sermon-illustrations
Inspirational Sermon Illustrations on Fear
Explore powerful illustrations on Fear. Discover stories, analogies, humor and more as you bring your sermon to life.
Featured Illustration
See, Worry Works!
Fear is an emotion that produces worry. Here is a story from a friend:
When I was a teenager, I worried about everything – grades, friends, what college I would attend. My mother confronted me and asked, ‘How many of the things that you have worried about have happened?’ I thought a moment and then said, ‘None.’ After taking a breath, I also said, ‘See! Worry works!’ I soon learned that the only way worry worked was to deplete my energy needlessly.
Search by topic, scripture, category etc..
42 Results in 98ms
Display
Sorted By
-
illustration
Farm Animals Prefer the Familiar to the Good
There is a story about a farmer who had a few animals he kept in a barn that had gotten old, drafty, and leaky. Concerned for his animals' well-being, the farmer decided to build a new barn. He bu... -
illustration
Love Motivates More Than Fear
One saint used to say that she was the type of woman who advances more rapidly when she is drawn by love than when driven by fear. She was perceptive enough to know that we are all that type of person... -
illustration
Guard Dogs and False Suspicions
One day, a house-dog, standing at the window, was barking his head off at a passing mailman. The dog's owner, irritated, asks the dog, "Why do you always bark at that poor mailman?" The ... -
illustration
Making the Smart Choice
Angela Merkel breaks almost every stereotype we have about world leaders. Her appearances and actions are plain and modest. She's humble. She couldn't care less about showmanship or fancy dis... -
illustration
The Silence wasn’t to be Feared
In Lancelot , one of Walker Percy’s final novels, the narrator reflects on his own struggle with idleness and addiction to entertainment. In a poignant scene set outside his Mississippi mansion, ... -
illustration
Put Your Hand into the Hand of God
King George V of Britain, who was king during the tumultuous years of World War I, shared a New Year’s card with his friends that featured a drawing of an open gate. Below the image, he included thi... -
illustration
The Nebulous "They"
George Herbert Mead, an influential early 20th-century sociologist, coined the term “generalized other” to describe the vague group we consider when shaping our actions. How often do we behave a certa... -
illustration
See, Worry Works!
Fear is an emotion that produces worry. Here is a story from a friend: When I was a teenager, I worried about everything – grades, friends, what college I would attend. My mother confronted me and ... -
illustration
Faithful Response to Healing
In the story of Jesus and the demon-possessed man in Mark 5:14-20, Jesus gives new life to that man. When the townspeople saw the result of Jesus’ healing – an entirely new man, almost unrecognizable ... -
illustration
Who Said That?
During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was inter... -
illustration
Rather Be in the Casket
I saw a study that said, the number one fear of the average person is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two! How in the world is that? That means to most people, if you have to go ... -
illustration
Anxiety Feels Like a Weight
Anxiety feels like a weight. It has been described as the feeling of tripping—the “moment where you don’t know whether you are going to catch yourself is how you feel all day long.” Or “when you tap y... -
illustration
Someone With Skin
Ronald Rohlheiser begins his excellent book, Our One Great Act of Fidelity , with a story of a young girl. She had awoken from a nightmare, convinced that monsters had invaded her room and were comin... -
illustration
Stories We Tell Ourselves
A man named Jack was driving on a dark country road one night when he got a flat tire. He saw a cabin in the woods and began to walk towards it. He told himself that the person who answered the door w... -
illustration
Risk Management
… Larry Laudan, a philosopher of science, has spent the last decade studying risk-management. He writes of how we live in a society so fear-driven that we suffer from what he calls risk-lock – a condi... -
illustration
Ignorance and Fear
Charles Spurgeon related a trip through the Lake District, when a dense fog descended on him and his fellow travelers, “we felt ourselves to be transported into a world of mystery where everything was... -
illustration
You Have Been Chosen
“I am not made for perilous quests,” cried Frodo. “I wish I had never seen the Ring! Why did it come to me? Why was I chosen?” “Such questions cannot be answered,” said Gandalf. “You may be sure that ... -
illustration
The Destruction Fear can Leave In Its Wake
Herod symbolizes the terrible destruction that fearful people can leave in their wake if their fear is unacknowledged, if they have power but can only use it in furtive, pathetic, and futile attempts ... -
illustration
First and Third World Fears & Authentic Worship
One Sunday I was preaching on Psalm 27. It is a remarkable psalm of hope for God’s- deliverance from fear for those who have faced tough times. With the same candor found in many psalms, this one vivi... -
illustration
Do Not Be Afraid
The Gospels list some 125 Christ-issued imperatives. Of these, 21 urge us to “not be afraid” or “not fear” or “have courage” or “take heart” or “be of good cheer.” The second most common command, to l... -
illustration
The Scary Cousins
Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one. Fear screams, Get out! Anxiety ponders, What if? Fear results in fight or flight. Anxiety creates doom and gloo... -
illustration
Afraid of the Wolf Man
When I was six years old, my dad let me stay up late with the rest of the family and watch the movie The Wolf Man. Boy, did he regret that decision. The film left me convinced that the wolf man spent ... -
illustration
Fear, not Bombs, Was the Killer
At 8:17 on the evening of March 3, 1943, bomb-raid sirens bansheed through the air above London, England. Workers and shoppers stopped on sidewalks and boulevards and searched the skies. Buses came to... -
illustration
What if I Mess It Up?
Some time ago I heard a dear friend describe the day she became a Christian as the most wonderful day of her life. She said the next day was the worst day of her life. I asked why. She explained, “I a... -
illustration
When Words Fail
Ronald Rohlheiser tells a true story of a Jewish boy named Mordechai who could not be coaxed into going to school. When he turned six years old, his mother forced him to go, but the process was misera... -
illustration
The Stalker
Editor’s Note: This story is often told as a true story, when in fact it is probably fictitious. Nevertheless, there is a significant illustrative point: sometimes the things we fear most may in fact ... -
illustration
Fear & Growth, Risk & Comfort
Fear and growth go together like macaroni and cheese. It’s a package deal. The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus you must re... -
illustration
Surprising Peace in Times of Crisis
In his book, Running Scared, Pychologist Edward Welch illustrates how the fear of an event is often worse than the event itself. To demonstrate this, he provides two examples of people whose lives are... -
illustration
What Created the Fears in Your Life?
In her beautifully written memoir Unafraid, Susie Davis reflects on fear after experiencing a school-shooting as a high-school student. It was after this that Davis began to experience regular bouts o... -
illustration
An Honor to Die for this Child
During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, Corrie ten Boom tried to enlist a pastor to help hide Jews. Showing him a Jewish baby in need of rescue, the pastor said “No. Definitely not. We could lo...
Page 1 of 2
Index by Topic
A
C
D
F
G
H
P
R
S
- Sacrifice (1)
- Sacrificial Love (1)
- Safety (2)
- Sanctification (1)
- School Shootings (1)
- Seeking Approval (1)
- Self-Deception (1)
- Self-Preservation (1)
- Self-Worth (1)
- Silence (2)
- Sin (1)
- Spiritual Growth (1)
- Spiritual Transformation (1)
- Staying Humble (1)
- Staying In Your Comfort-Zone (1)
- Stories (1)
- Strength (1)
- Struggles (1)
- Success (1)
T
Index by Reference