True, sourced stories for sermons and lessons. Search by keyword, theme, or Bible book.
10 illustrations found
A Brother’s Hug in a Dallas Courtroom
In 2018 an off-duty Dallas police officer, Amber Guyger, walked into the wrong apartment and shot and killed Botham Jean, an innocent man sitting in his own home.
Augustine Heard Take Up and Read
Augustine was a gifted teacher who had spent years chasing pleasure and wrestling with his sin. He later wrote about stealing pears as a youth just for the thrill of doing what was forbidden.
Bonhoeffer Refused Cheap Grace
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a brilliant young German pastor and theologian. In his book The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer warned against what he called cheap grace.
Corrie ten Boom Takes the Guard’s Hand
In 1947 Corrie ten Boom was speaking in a church in Munich about how God forgives and throws our sins into the deepest sea. Afterward a balding man in a gray overcoat worked his way toward her, and she recognized him.
Father Kolbe Takes Another Man’s Place
In the summer of 1941, after a prisoner escaped from Auschwitz, the camp leader picked ten men to die by starvation as punishment. One of them, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out that he had a wife and children.
John Newton: Amazing Grace from a Slave Trader
John Newton spent his early years working in the slave trade, about as far from God as a man could get. Later he became a preacher, the rector of the parish in Olney, England, and he ended up fighting to abolish slavery.
Joseph Meister Came to Pasteur’s Lab
On the morning of July 6, 1885, a nine-year-old boy named Joseph Meister was brought to Louis Pasteur's laboratory in Paris. A rabid dog had bitten him fourteen times.
Spurgeon in the Snowstorm
As a teenager, Charles Spurgeon was miserable under the weight of his sin and kept visiting churches hoping somebody would show him how to be saved.
The Amish Families Who Forgave
In October 2006 a milk truck driver named Charles Roberts walked into a one-room Amish schoolhouse at Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, shot ten young girls, killing five, and then took his own life.
Wesley’s Heart Was Strangely Warmed
John Wesley was an ordained minister who had even sailed to America as a missionary. Yet he struggled.