How to Find Better Sermon Illustrations

I surveyed over 6,000 pastors on my email list.

Want to guess the #1 frustration they named about sermon prep?

Sermon illustrations.

They didn’t say Greek word studies. They didn’t say biblical commentaries. They didn’t say making PowerPoint slides.

They said, “I struggle to find good sermon illustrations.”

And honestly, they’re not alone. Ministry Pass did a survey a couple years ago and found the exact same thing—illustrations are one of the most time-consuming and frustrating parts of sermon prep. I get it! I've been preaching for nearly 25 years, and it's true.

But why? Why is it so hard to find fresh, powerful stories?

Let’s break it down.

6 Reasons Finding Sermon Illustrations Feels So Hard

1. You’re drowning in content.

We live in an era of overload. Every single day:

• 3.5 million YouTube videos are uploaded

• Over 400,000 hours of audio drop on podcasts

• Thousands of articles go live across blogs, magazines, and news sites

  
  

You’re not short on stories—you’re overwhelmed by them.

2. You don’t have time left.

You’ve spent hours in the biblical text, wrestled with theological clarity, and now… the sermon is 80% done. But your brain is toast, and you’re supposed to suddenly become a storytelling genius? Good luck.

3. You’ve used all your best ones.

Let’s be honest: you’ve told your go-to illustrations. The car wreck story. The camping trip. The embarrassing moment at youth camp. They're great—but they’re getting stale. Especially for people who’ve been with you for years.

4. Most illustration websites are dated.

You click on a “Sermon Illustration” website and find the same 20 anecdotes you’ve seen for a decade. They’re either cheesy, unverifiable, or awkwardly moralistic.

5. You’re just too busy.

Between counseling, hospital visits, small groups, outreach events, and administrative duties, you don’t have hours to hunt down that perfect story. The deadline is Sunday. Again.

6. You care about doing it well.

You’re not looking for fluff. You want illustrations that connect emotionally, drive the point home, and respect the weight of the Word.

So no, “Just read more books” isn’t a helpful solution. You’re already overwhelmed. You don’t need another reading list.

What If There Was a Faster Way to get better sermon illustrations?

Imagine this…

What if you could say to someone:

“I’m preaching on grace this week. I want 30 illustrations—some historical, some cultural, maybe a few personal-feeling or even funny ones.”

And within 30 seconds, they handed you:

• A Civil War pardon story

• A courtroom metaphor from 1800s England

• A moment from John Newton’s life you’d never heard

• A kid-on-the-playground moment that’s perfect for families

That’s what AI can do for sermon illustrations.

Meet Your Fastest Research Assistant to find Illustrations

Artificial intelligence tools like the Sermon Illustrator are like hiring the most insanely productive research assistant ever. They don’t get tired. They don’t run out of ideas. They don’t go home at 5 p.m.

They instantly:

• Generate 20+ illustrations by category (historical, scientific, cultural, etc.)

• Suggest visual metaphors or analogies you never would’ve thought of

• Spark stories you can adapt to your own voice and church culture

And the best part? You’re still in control. AI doesn’t replace your discernment, prayer, or pastoral heart. It just cuts through the noise and gives you a better starting point.

Jesus used parables for a reason: stories stick. And pastors today need tools that help us find stories worth telling.

It’s Not Cheating. It’s Stewardship.

Using AI to brainstorm illustrations isn’t lazy.

It’s strategic.

It helps you:

• Get unstuck faster

• Use your study time more effectively

• Spend more time praying for your people and less time scrolling headlines

If you want to see how it works in real life, I’ve built a course just for pastors like you:👉 How Pastors Can Use AI for Sermon Prep (Without Selling Out or Cheating)

It includes:

• A full walkthrough of how to use the Sermon Illustrator

• Cut-and-paste prompts to get better results

• 6 sessions and a 40 page workbook

• Tips for customizing and refining the stories AI suggests

• Such easy instructions, a non-techie pastor can do it easily.

Here's everything included:

Your stories matter. Your message matters. Let’s make it easier to bring the two together.