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HomeIllustrations

7,545 Illustrations

Browse Sermon Illustrations

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Sermon Illustration

The Finish Line on a Father's Shoulder

At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, British sprinter Derek Redmond lined up for the 400-meter semifinal as one of the favorites. He had trained for years,...

Universalperseverance

255 words

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Sermon Illustration

Bonhoeffer's Watch Post

In April 1943, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was led into a concrete cell at Tegel Prison in Berlin, surrounded by the very injustice Habakkuk had lamented three...

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4Universal

229 words

Sermon Illustration

The Bucket With No Bottom

In 2014, a financial planner named David Chen sat across from a couple in Portland, Oregon, who earned a combined $190,000 a year. They had...

Haggai 1:5-6Universal

242 words

Sermon Illustration

The Note From Underground

On August 5, 2010, the San Jose copper mine in Chile's Atacama Desert collapsed, trapping thirty-three miners half a mile beneath the earth. For seventeen...

Matthew 28:1-10Universal

231 words

Sermon Illustration

The Handshake That Changed Everything

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson stepped onto Ebbets Field as the first Black man to play Major League Baseball. The abuse was relentless —...

Universalforgiveness

242 words

Sermon Illustration

The Farmer Who Never Locked His Barn

In the small town of Elburn, Illinois, Harold Metzger ran a 200-acre corn and soybean operation for forty-three years. What made Harold different from every...

Psalm 112:1-10Universal

233 words

Sermon Illustration

The Note That Changed Everything

On October 17, 2010, a billion people around the world held their breath. For sixty-nine days, thirty-three miners had been trapped two thousand feet beneath...

Luke 2:10-11Universal

253 words

Sermon Illustration

The Monday Prayers of Leipzig

On October 9, 1989, seventy thousand East German citizens filled the streets of Leipzig, carrying candles in the autumn darkness. The communist regime had stationed...

Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9Universal

227 words

Sermon Illustration

From Last Place to Gold: The Transformation of Eric the Eel

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Equatorial Guinea's Eric Moussambani stood on the starting block for the 100-meter freestyle. He had learned to swim only eight...

Universaltransformation

250 words

Sermon Illustration

The Composer Whose Greatest Glory Came From Ruin

By 1741, George Frideric Handel was a broken man. The composer who had once dazzled London with lavish Italian operas now faced mounting debts, failing...

Haggai 1:15b-2:9Universal

241 words

Sermon Illustration

The Lighthouse Keeper's Faith

A lighthouse keeper lived alone on a rocky island, maintaining a beacon that guided ships safely to harbor. Every night for thirty years, he climbed the narrow stairs to light the great lamp. Ships wo...

Matthew 5:14, 1 Corinthians 4:2Traditionalfaithfulnesssteadfastness

mixed

207 words

Sermon Illustration

The Open Gates of Mukti

During the devastating Indian famine of 1896, Pandita Ramabai — a Sanskrit scholar turned Christian — threw open the gates of her mission compound in...

Isaiah 55:1-9Universal

219 words

Sermon Illustration

The Bridge Builder of Mostar

In 1993, shelling destroyed the Stari Most, a sixteenth-century Ottoman bridge arching over the Neretva River in Mostar, Bosnia. The bridge had connected the city's...

Isaiah 42:1-9Universal

219 words

Sermon Illustration

The Field Where a Nation Knelt

On January 2, 2023, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin made a routine tackle during a Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Then he...

Universalhealing

243 words

Sermon Illustration

The Man Who Played for God

Curtis Martin never loved football. That's not a rumor or a misquote — it's something the Pro Football Hall of Famer said himself during his...

Universaltransformation

245 words

Sermon Illustration

The Cathedral That Trusted Tomorrow

In 1883, a young architect named Antoni Gaudí took over an ambitious project in Barcelona — the Basilica de la Sagrada Família. He poured himself...

Universaltrust

259 words

Sermon Illustration

Lessons from Goodness - Story

One evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, I found myself walking through my neighborhood. I passed by a small park, where a grandmother sat on a bench, her eyes scanning the playground. There, her grandchildren ran wild—a whirlwind...

Psalm 23:1-6Christocentric

274 words

Sermon Illustration

The Race He Didn't Have to Win

In the 1924 Paris Olympics, Eric Liddell faced a decision that confused the watching world. The Scottish sprinter was favored to medal in the 100...

Universalfreedom

239 words

Sermon Illustration

From Dropout to Champion: The Redemption of Andre Agassi

By 1997, Andre Agassi had fallen from the top of professional tennis to 141st in the world rankings. The man who had won Wimbledon and...

Universaltransformation

235 words

Sermon Illustration

The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter

Margaret Knott grew up in the Bass Harbor Head Light on the rocky coast of Maine, where her father kept the lamp burning from 1895...

Titus 2:11-12Universal

244 words

Sermon Illustration

Blooming Where You Never Chose to Be

When Hurricane Katrina scattered 100,000 residents of New Orleans across the country in 2005, many landed in Houston with nothing but the clothes on their...

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7Universal

233 words

Sermon Illustration

Lessons from Political Division & Unity - Quote

In the midst of turbulent political waters, we might feel like sailors battling a storm at sea. Imagine a small boat, tossed by waves, with a diverse crew aboard—each member representing a different perspective, each voice vying for attention as...

James 1:27Pentecostal

266 words

Sermon Illustration

The Trickle That Revived a Nation

In the autumn of 1904, a twenty-six-year-old Welsh coal miner named Evan Roberts stood before seventeen people in a small chapel in Loughor, Wales. His...

Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12Universal

215 words

Sermon Illustration

The Day a Father Ran Onto the Track

Derek Redmond had trained for years for this moment. As the gun fired at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the British sprinter shot out of the...

Universalfaith

257 words