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Sermon Illustrations: Reward

Two missionaries were returning home after many years of service. As the boat pulled in, there was a brass band. Their first thought was that it was for them, but they quickly realised there was a visiting dignitary. They collected their baggage and booked into a cheap motel. After a while, the man started to cry. "We've served God for many years. We've got no money, no house, and when we return home there's not even anyone to meet us." His wife looked at him and said, "We're not home yet."

What motivated Jesus as He suffered, was beaten, went to the cross? Heb 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

On June 1, 1965, a four metre boat slipped quietly out of Falmouth, Massachusetts. It's destination? Falmouth, England. It would be the smallest craft ever to make the voyage. Its name? Tinkerbelle. It's pilot? Robert Manry, a copy editor for the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper who felt that ten years at a desk was enough boredom for anyone. Manry was afraid, not of the ocean, but of all the people who would try to talk him out of the trip. So he only shared it with the some relatives and his wife Virginia, his greatest source of support. The trip? He spent harrowing nights of sleeplessness trying to cross shipping lanes without getting run over. Weeks at sea caused his food to become tasteless. Loneliness led to hallucinations. His rudder broke three times. Storms swept him overboard. Had it not been for the rope around his waist he would never have been able to pull himself back on board. Finally, after 78 days alone at sea he sailed into Falmouth, England. During those nights at the tiller he had fantasised about what he would do once he arrived. He expected to simply check into a hotel, eat dinner alone, then next morning see if perhaps the Associated Press might be interested in his story. What a surprise! Word had spread far and wide. To his amazement, 300 vessels with horns blasting escorted Tinkerbelle into port. And 47,000 people stood screaming and cheering him to the shore. Word For Today 18-2-08