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HomeIllustrations

9,020 Illustrations

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Top Rated Newest Oldest|All Sources Biblical Illustrator Spurgeon Maclaren

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Sermon Illustration

Churchill's Return to the Man Britain Had Discarded

In 1940, Britain stood alone. France had fallen, the Luftwaffe darkened English skies, and the nation that had mocked and sidelined Winston Churchill for a...

Psalm 78:1-2, 34-38Universal

228 words

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Sermon Illustration

Nature Illustration: Naming Creatures and Responsible Dominion

Imagine a young boy, perhaps seven years old, wandering through a lush forest near his home. Sunlight filters through the canopy, casting playful shadows on the ground as he stumbles upon a small, quivering creature—a baby bird that has fallen...

Colossians 1:15-20Universal

242 words

Sermon Illustration

The Night Shift Hears First

Marcus Webb was three hours into a twelve-hour security shift at a paper mill in Covington, Georgia — walking the same fence line he'd walked...

Luke 2:10-11Universal

260 words

Sermon Illustration

Anglican Lens Perspective: Sermon Illustration

Just a few months ago, I encountered a woman named Sarah at a community gathering. She had recently lost her job, a position she had dedicated years to, and she was feeling adrift, bereft of purpose. As we talked, her...

Romans 8:28Anglican

255 words

Sermon Illustration

Clarence Jordan and the Red Clay of Koinonia

In 1942, Clarence Jordan — a Baptist minister with a doctorate in Greek New Testament — drove his family into the red clay countryside outside...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

222 words

Sermon Illustration

Abraham Lincoln's Tears for a Broken Nation

In the spring of 1865, Abraham Lincoln visited the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, just days after its fall. Witnesses described a man who looked...

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1Universal

238 words

Sermon Illustration

Finding Pentecost in Everyday Moments

In our fast-paced modern world, the celebration of Pentecost can feel both daunting and exhilarating—a bit like standing on the precipice of a great adventure. Just as the early disciples found themselves wrestling with uncertainty after Christ’s ascension, we too...

Jeremiah 29:11Traditional

284 words

Sermon Illustration

Ten Thousand Repairs Before Breakfast

Every cell in your body sustains somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 DNA damage events each day. Ultraviolet light, free radicals from metabolism, even the ordinary...

Universaltrust

244 words

Sermon Illustration

The Night Margaret Didn't Come Home

In the small fishing village of Crail, on the eastern coast of Scotland, everyone knew Margaret Beattie. Eighty-three years old, sharp-tongued, fiercely independent, and in...

Luke 15:3-7Universal

252 words

Sermon Illustration

Real-World Reconciliation and Forgiveness

In the heart of a bustling city, a community came together to address a painful rift that had developed over the years. This was not just a mundane disagreement; it ran deep, rooted in historical injustices and wounds that had...

Amos 5:24Christocentric

308 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

Anne Sullivan's Knowing Hands

When Anne Sullivan arrived at the Keller home in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in March 1887, she met a seven-year-old girl trapped behind walls of silence and...

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18Universal

223 words

Sermon Illustration

Millard Fuller's Million-Dollar Fast

By age twenty-nine, Millard Fuller had amassed a fortune. His law practice and business ventures in Montgomery, Alabama, had made him a millionaire. He had...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

238 words

Sermon Illustration

The Surgeon's MRI

In 1977, Raymond Damadian powered up the first full-body MRI scanner at Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. For the first time in history, doctors could...

Hebrews 4:12Universal

228 words

Sermon Illustration

The House That Built Him Back

In 2019, retired carpenter George Hammond of Tupelo, Mississippi, announced to his children that he wanted to build them something — a family gathering hall...

2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16Universal

243 words

Sermon Illustration

Science Illustration: Limits of Human Knowledge

Imagine a curious child, perhaps eight or nine years old, standing at the edge of a vast lake. The water glistens in the sunlight, a mirror reflecting the endless sky above. This child, with a bucket in hand, eagerly scoops...

Romans 1:20Universal

251 words

Sermon Illustration

The Bishop Who Counted Every Drop of Blood

In 1542, Bartolomé de las Casas knelt before the Spanish court and read aloud testimony that made grown men weep. He described indigenous families in...

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14Universal

242 words

Sermon Illustration

The Whale Mother's Whisper Song

In 2017, marine biologists from Aarhus University in Denmark attached tiny acoustic tags to humpback whale mothers and their newborn calves off the coast of...

Zephaniah 3:17Universal

226 words

Sermon Illustration

The Ophthalmologist Who Couldn't See

Dr. Marcus Chen had performed over three thousand cataract surgeries at his clinic in Portland, Oregon. He could restore sight in under fifteen minutes. His...

John 9:1-41Universal

235 words

Sermon Illustration

The Seed Vault at the Edge of the World

In 2008, Norway opened the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a concrete bunker buried deep inside an Arctic mountain on the island of Spitsbergen. Many dismissed...

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24Universal

239 words

Sermon Illustration

The Foxe's Fire at Vilvoorde

On an October morning in 1536, guards led William Tyndale from his cell in Vilvoorde Castle near Brussels to a stake surrounded by bundled wood....

Romans 1:16Universal

232 words

Sermon Illustration

Beyond What She Asked For

When Katie Davis moved to Uganda at nineteen, she had a simple plan: teach kindergarten for a year, then come home to Nashville and finish...

Ephesians 3:20Universal

243 words

Sermon Illustration

The House Betsie Saw

In December 1944, Betsie ten Boom lay dying on a filthy mattress in Ravensbrück concentration camp. Her body was skeletal, her skin covered in sores....

Revelation 21:1-4Universal

224 words

Sermon Illustration

The Olive Tree on Masada

In 2021, archaeologists working near Masada in Israel discovered olive tree roots still alive in soil that hadn't seen steady rain in decades. The roots...

Psalm 52Universal

236 words