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HomeIllustrations

7,545 Illustrations

Browse Sermon Illustrations

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Top Rated Newest Oldest|All Sources Biblical Illustrator Spurgeon Maclaren

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Sermon Illustration

The Garden in the Parking Lot

A congregation in Memphis decided to observe a week-long fast during Lent. They posted about it on social media, shared recipes for bone broth, and...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

225 words

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Sermon Illustration

The Skin Graft

In 1970, a three-year-old boy named Glen Cork fell into a campfire at a family gathering in rural Kentucky. Third-degree burns covered forty percent of...

Isaiah 53:5Universal

229 words

Sermon Illustration

Corrie ten Boom's Outstretched Hand

In 1947, Corrie ten Boom stood in a church basement in Munich, having just spoken about God's forgiveness to a crowd of defeated Germans. A...

Luke 6:27-38Universal

263 words

Sermon Illustration

Thirteen Alive

In June 2018, twelve boys from the Wild Boars soccer team and their coach vanished into the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand. Monsoon rains...

Matthew 28:1-10Universal

219 words

Sermon Illustration

The Gardener Who Trains the Vine

Every spring, in the stone-walled courtyard gardens of Provence, old roses that have climbed the same walls for generations are tended by patient hands. They...

Titus 2:11-12Universal

255 words

Sermon Illustration

The Grandmother Who Hummed While She Worked

Maria Gonzalez never sang in front of people. Not once in seventy-three years. But her granddaughter Sofia, age four, knew a different woman. Every Saturday...

Zephaniah 3:17Universal

234 words

Sermon Illustration

The Key That Never Left the Lama's Belt

In 1912, Sadhu Sundar Singh arrived in a remote Tibetan village to preach the gospel. The village lama was furious. He ordered Sundar Singh arrested...

Acts 12:1-11Universal

266 words

Sermon Illustration

The Free Man's New Name

In September 1838, a twenty-year-old man stepped off a train in New York City wearing a borrowed sailor's uniform and carrying forged papers. Frederick Bailey...

Isaiah 62:1-5Universal

236 words

Sermon Illustration

The Hand Pump and the Hidden Aquifer

In rural Appalachia, old hand-pumped wells still dot the hillsides. Anyone who has used one knows the rule: before you can draw water out, you...

Malachi 3:10Universal

230 words

Sermon Illustration

The Terrified Monk Who Learned to Pray

Before he shook the foundations of medieval Europe, Martin Luther was a young Augustinian monk in Erfurt, Germany, paralyzed by the holiness of God. His...

Hebrews 4:16Universal

243 words

Sermon Illustration

The Coat Closet at Grace Avenue

For three years, the congregation at Grace Avenue Community Church held a January fast. They posted their prayer schedules online, printed devotional booklets, and filled...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

248 words

Sermon Illustration

The Parent Who Never Sleeps

When Maria Sandoval's youngest son came down with croup in the middle of February, she did what parents have always done — she stopped sleeping....

Psalm 121Universal

268 words

Sermon Illustration

The Dentist Who Closed His Practice on Fridays

Dr. James Chen had fasted every Friday for fifteen years. No food from sundown Thursday to sundown Friday — just water, prayer, and Scripture. He...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

249 words

Sermon Illustration

The Banner That Named Her Beloved

In the hill country of Tuscany, outside the village of Montalcino, there is a tradition that dates back centuries. When a family celebrates a wedding,...

Song of Solomon 2:4Universal

246 words

Sermon Illustration

The Woman Who Lit Newgate Prison

In 1817, Elizabeth Fry stepped through the iron gates of London's Newgate Prison and into a scene that made seasoned guards flinch. Three hundred women...

Matthew 5:13-20Universal

229 words

Sermon Illustration

When the Clouds Break on the Summit

In 2019, mountaineer Sarah Maguire spent three days climbing through dense fog on the trail to Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal. The clouds hung so...

Matthew 17:1-9Universal

242 words

Sermon Illustration

Betsie ten Boom's Vision Beyond the Barracks

In the winter of 1944, Betsie ten Boom lay dying on a thin mattress in Ravensbruck concentration camp. Her body was skeletal, ravaged by forced...

Revelation 21:1-4Universal

246 words

Sermon Illustration

The Song That Couldn't Wait

In 2018, a young worship leader named Keisha drove three hours from Atlanta to her grandmother's house in rural Alabama. She had just learned she...

Luke 1:39-56Universal

245 words

Sermon Illustration

Real-World Environmental Stewardship

Imagine a church nestled in the sun-soaked hills of California, where the air is steeped in the scent of orange blossoms and the vibrant community pulses with life. This isn't just any church; it's a beacon of hope and action...

Philippians 2:5-8Christocentric

282 words

Sermon Illustration

The Girl from Philadelphia Who Became a Princess

On April 19, 1956, Grace Kelly stood aboard the SS Constitution as it pulled into the harbor of Monaco. Behind her lay everything she had...

Psalm 45:10-12, 16Universal

256 words

Sermon Illustration

The Prisoner Who Wrote Poetry in the Dark

In 1577, Spanish friar John of the Cross was seized by his own religious brothers and dragged to a windowless cell in Toledo. For nine...

Psalm 42Universal

242 words

Sermon Illustration

Lessons from Technology and Human Connection

In our rapidly evolving world, technology often feels like a double-edged sword. On one side, it connects us in ways that our ancestors could only dream of—think of the video calls that let us share birthdays with loved ones across...

John 13:12-17Traditional

308 words

Sermon Illustration

Lessons from Human Nature

Imagine a scene in a bustling city park, where people of all walks of life come together, each one carrying their own burden. You see a mother trying to juggle her responsibilities, a young man lost in thought, and an...

Isaiah 58:6-7Anglican

279 words

Sermon Illustration

The Atheist Who Couldn't Escape God's People

In 1927, American journalist and committed atheist H.L. Mencken traveled to Dayton, Tennessee, to cover the Scopes Trial. He arrived with pen dipped in acid,...

Psalm 14Universal

239 words