Sermon Illustrations

Have you heard the story of the HMS Resolute? The HMS resolute was a vessel in Royal British vessel rigged for Arctic exploration. In August of 1853 the HMS Resolute got caught in the Arctic ice. After staying the Winter in the Arctic, the Captain of the HMS Resolute ordered the ship to be abandoned and led his crew across the ice to find one of the other ships in their exploration.

In September of 1855 the ship was found drifting in the David Straight by a whaling ship from Groton CT. The Captain re-rigged the spars and sails, and arrived at New London, Connecticut on 24 December 1855. In 1856, the HMS Resolute made her trip back to England, but it was not the last time she would see American soil. The Resolute served in the British Royal Navy until 1879 when she was decommissioned and broken up. But that’s not the end of her story.

In 1880 a desk was made from her timbers and presented to President Rutherford B. Hayes as a gift for rescuing the vessel. It has come to be known as the resolute desk and has served many presidents in the oval office.

But that still not the end of the story. In 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown presented President Barack Obama the framed commission of the HMS Resolute made from timber from another British vessel. And now you know the rest of the story.

But what does the HMS Resolute stand for? It stands for the ability to stand firm in difficult time. The Resolute lives on and give all a reminder of the ability to outlive current circumstances.

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