After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church's Pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest Minister who was in the service that evening. In the introduction, the Pastor told the congregation that the guest Minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted to give him a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service.

An elderly man, bible in hand, stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak. "A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific coast," he began, "When a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt for them to get back to shore. The waves were high, and even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized.

The old man hesitated for a moment to make eye contact with two teenagers who were for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story.

The aged Minister continued with his story, "Grabbing the line he had to make the most excruciating decision of his life. Which boy he would throw the other end of the lifeline to. He only had seconds to make this decision. The father knew his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son’s friend was not. The agony of this decision could not be matched by the torrent of the waves. The father yelled out, "I love you, Son!" He threw out the lifeline to his son's friend. By the time the father had pulled the son's friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of night. His body was never recovered."

By this time, the two teenagers were sitting straight up in their pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old Minister's mouth. "The father", he continued, "knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and he could not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus.

Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save the son's friend. How great is the love of God that he should do the same for us? Our heavenly Father sacrificed His only begotten Son that we all could be saved. I urge you to accept His offer to rescue you and take hold of the lifeline He is throwing out to you, right now "today" in this Service" With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room. The Pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon and at the end invited anyone who desired to know Jesus as Savior to come forward. However no one responded to his appeal.

Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man's side. "That was a nice story," politely stated one of the boys, "but I don't think it was very realistic for a father to give up his only son's life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian". "Well you've got a point there," the old man replied, glancing down at his worn bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face, as he once again looked up at the boy and said, "It sure isn't realistic, is it? But I am standing here today to tell you. This story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give His only Son for me. You see, I was that father and your Pastor is my son's friend."