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HomeIllustrations

7,545 Illustrations

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Top Rated Newest Oldest|All Sources Biblical Illustrator Spurgeon Maclaren

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Sermon Illustration

The Cathedral That Took Six Hundred Years

In 1248, workers laid the foundation stone for the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. They would never see it finished. Neither would their children, nor their...

Universalpatience

241 words

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Sermon Illustration

The Coach They Refused to Follow

In 2016, the small town of Tuscumbia, Alabama, hired Hal Lamb as head football coach at Deshler High School. Lamb had grown up on those...

Luke 4:21-30Universal

222 words

Sermon Illustration

The Cathedral That Took Five Centuries

In 1296, workers in Florence laid the first stone of what would become the Duomo — the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The original...

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14Universal

224 words

Sermon Illustration

Modern Examples of Interfaith Dialogue - Contemporary Example

Imagine a community center in a bustling city, filled with the sounds of laughter and lively conversation. People from different backgrounds gather for an interfaith dialogue—a Muslim woman in a vibrant hijab sharing her family’s traditions, a Jewish man with...

Colossians 3:15Anabaptist

281 words

Sermon Illustration

When Perseverance - Story

There was a woman named Lydia, known in her community not merely for her successful purple cloth business, but for her unwavering faith and love. She faced trials like any of us—moments when doubt crept in and perseverance felt more...

Matthew 28:19-20Arminian/Wesleyan

242 words

Sermon Illustration

The Phone Call That Always Gets Answered

Every emergency room nurse knows the pattern. Dr. Maria Santos, a trauma physician at Denver Health Medical Center, once described it this way: "People who...

Psalm 78:1-2, 34-38Universal

245 words

Sermon Illustration

George Washington Carver's Laboratory of Wonder

In 1921, George Washington Carver stood before the United States Congress holding a handful of peanuts. From that humble legume, he had derived over three...

Genesis 1:1-2:4aUniversal

229 words

Sermon Illustration

Barefoot on the Stage

Rich Mullins wrote *Awesome God*, one of the most recognizable worship songs of the last forty years. It filled arenas. It sold millions of records....

Universalhumility

239 words

Sermon Illustration

R.G. LeTourneau and the Reversed Tithe

In 1935, a Texas earthmoving contractor named R.G. LeTourneau made a decision that his accountant called reckless. Already tithing ten percent of his income, LeTourneau...

Malachi 3:10Universal

209 words

Sermon Illustration

When Goodness - Story

A few months ago, I visited a local community garden, a vibrant patch of earth tended by volunteers from our neighborhood. Each person came with their own story—some seeking purpose, others searching for connection or simply a place to grow....

2 Timothy 1:7Arminian/Wesleyan

244 words

Sermon Illustration

The Protocol That Cost Everything and Was Given Away Free

In the early 1970s, engineers Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn developed TCP/IP — the foundational communication protocol that makes the entire internet possible. Every email...

Universalsacrifice

232 words

Sermon Illustration

The Judge Who Remembered the Forgotten

In 2015, Judge Steven Leifman of Miami-Dade County stood in his courtroom and watched the same faces cycle through again and again — homeless men...

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14Universal

230 words

Sermon Illustration

Thirty Thousand Points of Recognition

When Apple introduced Face ID in 2017, they built something remarkable into the iPhone's TrueDepth camera: a tiny projector that casts thirty thousand invisible infrared...

Universalidentity

223 words

Sermon Illustration

The Man Who Called for Thanksgiving in the Middle of a War

In 1863, the United States was tearing itself apart. Battlefield casualties mounted into the hundreds of thousands. Abraham Lincoln — a man who had lost...

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24Universal

236 words

Sermon Illustration

The Patch of Sky That Wasn't Empty

In December 1995, astronomer Robert Williams made a decision his colleagues thought was foolish. As director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, he chose to...

Ephesians 3:20Universal

256 words

Sermon Illustration

The Fever That Drives the Infection Away

In 1868, German physician Carl Wunderlich published a landmark study establishing 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit as the baseline for human body temperature. What he also documented...

James 4:7Universal

211 words

Sermon Illustration

The Emperor's Forgotten Column

In 303 AD, Emperor Diocletian launched the most savage persecution the early church had ever faced. He ordered scriptures burned in public squares, church buildings...

Psalm 2Universal

234 words

Sermon Illustration

What They Called Junk

For decades, geneticists referred to roughly 98 percent of human DNA as "junk DNA" — vast stretches of genetic code that appeared to serve no...

Universalidentity

229 words

Sermon Illustration

The Comeback No One Expected

On April 14, 2019, Tiger Woods stood on the eighteenth green at Augusta National and did something the sporting world had declared impossible. He won...

Universalrestoration

245 words

Sermon Illustration

The Trees That Never Learned to Stand

In 1991, scientists sealed themselves inside Biosphere 2, a massive glass structure in the Arizona desert designed to replicate Earth's ecosystems. They planted trees, controlled...

Universalcourage

212 words

Sermon Illustration

The Voice That Rang From the Lincoln Memorial

On Easter Sunday, 1939, contralto Marian Anderson stood before the Lincoln Memorial and opened her mouth to sing. The Daughters of the American Revolution had...

Psalm 98:1-4Universal

235 words

Sermon Illustration

When the Smartest Engineer in the Room Asks for Review

At Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, even the most senior software engineers — the architects of systems used by billions of people — don't ship code...

Universalhumility

233 words

Sermon Illustration

The Father Who Left the Porch Light On

For fourteen years, David Chen of Portland, Oregon, left his porch light on every single night. His daughter, Mei, had walked out at seventeen after...

Hosea 11:1-11Universal

240 words

Sermon Illustration

George Müller and the Orphans of Bristol

In 1835, George Müller sat in his study in Bristol, England, reading Scripture about caring for the fatherless. He had read such passages many times...

James 1:22Universal

230 words