5 Pitfalls to Avoid in Sermon Illustrations

Everyone loves a good story. They can be powerful, illuminating, inspiring, and, most of all, memorable. And they can really enhance the effectiveness of a sermon. No doubt some of our favorite sermons are so precisely because of their illustrations or stories.

History bears out this observation. Not only was Jesus himself the master storyteller (and illustrator), but some of the most famous sermons in history have contained them. One only needs to think of Jonathan Edwards’s sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Edwards effectively compared the precarious situation of sinners dangling over the fires of hell to the way spiders dangle by the thinnest of webs.

But illustrations do not always turn out the way we intended. Indeed, sometimes illustrations can do more harm than good. Here are five major illustration pitfalls to avoid. Keep reading