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HomeIllustrations

10,079 Illustrations

Browse Sermon Illustrations

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Sermon Illustration

The Woman Who Knocked on 137 Doors

In 2019, Maria Gonzalez walked into the Houston Public Library with a single question: how do you start a business when you have nothing? No...

Matthew 7:7-8Universal

253 words

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Sermon Illustration

The Simplest 911 Call Ever Made

On January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River. But before that miraculous gliding descent, something remarkably...

Romans 10:8b-13Universal

241 words

Sermon Illustration

More Than the Medal

In the summer of 1924, the fastest man in Britain faced an impossible choice. Eric Liddell, Scotland's star sprinter and heavy favorite for Olympic gold...

Universalidentity

242 words

Sermon Illustration

The Stradivarius in the Storage Unit

In 2014, a Stradivarius violin worth $5 million was stolen from concertmaster Frank Almond outside a Milwaukee concert hall. Police recovered it three weeks later...

1 Corinthians 6:12-20Universal

237 words

Sermon Illustration

The Coal That Changed Blaise Pascal's Life

On the night of November 23, 1654, the brilliant French mathematician Blaise Pascal had an encounter so overwhelming that he could barely find words for...

Isaiah 6:1-8Universal

246 words

Sermon Illustration

The Tree They Pulled From the Rubble

In October 2001, recovery workers at Ground Zero discovered a Callery pear tree buried beneath smoldering debris. Eight feet of trunk remained — split, burned,...

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24Universal

238 words

Sermon Illustration

The Farmer's Daughter from Owasso

In 2019, a young woman named Sarah from Owasso, Oklahoma — population 36,000 — married into one of Denmark's oldest noble families. She had grown...

Psalm 45:10-12, 16Universal

272 words

Sermon Illustration

All Thirty-Three

On August 5, 2010, the San José copper mine in Chile's Atacama Desert collapsed, trapping thirty-three miners beneath two thousand feet of rock. For seventeen...

Luke 2:10-11Universal

240 words

Sermon Illustration

Rebuilt After the Storm

In September 2005, Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans in ruins. Nearly 1,800 people died, and 80 percent of the city flooded. The New Orleans Saints,...

Universalrestoration

230 words

Sermon Illustration

The Coach Who Wouldn't Let Her Quit

When Maria Gonzalez showed up at the Back on My Feet running program in Philadelphia, she hadn't run a mile in her life. She'd spent...

Titus 2:11-12Universal

223 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

A Father Runs Onto the Track

The 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Derek Redmond of Great Britain had trained his entire life for one moment — the 400-meter semifinal. Years of surgeries and...

Universalrestoration

240 words

Sermon Illustration

Escape Velocity

In 1977, NASA launched the *Voyager 1* spacecraft on a journey that would make history. To break free of Earth's gravitational pull, the probe had...

Universalfreedom

240 words

Sermon Illustration

More Than a Collection of Stars

In the months leading up to the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, coach Herb Brooks made a decision that stunned the hockey...

Universalcommunity

233 words

Sermon Illustration

The Seed Crystal

In undergraduate chemistry labs across the country, professors demonstrate something that never fails to draw gasps. They prepare a supersaturated solution of sodium acetate —...

Proverbs 16:3Universal

224 words

Sermon Illustration

Wilberforce's Forty-Year Wait

In 1789, William Wilberforce stood before the British Parliament and delivered a three-and-a-half-hour speech calling for the abolition of the slave trade. The vote failed....

James 5:7-10Universal

230 words

Sermon Illustration

Death's Duel and the Dean of St. Paul's

In February 1631, John Donne stood in the pulpit of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, visibly wasting from stomach cancer, and preached what his friends called...

1 Corinthians 15:19-26Universal

236 words

Sermon Illustration

Six Days Before the Voice

In 2018, mountaineer Adrian Ballinger sat at Camp 4 on Everest — 26,000 feet up — waiting. The summit was close enough to see, but...

Exodus 24:12-18Universal

235 words

Sermon Illustration

The Seed Vault at the End of the World

Deep inside a mountain on the Norwegian island of Svalbard, 1,300 kilometers from the North Pole, sits a concrete vault holding over 1.2 million seed...

1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50Universal

228 words

Sermon Illustration

When the Clouds Parted Over Denali

In 2019, backpacker Sarah Chen spent eleven days hiking through Denali National Park without ever seeing the mountain. Clouds hung low and thick over the...

Mark 9:2-10Universal

233 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 Missionary Who Would Not Turn Back

In 1925, Eric Liddell was the most famous athlete in Britain. His gold medal at the Paris Olympics had made him a national hero, and...

Luke 9:51-62Universal

238 words

Sermon Illustration

The Silence Before the Shout

On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and read General Order No. 3: all enslaved people were free. The war...

Mark 16:1-8Universal

229 words

Sermon Illustration

The Man Who Ran to His Son

In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, British sprinter Derek Redmond was considered a medal favorite in the 400-meter semifinal. He had trained for this moment his...

Universalrestoration

246 words