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

8,971 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 Gardener Who Came Back to Monticello

When Thomas Jefferson died in 1826, his beloved gardens at Monticello fell into ruin. The terraced vegetable beds that once held 330 varieties of vegetables...

Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19Universal

249 words

PreviousPage 156 of 374Next

Sermon Illustration

Real-World Technology and Human Connection

In the heart of our bustling cities, where the hum of smartphones and the ping of notifications fill the air, I often find myself reflecting on how technology both connects and isolates us. Picture a young man named Marcus, a...

Romans 12:18Christocentric

292 words

Sermon Illustration

Maximilian Kolbe and the Love That Steps Forward

In the summer of 1941, a prisoner escaped from Auschwitz. The SS guards selected ten men to die by starvation as punishment. When Franciszek Gajowniczek...

Romans 5:5b-11Universal

235 words

Sermon Illustration

The Safe Room in Moore, Oklahoma

On May 20, 2013, an EF5 tornado — two miles wide with 210 mph winds — bore down on Moore, Oklahoma. Briarwood Elementary sat directly...

Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10abUniversal

237 words

Sermon Illustration

The Lullaby on the Back Porch

Margaret Ellison was seventy-three when she told me about the night she almost gave up. It was August 1968 in rural Kentucky, three weeks after...

Zephaniah 3:17Universal

244 words

Sermon Illustration

The Prisoner Who Asked, "Who Am I?

In the spring of 1944, Dietrich Bonhoeffer sat in a narrow cell in Berlin's Tegel Prison, arrested for his role in the resistance against Hitler....

Psalm 139:1-3, 13-15Universal

243 words

Sermon Illustration

The Grandmother Who Never Unplugged the Coffee Pot

In the small town of Bardstown, Kentucky, Martha Edelen kept a coffee pot warming on her kitchen counter every single day for forty-three years. Her...

Mark 13:24-37Universal

215 words

Sermon Illustration

The Fifteen-Year-Old in the Snowstorm

On January 6, 1850, a fifteen-year-old boy named Charles Spurgeon trudged through a blizzard in Colchester, England. For months he had been restless with spiritual...

1 Samuel 3:1-10Universal

252 words

Sermon Illustration

All Safe, All Well

On April 24, 1916, Ernest Shackleton left twenty-two men stranded on Elephant Island, a desolate strip of rock off Antarctica, and set out in a...

Matthew 28:1-10Universal

256 words

Sermon Illustration

Real-World Reconciliation and Forgiveness

In the heart of our urban landscape, there exists a small coffee shop known as “Unity Brews.” This cozy establishment is more than just a place for caffeine; it has become a sanctuary for reconciliation and forgiveness for the diverse...

Acts 10:34-35Roman Catholic

286 words

Sermon Illustration

Finding Enemy Love in Everyday Moments

In our fast-paced, often polarized world, the call to love our enemies can feel as distant as the mountains, yet it’s precisely where our faith finds its most profound expression. Picture this: a mother named Sarah, whose son was tragically...

Matthew 25:31-46Roman Catholic

277 words

Sermon Illustration

The Love Challenge

In a bustling community, where the hum of life often drowns out the cries for help, there lived a man named James. He was not just any businessman; he was a visionary with a heart shaped by the teachings of...

James 1:27Anabaptist

330 words

Sermon Illustration

The Limp That Became a Legend

On February 2, 1949, Ben Hogan's car collided head-on with a Greyhound bus on a fog-shrouded Texas highway. He threw himself across his wife Valerie...

Universalhope

234 words

Sermon Illustration

The Cathedral Rising from the Ashes

On the morning of November 15, 1940, the people of Coventry, England woke to find their beloved St. Michael's Cathedral reduced to a smoldering shell....

Revelation 21:1-6Universal

240 words

Sermon Illustration

Down Three Games to None

In October 2004, the Boston Red Sox faced what seemed like certain elimination. They trailed the New York Yankees three games to none in the...

Universalhope

234 words

Sermon Illustration

The Galileans Who Shamed an Emperor

When plague swept through the Roman Empire in the third century, wealthy citizens fled their estates. Physicians bolted their doors. Parents abandoned sick children in...

John 13:34-35Universal

230 words

Sermon Illustration

The Farmer Who Kept Watering Dead Ground

In 2012, Matt Barnett stood on a cracked parking lot in downtown Los Angeles, staring at what used to be a shuttered hospital. The building...

Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22Universal

238 words

Sermon Illustration

The Lighthouse Keeper Who Never Left

In 1989, Hurricane Hugo barreled toward Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, with 140-mile-per-hour winds. Most residents evacuated. But the old Charleston Light — a triangular steel...

2 Samuel 22:2-3Universal

241 words

Sermon Illustration

Free to Fly Again

In the summer of 2021, Simone Biles stood on the world's biggest stage at the Tokyo Olympics — and walked away. Midway through competition, the...

Universalfreedom

235 words

Sermon Illustration

Eighty-Six Years With My King

On a cold afternoon in 155 AD, the Roman proconsul in Smyrna gave the elderly bishop Polycarp one simple way to save his life. All...

Romans 10:9Universal

250 words

Sermon Illustration

The Silver the Bishop Gave Away

In Victor Hugo's *Les Misérables*, Jean Valjean stumbles out of prison after nineteen years, hardened and hopeless. No inn will take him. No door will...

Universalhope

228 words

Sermon Illustration

Science Illustration: Engineering and Building for the Common Good

As I stood beneath the towering blueprints of a new community center being built in our neighborhood, I marveled at the intricate design laid out before me. Engineers, architects, and volunteers worked tirelessly, each person contributing their unique skill set...

Hebrews 11:1-3Universal

246 words

Sermon Illustration

The Rescue That Rewrote the Textbooks

On July 4, 2018, twelve boys from the Wild Boars soccer team and their coach sat trapped in the flooded chambers of Tham Luang cave...

Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40Universal

247 words

Sermon Illustration

The Dragon Skin We Cannot Shed Ourselves

In C.S. Lewis's *The Voyage of the Dawn Treader*, the selfish boy Eustace Scrubb falls asleep on a dragon's hoard and wakes to discover he...

Universaltransformation

225 words