Sermon Illustrations

SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS are powerful stories that highlight a spiritual truth. Master sermon illustration and you will preach powerful and dynamic sermons. However, keep in mind that telling stories without highlighting a spiritual truth is not a sermon illustration.


How To Write Sermon Illustrations

Sermon Illustration Number 1

Let's look at a sermon from Galatians 1:1-4.

There are three reasons why we can find freedom in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are:

  1. The gospel points to a deliver (Galatians 1:4a)
  2. The gospel points to a deliverance (Galatians 1:4b)
  3. The gospel points to a divine plan (Galatians 1:4c)

You want to illustrate the fact that we have a deliver. You want the people to see that only Jesus Christ can rescue us. You may use the following illustration.

He opens his eyes but all he could see was darkness—pitch-black darkness. His heart begins to race faster and faster as he cries out for help, but it seems that no one hears him.

As he lies there, he realizes that this may be the end of the road. Stewart Diver was trapped under the rubble at Trebo. There was no way he could rescue himself. He could barely move under all that rubble. He was trapped. He was helpless.

But a rescue worker hears a noise. He calls out for silence. Then he shouts out in a loud voice, “Is anyone there? Is anyone there?” Stewart hears him and calls back, “I can hear you. I can hear you.”

The reason Stewart Diver was rescued was because he had a rescuer. He couldn’t rescue himself. He had to simply trust his rescuers to save him.

In the same way, we have a rescuer, we have a deliverer and His name is Jesus Christ.

Are you willing to trust Jesus Christ as your rescuer? Are you willing to trust Jesus Christ as the one who has set you free from sin, death, and hell?

As you can see, the illustration drives home the point that Jesus Christ is the only one who can rescue us from sin, death, and hell.

Sermon Illustration Number 2

Let's look at a sermon from Romans 5:1-5.

There are five blessings of our Christian experience that we can enjoy. They are:

  1. We have peace with God (Romans 5:1)
  2. We have access to God (Romans 5:2a)
  3. We have hope in God (Romans 5:2b)
  4. We have resilience in suffering (Romans 5:3-4)
  5. We have assurance of God's love (Romans 5:5)

You want to illustrate the fact that we have access to God. You may use the following illustration.

“Through whom also (ie. Jesus Christ) we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand” (Romans 5:2a).

This verse reminds me of my two little girls when they barge into my office. Regardless of who is there, they simple barge in. Sometimes just to say, “I love you daddy.” Other times, they’re chasing money or wanting me to help them. If you have children, you know what it is like. They have total access not because you tell them so or they had done something good but because they are your children.

In the same way, we have total access to God if we are His children. Anytime of the day, we can thank Him. Anytime of the day, we can bring our petitions before Him and cry out to Him. In fact, Hebrews 4:16 speaks of “coming boldly to the throne of grace.”

That’s the God we have total access to as Christians.

As you can see, this illustration brings the point home that we have total access to God as Christians.

Once you have mastered the use of sermon illustrations, your sermons will be unforgettable and powerful.



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