In December 2023, the FDA approved a treatment called Casgevy — the first therapy to use CRISPR gene-editing technology to cure sickle cell disease. For...

Universalhealing

221 words

Sermon Illustration

The Christ Who Never Checked the Balance

Rich Mullins wrote *Awesome God*, one of the best-selling worship songs in Christian music history. Royalties poured in year after year — enough to make...

Universalsacrifice

232 words

Sermon Illustration

When the Thunder Spoke Over Lake Pontchartrain

On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana with 150-mile-per-hour winds. Marcus Thibodaux, a shrimper from Lafitte, had weathered dozens of storms in...

Psalm 29Universal

214 words

Sermon Illustration

Science Illustration: Biology and the Gift of Life

Imagine standing in a sunlit forest, where the air is rich with the scent of pine and earth. As you gaze up at the towering trees swaying gently in the breeze, consider the delicate dance of life happening all around...

Psalm 104:24-30Universal

235 words

Sermon Illustration

When the Road Goes Dark, Carry What You Can

In J.R.R. Tolkien's *The Return of the King*, there is a moment near the end of the journey into Mordor where Frodo collapses. He cannot...

Universalperseverance

249 words

Sermon Illustration

What Hides in the Dark

In 2003, NASA pointed the Hubble Space Telescope at one of the darkest, emptiest patches of night sky — a spot near the constellation Fornax...

Universalhope

259 words

Sermon Illustration

The Code That No One Person Could Write

In 1991, a twenty-one-year-old Finnish student named Linus Torvalds posted a modest message to an online forum. He had written a small computer operating system...

Universalcommunity

224 words

Sermon Illustration

The Freedom Simone Biles Found in Letting Go

In the summer of 2021, the world watched Simone Biles — the most decorated gymnast in history — step away from Olympic competition in Tokyo....

Universalfreedom

259 words

Sermon Illustration

When Silence Would Have Been Easier

In Victor Hugo's *Les Misérables*, Jean Valjean faces a moment that defines his entire story. A stranger named Champmathieu has been arrested and mistaken for...

Universalcourage

229 words

Sermon Illustration

The Code That Wasn't Junk

For decades, scientists dismissed nearly 98 percent of the human genome as "junk DNA" — vast stretches of genetic material that appeared to serve no...

Universalpurpose

245 words

Sermon Illustration

George Müller's Empty Plates and Overflowing Tables

In 1838, George Müller sat at the head of a long table in his Bristol orphanage, staring at three hundred empty bowls. There was no...

Luke 6:38Universal

259 words

Sermon Illustration

The Recently Deleted Folder

If you own an iPhone, you know what happens when you delete a photo. It doesn't actually disappear. Apple moves it to a folder called...

Universalforgiveness

238 words

Sermon Illustration

When the Whole World Watched Her Walk Away

In July 2021, Simone Biles stood on the world's biggest stage at the Tokyo Olympics — widely regarded as the greatest gymnast in history, carrying...

Universalfreedom

238 words

Sermon Illustration

The Ground Ball Grace Couldn't Miss

On October 25, 1986, Bill Buckner crouched at first base in Game Six of the World Series, one out away from a championship. When Mookie...

Universalforgiveness

258 words

Sermon Illustration

The Bow No One Expected

In Fyodor Dostoevsky's *The Brothers Karamazov*, there is a scene that has stunned readers for over a century. The revered Elder Zossima — a monk...

Universalhumility

228 words

Sermon Illustration

Running Toward What Matters

In 1924, Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell arrived at the Paris Olympics as the favorite in the 100-meter dash. Then he learned the heats were scheduled...

Universalpurpose

221 words

Sermon Illustration

Bending Toward the Light

In 1880, Charles Darwin and his son Francis published *The Power of Movement in Plants*, documenting a remarkable phenomenon: even in near-total darkness, a seedling...

Universalhope

218 words

Sermon Illustration

The Song That Came From Ruin

In the summer of 1741, George Frideric Handel was a broken man. The composer who had once dazzled the courts of Europe was now drowning...

Universalhope

241 words

Sermon Illustration

The Dogs Who Forgot They Were Free

In 1967, psychologist Martin Seligman made a disturbing discovery at the University of Pennsylvania. Dogs subjected to mild shocks they couldn't avoid eventually stopped trying...

Universalfreedom

234 words

Sermon Illustration

When Peace Like a River Could Not Be Silenced

In November 1873, Horatio Spafford stood on the deck of a ship crossing the Atlantic, staring down at the cold waters that had swallowed his...

Universalhope

219 words

Sermon Illustration

The Old Man Who Would Not Quit

In Ernest Hemingway's *The Old Man and the Sea*, the aged fisherman Santiago has gone eighty-four days without a catch. The other fishermen pity him....

Universalperseverance

225 words