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 Speech That Silenced Every Other

On November 19, 1863, fifteen thousand people gathered at the Gettysburg battlefield cemetery. The featured orator, Edward Everett, was the most celebrated speaker in America...

Hebrews 1:1-4Universal

248 words

PreviousPage 243 of 315Next

Sermon Illustration

The Falconer's Quiet Hands

At the Carolina Raptor Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, volunteers learn a counterintuitive rule on their first day: when a wounded hawk arrives — talons...

Isaiah 42:1-9Universal

231 words

Sermon Illustration

The Doors That Opened on Easter Morning

When Hurricane Helene tore through Swannanoa, North Carolina in September 2024, the floodwaters gutted First Baptist Church down to the studs. Mud caked the pews....

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29Universal

238 words

Sermon Illustration

The Rescue Diver Who Went Under

In 2018, Thai Navy SEAL Saman Kunan volunteered for the rescue mission at Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand. Twelve boys and their soccer coach...

1 Peter 3:18-22Universal

242 words

Sermon Illustration

The Verdict That Changed Everything

In 2018, a Nashville courtroom fell silent as former police officer Amber Guyger was convicted of murdering Botham Jean, a man she shot in his...

Acts 2:14a, 36-41Universal

240 words

Sermon Illustration

The Hymn Singers on the Galley Ships

In 1686, after Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, thousands of French Huguenots were arrested for refusing to abandon their Protestant faith. Hundreds were...

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14Universal

235 words

Sermon Illustration

The Composer London Had Written Off

In the summer of 1741, George Frideric Handel was a ruined man. The composer who had once dazzled the courts of Europe now faced crushing...

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24Universal

250 words

Sermon Illustration

A Fingerprint on the Cosmos

In December 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope launched from French Guiana on a million-mile journey into deep space. Months later, NASA released its first...

Psalm 8Universal

242 words

Sermon Illustration

The Telescope Everyone Called a Failure

When NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope in April 1990, engineers expected triumph. Instead, the first images came back blurred and useless. A grinding error...

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24Universal

238 words

Sermon Illustration

George Müller's Breakfast Table

In 1838, George Müller sat at a long wooden table in his Bristol orphanage with three hundred children. The plates were empty. The cupboards held...

James 1:17Universal

236 words

Sermon Illustration

Corrie ten Boom's Table Was Always Set for One More

In the years before the Nazi occupation of Holland, Corrie ten Boom's father Caspar kept an open home above their small watchmaking shop on Barteljorisstraat...

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16Universal

250 words

Sermon Illustration

The Surgeon's Honest Prayer

In 2007, pediatric surgeon Dr. Catherine Musau stood in a poorly lit operating room in Kijabe, Kenya, staring at a newborn with a congenital defect...

2 Chronicles 20:12Universal

244 words

Sermon Illustration

The Seventh Dip

In 1928, Alexander Fleming left a petri dish uncovered before going on vacation. When he returned to his lab at St. Mary's Hospital in London,...

2 Kings 5:14Universal

246 words

Sermon Illustration

The Theologian Who Could Not Stay in New York

In June 1939, Dietrich Bonhoeffer arrived in New York City with every reason to stay. Friends had arranged a safe teaching position at Union Theological...

1 Samuel 3:1-10Universal

236 words

Sermon Illustration

The Room That Was Ready Before She Arrived

In 2019, Marcus and Denise Thompson of Nashville spent eleven months preparing for a daughter they had never met. They painted her room soft yellow....

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18Universal

221 words

Sermon Illustration

The Unpayable Tab

In 2019, a diner in New Hampshire called Joey's Pancake House started something unexpected. A regular customer left forty dollars on the counter and told...

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17Universal

255 words

Sermon Illustration

The Lighthouse Keeper of Matinicus Rock

In 1853, a seventeen-year-old girl named Abbie Burgess took over the twin lighthouses on Matinicus Rock, a barren granite outcrop twenty-five miles off the coast...

Malachi 3:6Universal

235 words

Sermon Illustration

The Surgeon Who Was Also Her Father

Seven-year-old Elena Vasquez was wheeled into Portland General's trauma unit on a Tuesday evening, her right arm broken in two places after falling from the...

Hebrews 4:16Universal

227 words

Sermon Illustration

The Surgeon in the Laundry Room

Maria Vargas works the overnight shift in the laundry facility at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She folds fitted sheets with mechanical precision, sorts surgical...

Colossians 3:1-4Universal

258 words

Sermon Illustration

The Bishop Who Knew the Eyewitness

In 155 AD, the Roman proconsul gave the elderly bishop Polycarp one final chance. "Swear by Caesar and I will release you," he demanded. "Revile...

2 Peter 1:16-19Universal

229 words

Sermon Illustration

The Tower All of Paris Wanted Torn Down

When Gustave Eiffel unveiled his iron tower for the 1889 World's Fair, three hundred of France's most prominent artists and intellectuals signed a furious petition...

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24Universal

233 words

Sermon Illustration

Eighty-Six Years of Knowing His Name

In 155 AD, the Roman proconsul in Smyrna gave the aged bishop Polycarp one simple way to save his life: curse Christ and swear by...

Matthew 16:13-19Universal

246 words

Sermon Illustration

Eighty-Six Years and Not Once Forsaken

In February of 155 AD, Roman soldiers came for Polycarp, the aged bishop of Smyrna. He was eighty-six years old. A student of the Apostle...

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18Universal

236 words

Sermon Illustration

Named by Grace

In Victor Hugo's *Les Misérables*, Jean Valjean spends nineteen years in prison, reduced to a number: 24601. When he's finally released, he carries that number...

Universalidentity

256 words