6Roman Catholic

329 words

Sermon Illustration

Three Years to Reshape a Brain

In 2000, neuroscientist Eleanor Maguire at University College London made a remarkable discovery. She put London taxi drivers into MRI machines and found that a...

Universalpatience

237 words

Sermon Illustration

Pull Before You Push

In the world of software development, millions of programmers collaborate on shared code using a tool called Git, created by Linus Torvalds in 2005. Git...

Universalhumility

238 words

Sermon Illustration

Finding God in Environmental Justice

In a world grappling with the urgent call for Environmental Justice, we often find ourselves reflecting on the steadfastness of God's presence amidst the changing landscapes of our lives. Picture the lush pastures and still waters described in Psalm 23:1-6....

Psalm 23:1-6Arminian/Wesleyan

310 words

Sermon Illustration

The Murmuration

Every autumn over the marshlands of Rome, hundreds of thousands of European starlings perform one of nature's most breathtaking spectacles — a murmuration. The flock...

Universalcommunity

226 words

Sermon Illustration

The Frequency of Your Voice

In 2019, a researcher at the University of Georgia asked forty fathers to wear small audio recorders during evening hours at home. The results startled...

Ephesians 6:4Universalparenting

248 words

Sermon Illustration

Lessons from Environmental Justice

In our fast-paced, often overwhelming world, the call for Environmental Justice resonates deeply, especially for people of faith. It’s a challenge that requires not only awareness but also heart and action. Imagine for a moment the prophet Isaiah, standing amidst...

Isaiah 58:6-7Lutheran

273 words

Sermon Illustration

When Digital Discipleship Meets Faith

In our rapidly changing digital landscape, we often find ourselves navigating a sea of information and connection that can feel overwhelming. Imagine for a moment a young woman named Sarah, a passionate follower of Christ who pours her heart into...

James 1:27Anglican

297 words

Sermon Illustration

Finding Church in Everyday Moments

In the heart of a bustling city, there was a small café, a refuge amidst the chaos. An elderly man named Mr. Thompson sat at his usual corner table, his hands wrapped around a steaming mug of coffee. Each morning,...

2 Timothy 3:16-17Lutheran

286 words

Sermon Illustration

A Contemporary Questioning Traditional Doctrines Story

In a bustling city, there was a small, vibrant community center called The Bridge. This place was a refuge for those wrestling with questions of faith, identity, and belonging. Every Saturday afternoon, people from diverse backgrounds would gather for a...

Galatians 3:28Eastern Orthodox

282 words