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

Home›Traditions›Anabaptist

Anabaptist Illustrations

Radical discipleship, pacifism, and the church as a distinct counter-cultural community.

Key question: “How does this text call the community of faith to live as a distinct, counter-cultural witness to the Kingdom?”

23,562 sermon illustrations through the Anabaptist lens

Sermon Illustration

The Moravians Who Sang Through the Atlantic Storm

On January 25, 1736, a violent storm struck the ship carrying John Wesley across the Atlantic toward the colony of Georgia. Waves crashed over the...

Psalm 29Universal

245 words

PreviousPage 600 of 982Next

Sermon Illustration

The Co-Signer Who Took It All

In 2019, a single mother named Maria Gonzalez walked into a credit union in San Antonio, Texas, hoping to secure a small loan to start...

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18Universal

248 words

Movie Analogy

Left Behind: End-Times Beatitude Faithfulness - Dispensational (Matthew 5:3-12)

Imagine a scene set in a dimly lit church basement, the air heavy with the scent of old wood and faint whispers of prayer. A group of weary believers huddles together, their faces etched with concern and determination. They are...

Matthew 5:3-12Universal

298 words

Sermon Illustration

The Prisoner Who Watched for the Morning Star

In 1636, Scottish minister Samuel Rutherford was banished to Aberdeen and forbidden to preach. Stripped of his pulpit and isolated from his congregation, he did...

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21Universal

213 words

Sermon Illustration

The Concrete Room Beneath the Oklahoma Grass

On May 20, 2013, an EF5 tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma, with winds topping 210 miles per hour. It leveled schools, shredded homes to their...

Nahum 1:7Universal

232 words

Sermon Illustration

Luther's Hymn from the Ruins

In 1527, plague swept through Wittenberg. Martin Luther refused to flee. Friends died. His infant son fell gravely ill. His own body burned with fever...

Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9Universal

233 words

Vivid Retelling

The King on a Donkey: Mark 11:1-11

Cinematic retelling of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem

Universal

298 words

Sermon Illustration

The Farmer Who Refused to Sell

In 2012, a developer offered Dorothy Bain of rural Saskatchewan nearly triple the market value for her family's 160-acre wheat farm. Every neighbor on the...

Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40Universal

248 words

Movie Analogy

Romero: Revolutionary Fruit - Liberation (Galatians 5:22-23)

In the heart of El Salvador, during the turbulent days of the late 20th century, Archbishop Oscar Romero stood as a beacon of hope amidst despair. Picture a dimly lit church filled with the weary faces of the marginalized—farmers who...

Galatians 5:19-23Universal

295 words

Sermon Illustration

The Landlord Who Tore Up the Lease

In 2019, a landlord named David Perez in San Antonio bought a small apartment complex on Guadalupe Street — twelve units, mostly elderly tenants on...

Genesis 9:8-17Universal

236 words

Sermon Illustration

When the Mountain Shook and the World Went Quiet

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted with the force of five hundred atomic bombs. The blast flattened 230 square miles of forest in...

Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9Universal

248 words

Sermon Illustration

The Monday Night Prayers of Leipzig

In the autumn of 1989, the Christians of St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig, East Germany, had been praying every Monday evening for six years. What...

Isaiah 64:1-9Universal

240 words

Sermon Illustration

Nature Illustration: Ants and Small Wisdoms

On a sunny afternoon, I found myself observing a small trail of ants diligently marching across my backyard. As I knelt closer, I marveled at their unwavering purpose. These tiny creatures were carrying bits of food, far larger than themselves,...

Hebrews 11:1-3Universal

254 words

Sermon Illustration

The Garden After the Hurricane

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria tore across Puerto Rico with 155-mile-per-hour winds. In the mountain town of Utuado, María Elena Rodríguez stood in what had...

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19Universal

238 words

Sermon Illustration

The Father Who Kept the Porch Light On

In 1987, a man named Robert Fulghum told the story of a father in Athens, Greece, whose son had run away from home. The father,...

Hosea 11:1Universal

234 words

Sermon Illustration

The Doctor Who Washed His Hands

In 1847, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis stood in a Vienna maternity ward and watched mothers die. One in ten women who delivered babies in his clinic...

John 8:32Universal

267 words

Sermon Illustration

The Barn That Never Held Enough

In 2015, a Texas oil executive named Harold Hamm finalized one of the largest divorce settlements in American history — a check for $974.8 million....

Luke 12:13-21Universal

236 words

Sermon Illustration

The Voice She Never Forgot

In 2011, a devastating EF5 tornado tore through Joplin, Missouri, leveling entire neighborhoods in minutes. Amid the chaos at St. John's Regional Medical Center, a...

John 10:22-30Universal

236 words

Sermon Illustration

The Deeper Face Recognition

When Apple engineers designed Face ID for the iPhone X, they didn't build a simple camera that recognizes what you look like. They built a...

Universalidentity

239 words

Sermon Illustration

Dorothy Day and the Mott Street Kitchen

In the winter of 1934, Dorothy Day stood in a cramped kitchen at 115 Mott Street in lower Manhattan, ladling bean soup to a line...

Isaiah 58:1-12Universal

226 words

Sermon Illustration

The GPS That Learned Her Name

When Maria Chen moved from Taipei to rural Vermont in 2019, she relied entirely on her phone's GPS to navigate the unmarked back roads between...

Psalm 25:1-10Universal

254 words

Sermon Illustration

The Liberation March Down the Champs-Élysées

On August 26, 1944, Charles de Gaulle walked down the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Four years of Nazi occupation had shuttered the city's spirit. Windows were...

Psalm 24:7-10Universal

246 words

Sermon Illustration

The Carpenter Who Couldn't Finish the Porch

In 1987, a carpenter named Earl Watkins spent his Saturdays rebuilding the rotting front porch of Calvary Baptist Church in rural Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He measured...

2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16Universal

227 words

Sermon Illustration

Germination Requires Burial

A seed sitting on a shelf is a marvel of potential. Inside the hull of a single tomato seed lies the complete genetic blueprint for...

James 1:22Universal

216 words