Sermon Central
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The Bridge Operator
Contributed by David Dunn on Oct 5, 2025 (message contributor)
There was once a man whose job was to operate a drawbridge for passing trains. Most of the time the bridge stayed raised to allow ships to move freely along the busy waterway. But when a train was scheduled to cross, he would lower the bridge, lock it in place, and signal that the way was safe.
One morning his young son came along to spend the day with his father. The man warned him to stay close to the control room and far from the machinery and the tracks.
As the afternoon wore on, the sound of a distant train whistle echoed through the valley—the next express was coming, filled with hundreds of passengers. The man checked his gauges, then looked around for his boy. He called out, but there was no answer. Then, glancing out the window, his heart froze. Down near the tracks, his son had slipped and become trapped in the gears of the bridge mechanism.
In a moment of unbearable anguish, the father realized what it meant. If he left the controls to rescue his child, the bridge would remain open and the train would plunge into the river, taking countless lives with it. But if he pulled the lever to lower the bridge, the machinery would crush his son.
The whistle grew louder. The train was seconds away. With tears streaming down his face, the father made the choice no parent should ever face. He pulled the lever. The great bridge descended into place. The train roared safely across—its passengers waving cheerfully to the man in the tower, never realizing that his son’s life had just been given for theirs.
It’s a heartbreaking story. Yet it captures, in a small and imperfect way, the grace of God. The world races on—busy, distracted, and unaware—while the Father watched His own Son die so that we might live. Most never realize the price that was paid for their salvation.
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