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Home›Traditions›Progressive/Social Justice

Progressive/Social Justice Illustrations

Reading scripture through liberation, equality, and advocacy for the marginalized.

Key question: “How does this text speak to issues of justice, equality, and the liberation of the oppressed?”

25,724 sermon illustrations through the Progressive/Social Justice lens

Sermon Illustration

The Hands That Welcome Home

Rembrandt van Rijn painted *The Return of the Prodigal Son* around 1668, in the final year of his life. By then, he had buried his...

Universalhope

227 words

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Movie Analogy

When Obedience Looks Like Foolishness

In the 2016 film *Hacksaw Ridge*, Private Desmond Doss stands before a military tribunal for refusing to carry a rifle. His fellow soldiers mock him....

Universalobedience

244 words

Sermon Illustration

The Wound That Became a Hymn

Joseph Scriven wrote "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" in 1855, but the story behind it will break your heart open. The night before...

Universalhealing

225 words

Movie Analogy

Silver Candlesticks and a Stolen Soul

In *Les Misérables*, Jean Valjean stumbles out of nineteen years in prison, hardened and bitter. No inn will take him. No table will seat him....

Universalforgiveness

250 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: Mark 3:13-19

Imagine the sun rising over the rugged hills of Galilee, casting a golden hue on the rocky paths that wind through ancient olive groves. Picture Jesus, his robes gently swaying in the morning breeze, climbing toward a secluded mountaintop. Each...

Universalhomileticspreaching technique

adults

304 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: Mark 10:32-34

As Jesus and his disciples journeyed toward Jerusalem, the dusty road beneath their feet felt heavier with each step. The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows that intertwined with their anxious hearts. Among the throngs of pilgrims...

Universalhomileticspreaching technique

adults

298 words

Sermon Illustration

When Peace Like a River Cuts Through the Storm

In November 1873, Horatio Spafford stood on the deck of a ship crossing the Atlantic, staring at the cold gray water below. Days earlier, his...

Universalhope

243 words

Show Don't Tell

Show Don't Tell: John 3:31-36

Imagine a small, bustling café in the heart of a vibrant city, where the aroma of freshly brewed coffee mingles with the chatter of patrons sharing their lives. Among them sits a wise old man named Thomas, his weathered hands...

Universalhomileticspreaching technique

adults

290 words

Sermon Illustration

The Hands That Heal Us

In 2006, neuroscientist Dr. James Coan at the University of Virginia conducted a remarkable experiment. He placed married women inside an fMRI brain scanner and...

Universalcommunity

231 words

Sermon Illustration

The Night She Gave Everything Away

Frances Ridley Havergal was already a celebrated Victorian hymn writer when, in February 1874, she spent five days visiting a house full of friends. On...

Universalsacrifice

222 words

Vivid Retelling

Timothy's Report: 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13

Vivid retelling of Timothy's mission and return with good news

Universal

861 words

Sermon Illustration

The Kidney That Crossed Between Brothers

In 1954, Richard Herrick was dying. His kidneys had failed, and no treatment could save him. His identical twin brother Ronald made a decision that...

Universalsacrifice

252 words

Sermon Illustration

A Hymn Written Over the Waves

In November of 1873, Horatio Spafford stood at the railing of a ship crossing the Atlantic, staring down at cold, gray water. Somewhere beneath those...

Universalhope

235 words

Sermon Illustration

The Man Who Gave Away the Internet

In 1989, a British engineer named Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. He created the language that web pages are written in, the system...

Universalhumility

242 words

Sermon Illustration

When Blurry Becomes Breathtaking

When NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope in April 1990, the world waited for its first images of deep space. What came back was devastating...

Universalrestoration

241 words

Sermon Illustration

When the Music Speaks What the Eyes Cannot See

In 1873, composer Phoebe Knapp sat down at her piano and played a new melody for her friend Fanny Crosby. "What does this tune say?"...

Universaltrust

248 words

Sermon Illustration

The Music He Could Not Hear

In May of 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven stood before an orchestra in Vienna to conduct the premiere of his Ninth Symphony. He was almost entirely...

Universalhope

238 words

Movie Analogy

The Courage of One More

In the 2016 film *Hacksaw Ridge*, Andrew Garfield portrays Desmond Doss, a real-life Army medic who refused to carry a weapon into World War II...

Universalcourage

257 words

Sermon Illustration

The Deeper Claws of Grace

In C.S. Lewis's *The Voyage of the Dawn Treader*, the boy Eustace Scrubb falls asleep on a dragon's hoard with greedy thoughts in his heart...

Universalrestoration

248 words

Sermon Illustration

The Swing of the Boat

In the sport of rowing, there is a term that defies easy explanation. Rowers call it "swing." George Pocock, the legendary boat builder who crafted...

Universalcommunity

224 words

Sermon Illustration

The Seven That Move Ten Thousand

In the skies over Rome, thousands of starlings gather at dusk and perform one of nature's most breathtaking displays. They swirl and pulse as a...

Universalcommunity

225 words

Sermon Illustration

The Strength of Mended Bones

In 1892, German surgeon Julius Wolff published a discovery that still shapes orthopedic medicine today. He found that when a bone breaks and heals, the...

Universalrestoration

245 words

Sermon Illustration

The Blood That Remembers

In bone marrow transplantation, something remarkable happens that sounds more like theology than medicine. When a patient with leukemia receives a donor's healthy marrow, the...

Universalgrace

251 words

Sermon Illustration

The Player Who Obeyed by Not Swinging Back

In 1945, Branch Rickey sat across from Jackie Robinson in a Brooklyn office and made an extraordinary demand. Rickey wanted Robinson to break baseball's color...

Universalobedience

239 words