Object Lessons and Illustrations

Here you can find object lessons and illustrations ("illuminations") that I've used in teaching various Scripture passages, either in messages for children, adults, or teens. Many of these would work for any age group, which is one of the beautiful things about illustrations. If you have a special illustration that has worked well for you, and you would like to share it, please click the following link: Share an illustration.

Sermon Illustration Topical Index

Anger, Arguments, Bible, Bitterness, Blood of Christ, Burdens, Character, Church, Contentment, Disappointment, Doubt, Envy, Faith, Faithfulness, Forgiveness, Gifts, Greed, Hope, Humility, Hypocrisy, Integrity, Judgment, Justice, Law, Love, Maturity, Mercy, Mortality, Pride, Promises, Rewards, Salvation, Self Control, Selfishness, Teaching, The Golden Rule, The World, Trials, Trust, Wealth, Will of God, Wisdom, Works, Worry

Recent Illustrations

Just a Pawn - A Short Sermon llustration about God's Love
If God is to the universe as a chess master is to the game of chess, that doesn't mean we're just pawns!

A Greater Strategist Than The Best Chess Player
God is a better strategist than the very best chess player in the world. Do you believe in His plans even when you don't understand?

Mister Rogers Neighborhood - A Lesson On Character
A simple Bible lesson or sermon illustration that comes from the beloved children's show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

Pre-Written Obituaries and Celebrity Death
Death of Brad Renfro and Heath Ledger, along with news about Britney Spears and pre-written obituaries.

Moral Values Begin With The Small Things
A story about a pastor, a religious organization, and a political candidate here in Maine

Why The Law Then? An illustration of Galatians 3:19
Why The Law Then? A discussion and illustration of Galatians 3:19, involving teens in the youth group

Love God with your Whole Heart: an Illustration for Deut 6:5
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength - a sermon illustration involving a dog and his master

Philippians 4:8 Illustration - Squirrels and Campers
Philippians 4:8 Illustration - whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, and lovely. A sermon illustration involving squirrels and campers

Love God with your whole heart, mind, and soul - Matt 22:37
Sermon illustration involving a low fat diet (because of gallstones) and Jesus' great commandment to love God with your whole heart mind, and soul

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere - A sermon illustration involving a cat and a door

Moral Excellence: superiority and eminence in moral behavior
Moral Excellence - an illustration to help picture moral excellence, as described in II Peter 1:5. Defensive and Offensive excellence

Diligence - constant and earnest effort to accomplish a goal
Diligence - an illustration describing diligence. Diligence is required in a healthy spiritual life, according to 2 Peter 1:5

Running Out Of Gas - An Illustration of Romans 12:2
Romans 12:2 tells us to renew our minds. We must constantly pay attention to the state of our minds, or we run out of gas spiritually

Missed Blessings - Disobedience Resulting In Lost Blessings
Sometimes our disobedience causes us to lose out on wonderful things. And sometimes we never know what we missed.

Today If You Hear His Voice, Do Not Harden Your Heart.
An illustration for the Psalm 95 passage that speaks about hearing God's voice and hardening our hearts

Bus Station Bomb - A story about our Scary World
Bus Station Bomb in Beersheeba - a sermon illustration that helps us see that the world is a scary place. But Jesus overcomes.

The Colossal Squid - The Voice of the Lord is upon the Water
The recently discovered Colossal Squid, found by New Zealand fishermen, is an example of how extraordinary is God's creation.

Personal Convictions and Judging - Football Illustration
An illustration of personal convictions and judging others, involving expensive tickets to a Sunday football game

Righteous vs Wicked - Healthy Trees and Dried Up Twigs
Psalm 1 talks about the righteous and the wicked - some thoughts on spiritual health and life, and my trip to Israel

Counsel Of The Wicked - Don't Take Advice From Troublemakers
Psalm 1 talks about those who take counsel from the wicked - here is an illustration of that idea

Christian Service and Growth, and a Ping Pong Story
Christian Service, Christian Growth, and an illustration involving the game of ping pong

Faith In Faith? Faith In Jesus? The Gospel Message
What is the Gospel message? The Gospel Message is that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again.

Singing Birds - Hoping For The Sun In Troubled Times
Lesson from Isaiah 35:4 and the early morning birds singing to welcome the sunrise

Ulterior Motives, Servanthood, and the Attitude of Christ
Thoughts about ulterior motives in business (amazon, and my own business) and the nature of a servant, as demonstrated by Christ

Unfair Treatment, the Cross of Jesus Christ, and 1 Peter
Unfair treatment is guaranteed; we all face it. The true test of character is how we respond to unfair treatment. Do we respond like Jesus?

Yard Work and Spring Cleaning - Doing What Is Excellent
A lesson about going above and beyond the call of duty, of doing what is excellent.

Ice Age 2 - An Illustration about Aliens And Strangers
Ice Age 2 - The squirrel discovers a world far beyond his wildest dreams, and will never be at home in the ice age again.

Voice Recognition - Recognizing the Voice of Jesus
Voice recognition - two illustrations of how we recognize the voices of those we know well, and application to spiritual life

Fear Factor - A lesson about life from I Peter and a TV Show
Sermon illustration - Fear Factor: Life is like the television show Fear Factor. We face trials and troubles for the sake of an eventual reward.

Trials, Troubles, Life Perspectives and Roller Coasters
Life is not like a roller coaster - it's like standing in line for a roller coaster. The real excitement is when the waiting is over.

Domain Snatchers and The Golden Rule - Matthew 7:12
Sermon illustration from The Sermon On The Mount and The Golden Rule - Domain Snatchers and domain name brokers

Honey, Pepperoni, and Self Control - Lesson From Proverbs 25
Proverbs 25 talks about knowing when enough is enough, and having self control to stop. An illustration involving eating too much pepperoni.

Funerals, Foundations, and Focus - Fixing Our Eyes On Jesus
I Peter 2:4 and Hebrews 12:2 talk about our foundation and focus. Story about a funeral makes a point about our foundation and focus

Youth Group Events, Disappointment, and Jesus Christ
I Peter promises that those who put their faith in Jesus Christ will not be disappointed. An illustration from youth group summer events.

Frivolous Lawsuits, Arguing Your Case, the Book Of Proverbs
Frivolous lawsuits abound in our society, but the book of Proverbs tells us not to be hasty to argue your case against your neighbor.

Borrowing A Quarter - A Story about Trust
What does it mean to trust in the Lord with all your heart? To trust Him completely in both the big and the small things.

Malice, Deceit, and a High School Basketball Tournament
Malice and Deceit - letting your view of events be clouded by your own anger and bitterness. Story about an accident at a high school basketball game.

Faithful Messenger - Illustration From The Hay Fields
Faithful Messenger: Proverbs tells us that someone who faithfully fulfills their duty and responsibility is as refreshing as 'snow in harvest'

Solids, Liquids, and Gases - The Church
Are you a solid, a liquid, or a gas? Have you been bound into a structure? Or are you floating free?

The Windsor Guildhall - A Story with a Spiritual Lesson
Christopher Wren designed the Windsor Guildhall with eighteen supporting pillars - but the town councillors rejected his plan.

Contentment in all circumstances - Underground Home Story
Contentment in both need and plenty, contentment in poverty and wealth. Being content is challenging when we have experienced both extremes

Envy vs Contentment - The Battle of the Toast
Envy vs Contentment - when we have to keep up with the Jones's, we miss out on contentment. Story about breakfast time when I was growing up.

Deceit, Dishonesty, and a Hunger for God's Word
Deceit and dishonesty, telling lies, fibs, and invented stories - it may make you look good, but eventually your sin will find you out.

A Cord of Three Strands - Ecclesiastes and John Donne
Ecclesiastes says 'a cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart'. John Donne says 'No man is an island'. We are not meant to be alone.

Living Stones built on a foundation - Load Bearing Walls
Peter calls us 'Living Stones' Ephesians says that we're 'built on a foundation', and 'fitted together'

God understands our weaknesses - He knows how we were formed
God understands our weaknesses - He knows how we were formed from the dust of the earth. An illustration involving sand castles at Popham beach

External Appearance vs Internal Character
The cycle of life, the fleeting quality of external beauty and appearance, and the focus on internal character (Ecclesiastes and I Peter)

Micah 6:8 - Justice, Mercy, Humility, the Will of God
Micah 6:8 spells out the Will of God for us: God's will is for us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him.

Spiritual Appetites-Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander
Spiritual appetites: Our spiritual appetite for malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander destroys our spiritual appetite for the Word of God.

Selfishness and Wealth Illustration - Slaughtering Chickens
Selfishness, hoarding, wealth, and greed. These are things James warns about when he talks about the day of judgement.

God's Word is a Mirror - A lesson From James
James tells us that God's word is like a mirror. Understanding this changes the way we are reading God's Word

Ask For Wisdom: an Illustration from Physics Class
Ask For Wisdom: When we ask God for wisdom, we can trust that he is not just knowledgeable, but also generous to give His wisdom

Dealing With Trials and Troubles - Violin Maker Illustration
Dealing with trials and troubles - the violin maker and the tree give us a good illustration of the relationship between us and God

Live sensibly, with good sense, restraint and consideration
Live sensibly, Paul says several times in the book of Titus. Live with good sense, restraint and consideration. What will be the result of my actions?

Tickled Ears, or Being Wounded by The Word Of God?
II Timothy talks about people who want to have their ears tickled. This may be more entertaining, but it does not bring spiritual health.

Swearing Oaths, and the Hair Of Your Head
Swearing oaths on the hair of your head is not allowed, Jesus says in the Sermon On The Mount!

Empty Conceit - Being Preoccupied With Myself
Empty Conceit, vanity, and self admiration; these are what Paul warns about in Philippians 2:3.

Love Believes All Things: I Corinthians Optimism Principle
Love Believes all things - part of the I Corinthians 'Love' chapter - The optimism principle invites us to give the benefit of the doubt, out of love

Steps Of Faith - A Story Of a Mt Katahdin Hike
Mt. Katahdin: Mount Katahdin's Knife Edge was the scene of a great object lesson on taking steps of faith day by day.

Violent Explosions and Slow Burns: Which Personality Type?
Violent explosions and slow burns - the violent exploders flare up in a moment, causing great destruction. Slow burners fester with anger and hate.

Precious Gifts - Costly, Life Changing, and Special
Precious Gifts - what makes a gift precious? It is costly, it is life changing, or it is from someone we love

Bearing Burdens - He's Not Heavy, He's My Brother
Bearing one another's burdens. Bearing burdens is easy for a family - he's not heavy, he's my brother!