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HomeIllustrations

10,079 Illustrations

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Sermon Illustration

A Sharp Sword Sheathed in Burma

For six long years in Rangoon, Adoniram Judson preached, translated, and pleaded — and won almost no one. By 1818, he had exactly zero Burmese...

Isaiah 49:1-6Universal

222 words

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Sermon Illustration

Nobody Finishes Alone

During the 2016 Rio Olympics, American runner Abbey D'Agostino and New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin were competing in the 5,000-meter heats when their legs tangled and...

Universalcommunity

227 words

Sermon Illustration

The Gold Obedience Wins

In the summer of 1924, Scotland's fastest man arrived in Paris carrying the hopes of an entire nation. Eric Liddell was the heavy favorite to...

Universalobedience

250 words

Sermon Illustration

The Words Left Standing

On the night of November 14, 1940, German bombers reduced Coventry Cathedral to a skeleton of charred stone. The medieval roof collapsed. The stained glass...

Universalforgiveness

223 words

Sermon Illustration

Eric Liddell's Last Race

Eric Liddell became famous for refusing to run on Sunday at the 1924 Paris Olympics, then winning gold in the 400 meters. The world celebrated...

Colossians 3:1-4Universal

236 words

Sermon Illustration

The Sculptor Who Painted the Sky

When Pope Julius II summoned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in 1508, the artist resisted. He was a sculptor, not a...

Universalpurpose

234 words

Sermon Illustration

Guts Enough Not to Fight Back

In August 1945, Branch Rickey sat across from Jackie Robinson and laid out an impossible assignment. Rickey wanted Robinson to break baseball's color barrier with...

Universalobedience

230 words

Sermon Illustration

The Father Who Wouldn't Stay in the Stands

In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, British sprinter Derek Redmond lined up for the 400-meter semi-final with everything he had trained for on the line. About...

Universalhealing

237 words

Sermon Illustration

Science Illustration: Wonder at the Cosmos

On a clear night, I found myself standing under a vast, starry sky, far from the city’s glow. The depth of that darkness was breathtaking—a tapestry of stars, shimmering like diamonds scattered across velvet. As I stared up, I remembered...

Psalm 104:24-30Universal

246 words

Sermon Illustration

Written for Any Part of You

For decades, geneticists dismissed roughly 98 percent of human DNA as "junk" — meaningless filler between the genes that actually mattered. It sat unnamed and...

Universalidentity

239 words

Sermon Illustration

You Were Meant to Be Here

In the fall of 1979, Herb Brooks held tryouts for the US Olympic hockey team. Sixty-eight of the nation's best college players showed up. Brooks...

Universalpurpose

223 words

Sermon Illustration

The Seeds Adoniram Judson Buried in Burma

When Adoniram Judson sailed for Burma in 1812, he carried little more than a grammar book and an unshakable conviction that the gospel would bear...

Colossians 1:1-14Universal

235 words

Sermon Illustration

When Voyager Came Back to Life

In late 2023, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft — humanity's most distant traveler — went silent. After forty-six years of faithful service, it began transmitting garbled,...

Universalhealing

248 words

Sermon Illustration

The Man Who Walked Merion

In February 1949, golfer Ben Hogan collided head-on with a Greyhound bus on a foggy Texas highway. He shattered his pelvis, fractured his collarbone and...

Universalrestoration

239 words

Sermon Illustration

From Slave Ship to Sacred Song

In 1748, a violent storm nearly sank a slave trading vessel off the coast of Ireland. On board was John Newton — a foul-mouthed, morally...

Universalredemption

249 words

Sermon Illustration

The Sea That Disappeared

In 1960, the Aral Sea stretched across 26,000 square miles of Central Asia — the fourth largest lake on earth. Fishing boats crowded its harbors....

Amos 8:1-12Universal

258 words

Sermon Illustration

Four Years on His Back

When Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in 1508, the artist resisted. He considered himself a sculptor, not...

Universalobedience

245 words

Sermon Illustration

The First Transplant

In 1954, Richard Herrick was dying of chronic kidney failure at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. No existing treatment could save him. Then Dr....

Universalfaith

225 words

Sermon Illustration

The Fall and the Father's Arms

In 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,...

Universaltrust

238 words

Sermon Illustration

The Father Who Never Stopped Running

In 1977, Rick Hoyt told his father Dick something that changed both their lives. Rick, born with cerebral palsy and unable to walk or speak...

Universallove

257 words

Sermon Illustration

The Father Who Crossed the Line

In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, British sprinter Derek Redmond lined up for the 400-meter semifinal. He had trained for years, overcome multiple surgeries, and finally...

Universalgrace

252 words

Sermon Illustration

The Standing Ovation Bill Buckner Never Expected

On October 25, 1986, Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner watched a slow ground ball from Mookie Wilson roll between his legs in Game...

Universalforgiveness

249 words

Sermon Illustration

The Night the Chains Fell Off

On May 21, 1738, Charles Wesley was lying sick in bed on Aldersgate Street in London, wrestling with a faith that felt more like duty...

Universalfreedom

240 words

Sermon Illustration

When the Father Runs

Derek Redmond had trained for this moment his entire life. On August 3, 1992, in the semifinals of the 400-meter race at the Barcelona Olympics,...

Universaltrust

223 words