Characteristics of Good Sermon Illustrations

1. They tug at the heartstrings and help persuade your people to make a decision for Christ. 
2. They connect with your people. 
3. They are colorful and compelling. 
4. They address real people with real-life problems and solutions. 
5. They are sensitive and appropriate for the particular audience you are addressing. 
6. They are believable.
   

Daniel Akin, Bill Curtis, and Stephen Rummage, Engaging Exposition (Nashville B&H Academic, 2011), 167-68 (with some modification).