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HomeIllustrations

9,000 Illustrations

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Sermon Illustration

Bartolomé de las Casas and the Forgotten Flock

In 1514, a Spanish priest named Bartolomé de las Casas stood in his church on the island of Hispaniola and read the words of Ecclesiasticus:...

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24Universal

237 words

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Sermon Illustration

William Tyndale's Last Prayer

In October 1536, outside the walls of Vilvoorde Castle in Belgium, William Tyndale was led to a stake. His crime was translating the Bible into...

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24Universal

247 words

Sermon Illustration

The Courtroom That Changed Everything

In 2019, former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger stood convicted of murdering Botham Jean, her upstairs neighbor, after entering his apartment by mistake and shooting...

Micah 6:1-8Universal

224 words

Sermon Illustration

The Phone That Always Answers

Margaret Chen's son David stopped calling regularly after college. He moved to Portland, found new friends, built a life that didn't seem to include her....

Psalm 78:1-2, 34-38Universal

237 words

Sermon Illustration

Science Illustration: Stewardship of Scientific Influence

In a small town, there lived an elderly scientist named Dr. Mendez. His entire life had been devoted to studying the stars, and he often said that each twinkle held a secret waiting to be uncovered. One clear night, he...

Revelation 21:1-5Universal

254 words

Sermon Illustration

When the Words Finally Came Home

In 2015, the American Bible Society completed a translation of Scripture into Bibleless languages for a small community of Kimyal people in Papua, Indonesia. When...

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10Universal

241 words

Sermon Illustration

Lessons from Economic Justice and the Kingdom

In the heart of our bustling cities, where the noise of life can drown out the cries for help, I recently encountered a story that shook me to my core. A small community in East Los Angeles, filled with families...

Luke 6:20-21Lutheran

281 words

Sermon Illustration

The Coach Who Emptied the Bus

In 2019, a high school cross-country coach in rural Oregon named Dave Turnbow was loading his team onto the bus after a meet in Bend...

Luke 15:3-7Universal

236 words

Sermon Illustration

Written Again in Whole

Every cell in your body is under constant attack. Ultraviolet light, oxidative stress, even the simple act of breathing — all of it damages your...

Universalforgiveness

233 words

Sermon Illustration

The Shortwave Radio in Grandpa's Garage

Fourteen-year-old Marcus thought his grandfather's ham radio setup was just a relic — dusty dials and tangled cables filling half the garage in Topeka, Kansas....

1 Samuel 3:1-10Universal

232 words

Sermon Illustration

The Sound You Feel in Your Bones

On a warm February morning in 2024, twelve-year-old Marcus Rivera stood with his family three miles from Launch Complex 39A at Cape Canaveral, watching a...

Psalm 29Universal

216 words

Sermon Illustration

Corrie ten Boom and the Hidden Room

In February 1944, the Gestapo raided the ten Boom home in Haarlem, Netherlands. Corrie ten Boom and her family had been hiding Jewish refugees behind...

Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10abUniversal

242 words

Sermon Illustration

Rembrandt's Final Homecoming

In 1668, a bankrupt and grieving Rembrandt van Rijn picked up his brush to paint what would become his final masterpiece: *The Return of the...

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32Universal

253 words

Sermon Illustration

Pandita Ramabai and the Famine Children of Pune

In 1896, famine swept across western India, leaving thousands of child widows and orphans starving along the roads of Maharashtra. Pandita Ramabai, a Sanskrit scholar...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

228 words

Sermon Illustration

The Elm That Wouldn't Die

In downtown Oklahoma City, an American Elm stands in the northwest corner of the National Memorial. Before April 19, 1995, nobody paid it much attention...

Genesis 9:8-17Universal

245 words

Sermon Illustration

The Safe Room She Didn't Know Was There

In 2011, a massive EF5 tornado carved through Joplin, Missouri, leveling entire neighborhoods in minutes. Bethany Stover clutched her newborn son in a hallway closet...

Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10abUniversal

230 words

Sermon Illustration

The Smoke Detector Nobody Wanted to Hear

In 2018, a family in Sacramento gathered for Thanksgiving dinner when the smoke detector began shrieking from the hallway ceiling. The turkey was fine. The...

Luke 12:49-56Universal

249 words

Sermon Illustration

The Dentist Who Closed His Practice on Fridays

Dr. James Chen had fasted every Friday for fifteen years. No food from sundown Thursday to sundown Friday — just water, prayer, and Scripture. He...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

249 words

Sermon Illustration

Bonhoeffer's Question in the Dark

In the winter of 1944, Dietrich Bonhoeffer sat in a concrete cell in Tegel Prison, Berlin, and wrote the poem that would outlast his captors....

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18Universal

225 words

Sermon Illustration

The A Better Political Imagination Challenge

In a world grappling with divisive politics and social unrest, the call to cultivate a Better Political Imagination feels as urgent as ever. Imagine a small community nestled in the heart of Appalachia, where the rugged landscape is both beautiful...

Genesis 1:26-28Arminian/Wesleyan

258 words

Sermon Illustration

The King Who Did Not Want to Speak

In the autumn of 1939, King George VI sat in Buckingham Palace facing a microphone he dreaded. Britain had just declared war on Germany. The...

Isaiah 7:10-16Universal

245 words

Sermon Illustration

The Rain That Satisfies Mown Grass

In 2015, when floodwaters devastated Richland County, South Carolina, the national cameras pointed at collapsed highways and submerged neighborhoods. But County Councilwoman Dalhi Myers drove...

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14Universal

219 words

Sermon Illustration

Science Illustration: Faith and Reason Working Together

There’s a remarkable story about a group of scientists who embarked on a mission to explore the depths of the ocean. They developed a submersible capable of reaching the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of our planet. As they descended...

John 1:1-5Universal

255 words

Sermon Illustration

The Gardener Who Trains the Vine

Every spring, in the stone-walled courtyard gardens of Provence, old roses that have climbed the same walls for generations are tended by patient hands. They...

Titus 2:11-12Universal

255 words