One of the largest free collections of sermon illustrations, organized by topic, scripture, and theological tradition.

Stay updated

New illustrations, features & occasional discounts

Browse

By Topic
By Scripture
By Tradition
By Emotion
By Source Type
Sermon Slides

Resources

Sample Illustrations
About
Premium
Contact Us
SermonWise AI
PewSearch
ChurchWiseAI

Support

Contact Us
+1 (888) 603-0316
support@churchwiseai.com
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
Refund Policy

HomeIllustrations

7,545 Illustrations

Browse Sermon Illustrations

Search, filter, and discover the perfect illustration for your sermon

All Stories & Illustrations Poetry & Verse Quotes Biblical Insights Historical Examples Movie Analogies Devotionals Tradition Perspectives All types →

Top Rated Newest Oldest|All Sources Biblical Illustrator Spurgeon Maclaren

Free to browse · Sign up free to unlock most illustrations · Premium ($9.95/mo) for the full library of 50,000+ illustrations

Sermon Illustration

The Man Who Moved Into the Slums

In 1909, a twenty-one-year-old Japanese seminary student named Toyohiko Kagawa packed a single bag and moved into a six-foot-by-six-foot shack in the Shinkawa slums of...

Isaiah 42:1-9Universal

221 words

PreviousPage 154 of 315Next

Sermon Illustration

Nature Illustration: Creation Care and Stewardship

As the sun peeked over the horizon one early morning, I found myself standing by the edge of a tranquil lake, the surface mirroring the soft hues of dawn. The stillness was profound, as if creation was awakening to the...

Genesis 1:1-5Universal

235 words

Sermon Illustration

When Patience - Contemporary Example

Just last week, I sat down with a dear friend, a young woman named Sarah, who has been navigating the uncertainty of a career change. For years, she had poured her heart into teaching, but lately, the joy had faded,...

2 Timothy 1:7Lutheran

241 words

Sermon Illustration

The Reconciliation and Forgiveness Challenge - Biblical Analogy

Imagine a small town divided by a river, a once-thriving community now split by resentment and misunderstanding. On one side, families who have lived there for generations hold onto grudges, convinced that their neighbors have wronged them. Every encounter is...

Matthew 22:37-39Anglican

284 words

Sermon Illustration

After the Storm Broke Open the Kansas Sky

Margaret Haines had farmed winter wheat outside Dodge City, Kansas, for thirty-seven years, but the June supercell of 2019 was something else entirely. She stood...

Psalm 29Universal

254 words

Sermon Illustration

The Sound That Creates Silence

When Sony engineers designed the WH-1000XM5 noise-canceling headphones, they solved a problem with a counterintuitive method. To eliminate the roar of a jet engine or...

Universaltrust

223 words

Sermon Illustration

A Million Repairs a Day

In 2015, biochemist Tomas Lindahl received the Nobel Prize for a discovery that should have been discouraging: human DNA is shockingly unstable. Every single day,...

Universalgrace

241 words

Sermon Illustration

Science Illustration: Faith and Reason Working Together

There’s a remarkable story about a group of scientists who embarked on a mission to explore the depths of the ocean. They developed a submersible capable of reaching the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of our planet. As they descended...

John 1:1-5Universal

255 words

Sermon Illustration

The Man Who Took His Place

In the closing pages of Charles Dickens' *A Tale of Two Cities*, the dissolute lawyer Sydney Carton walks through the streets of Paris on the...

Universalsacrifice

257 words

Sermon Illustration

The Garden Behind the Condemned House

In 2019, a small congregation in Flint, Michigan, had been holding weekly prayer vigils about the water crisis for nearly four years. They fasted. They...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

240 words

Sermon Illustration

The Judge Who Remembered Their Names

In 2015, Judge Victoria Pratt presided over Newark Community Solutions Court in New Jersey — a courtroom where most defendants were homeless, addicted, or trapped...

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14Universal

247 words

Sermon Illustration

The Last Lullaby on Maple Street

Margaret Chen sang to her husband David every night of his final three months. Not hymns — though she knew hundreds — but the same...

Revelation 21:1-4Universal

224 words

Sermon Illustration

The Carpenter Who Finally Opened His Toolbox

For eleven years, Raymond Guthrie built furniture in his garage workshop in Terre Haute, Indiana — cherry wood tables, oak bookshelves, hand-turned walnut bowls. His...

Philemon 1:6Universal

234 words

Sermon Illustration

The Family That Left the Porch Light On

In 2014, the Showalter family of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, received the call every parent dreads. Their seventeen-year-old son Marcus had disappeared — walked out after an...

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19Universal

249 words

Sermon Illustration

Finding God in Climate Change & Stewardship - Contemporary Example

Imagine a small church nestled in the heart of a bustling town, where the sound of laughter and the smell of fresh soil mingle as the community gathers for “Green Sunday.” David, a passionate youth leader, stands at the helm...

Psalm 23:1-6Anabaptist

275 words

Sermon Illustration

When a Whole Town Showed Up to Listen

In 2018, the small town of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, was still reeling from Hurricane Maria. Power lines dangled like broken promises. Rooftops gaped open to...

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10Universal

218 words

Sermon Illustration

The Search Party on Mount Hood

In February 2018, a group of hikers on Oregon's Mount Hood lost their trail in a sudden whiteout. Temperatures plunged. Their GPS failed. For six...

Psalm 34:2-9Universal

237 words

Sermon Illustration

The Garden Row That Wandered

Tom Pritchard kept a vegetable garden behind his house in Muncie, Indiana, for thirty-seven years. Straight rows, clean furrows, everything measured with string and stakes....

Ephesians 6:4Universalparenting

238 words

Sermon Illustration

The Lighthouse Keeper of Point Reyes

For twenty-three years, the lighthouse at Point Reyes, California, cast its beam across the Pacific — until 1975, when the Coast Guard automated the light...

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19Universal

237 words

Sermon Illustration

A Story of Faith - Quote

There once lived a woman named Deborah, not unlike the biblical figure we admire for her courage and wisdom. Deborah had spent years feeling lost in a fog of disappointment and uncertainty. Life had dealt her a series of hard...

Psalm 23:1-6Traditional

245 words

Sermon Illustration

The Banker Who Gave It All Away

In 1744, John Thornton was born into modest English merchant life, but through shrewd trade in Baltic goods, he amassed one of the largest fortunes...

Psalm 112:1-10Universal

255 words

Sermon Illustration

A Universe Beneath Our Feet

Soil scientists have long known something the rest of us overlook. A single teaspoon of healthy topsoil — the kind you scrape off your boots...

Universalhumility

226 words

Sermon Illustration

The File That Wasn't Lost

Every smartphone user knows the sinking feeling — you accidentally delete a photo, and it vanishes. The birthday party, the last picture with a grandparent,...

Universalrestoration

226 words

Sermon Illustration

Called Before She Knew It

In 2019, a journalism student named Darnella Frazier was walking her nine-year-old cousin to Cup Foods, a corner store in Minneapolis. She had no grand...

Isaiah 49:1-6Universal

236 words