Savior

As fire threatened people in Jasper National Park, Colleen Knull sprang into action. “I like to be able to help people,” said the 18-year-old. “I like the fact that what I do in my work does good.”

Knull is a volunteer firefighter in North Okanagan in Alberta, Canada. She was working a summer job as part of the kitchen staff at a Jasper lodge when one night an evacuation order was issued for the area. “The smoke was coming up from the mountainside,” said Knull. “It was big.”

Knull quickly spread the word to guests of the lodge and tracked down any other people camping out in the area. In total, she rallied 16 people together for a four-hour hike in treacherous terrain to safety.

Rebecca Tocher, a hiker who was in Knull’s group said, “There was more intense smoke, my eyes were burning, there was ash falling constantly. She was an amazing leader and was just making sure that everyone was working together.”

Knull used her knowledge of the area and tracking skills to navigate in the dark. Knull said:

I had previously ridden a horse up to that lodge on that same trail and throughout the way me and my employer, we had cut logs on the way up," said Knull. "There were 67 logs, so there would be 67 cut logs on the way down…So, I used my tracking skills – following horse tracks, and horse manure.”

“She was just on it and she led it, the whole way,” said David Richmond, another hiker in the group.

“I do it because at the end of the day, I’d want somebody there to help,” said Knull.

During the hike down, the group was able to communicate with search and rescue crews to help with the evacuation. Knull eventually drove all 16 people in her pickup truck out of the evacuation zone. No one was seriously injured.

Knull said the experience reinforced her motivation to become a full-time, professional firefighter.

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Rescue; Salvation; Savior, Christ only - Christ, our compassionate Savior, personally leads us through the valley of death, just as He promised, 'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me' (Psalm 23:4). His prior experience ensures our safe passage. 2) Evangelism, Witnessing - Christians can show others the way to safety in the Lord since they know the way (John 14:6).

A woman in Sunderland, England nearly leapt to her death from in 2018 from Wearmouth Bridge, very well known as a place where people come to end their lives. She now returns to that site regularly to post messages encouraging others who are having a rough time to get help.

Paige Hunter, now 21, says that when she was a teenager suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, she found herself standing at the edge of the bridge, thinking about ending it all. That’s when a pair of Good Samaritans approached Hunter, telling her “You are worth so much more than this.”

That not only stopped her from jumping, but changed her life. The next day, Hunter wrote those eight words that were told to her on several pieces of paper and posted them all over the bridge where she had her epiphany. That’s where her campaign, Notes of Hope, began.

Since then, Hunter said she’s left over 1,000 laminated, handwritten messages on the Wearmouth Bridge encouraging others struggling with mental health issues to seek help. She’s received lots of feedback and thinks she’s saved dozens of lives through her efforts—and even improved her own. Hunter said, “It’s definitely therapeutic for me to write these messages.”

25-year-old Callum Doggrell said his life was saved by Hunter’s efforts. “I was going through a really rough patch, and I was at a point in my life where I didn’t want to be here anymore,” he said. That was in early 2019. He thought about his one-year-old son and other loved ones and decided to push past his trouble and carry on. He and Hunter are now in contact.

A routine Tuesday morning in a remote mountain village turned into a harrowing ordeal as a cable car malfunction left eight passengers, including schoolchildren, suspended hundreds of feet in the air. Shortly after departure, two of the car’s supporting cables snapped, sparking a dramatic 12-hour rescue operation by the Pakistani military.

The rescuers faced immense challenges as they attempted to save the stranded passengers. With helicopters and zip lines, they launched a complicated plan to bring everyone to safety, while villagers watched in helpless suspense. As the rescue team battled the elements, those trapped inside battled their own fear and anxiety, exacerbated by the car’s movements and the gusts of wind from the helicopter rotors.

This particular cable car system is a vital lifeline for the isolated village of Pashto. It provides access to the schools and hospitals in the rugged terrain previously unavailable to residents of the poverty-stricken village. Since its construction five years ago, it has significantly improved the lives of villagers by providing a quick and affordable means of crossing the valley.

As the last passenger was rescued, relief and joy washed over the village, highlighting the importance of this lifeline for the community and the resilience of its residents in the face of adversity. The cause of the cable car failure remains unknown, prompting calls for safety inspections on all private mountain lifts.

Possible Preaching Angle:

These well-trained professional first responders who save lives are only a faint shadow of the work of a caring Savior who came to rescue us from death and bring us safely home.

For about five dollars you can buy a four-inch plastic bobblehead Jesus that bounces on a metal spring and adheres firmly to the dashboard of your car. One advertisement for this product says you can “stick him where you need forgiveness” and he will “guide you through the valley of gridlock.”

The dashboard Jesus has become a cultural phenomenon. In the song “Plastic Jesus” Billy Idol sings, “With my plastic Jesus, goodbye and I'll go far, with my plastic Jesus sitting on the dashboard of my car.” Paul Newman sang it in the movie Cool Hand Luke. The words begin, “Well, I don’t care if it rains or freezes, long as I have my plastic Jesus sitting on the dashboard of my car.”

To lots of people, Jesus, church, and Christianity are cultural trappings but not life-changing realities. Author Josh McDowell warns that many people today see Jesus “like a plastic statue on a car dashboard—smiling, robed, a halo suspended above his head.” But that superstitious or sentimental view of Jesus is a myth. Jesus of Nazareth was no plastic saint. He’s a real-world kind of Savior.

It’s not important whether you have Jesus on your car’s dashboard, but it’s vital to know he’s living in your heart. He isn’t plastic, he’s powerful. He’s not small, he’s infinite. He’s not a good-luck token. He’s the risen Lord of time and eternity.

In a YouTube video, a young boy comes across a small sheep stuck headfirst in a long narrow trench which has been dug beside a road. The boy uses his hands and a belt around the leg of the sheep to rescue the trapped sheep.

Immediately on being set free, the sheep takes a few stumbling steps, and then a couple of joyful leaps … only to land headfirst back in the same trench further along the road. The audio then records then sheep baaing helplessly after finding itself right back in the same condition.

Some of the comments that accompany the video make the application very easy:

Duarte Santo – “The story of my life”

Browill9 – “That’s why Jesus called us sheep”

Tim Walker – “Me and Jesus on a regular basis!”

victor carjan – “Jesus said in John 5:14 … Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”

Keefe Ulmschneider – “This is a great representation of what believers do after Christ Jesus drags us out of the ditch, we fall/ jump right back in and need to be saved again. Wretched sinners we are ...”

You can watch the 29 second video here.

Author Dane Ortlund quotes Thomas Goodwin’s statement, “Christ’s own joy, comfort, happiness, and glory are increased … by his showing grace and mercy, in pardoning, relieving, and comforting his members here on earth.”

Ortlund then gave the following illustration:

A compassionate doctor has traveled deep into the jungle to provide medical care to a primitive tribe afflicted with a contagious disease. He has had his medical equipment flown in. He has correctly diagnosed the problem, and the antibiotics are prepared and available. He is independently wealthy and has no need of any kind of financial compensation. But as he seeks to provide care, those who are afflicted refuse the care. They want to take care of themselves. They want to heal on their own terms. Finally, a few brave young men step forward to receive the care being freely provided.

What does the doctor feel? Joy. His joy increases to the degree that the sick come to him for help and healing. It’s the whole reason he came.

So, with us, and so with Christ. He does not get flustered and frustrated when we come to him for fresh forgiveness, for renewed pardon, with distress and need and emptiness. That’s the whole point. It’s what he came to heal.

Most rescue dogs are claimed from pet shelters, but Richard Wilbanks rescued his puppy from the jaws of an alligator. Wilbanks was out on a walk with Gunner when he heard a brief yelp of distress. Wilbanks recalled, “I looked around and saw the alligator out swimming in the pond with him. I just wasn't going to let him have my puppy for breakfast.”

Surveillance footage from the Florida Wildlife Federation showed Wilbanks in action as he ran into the pond to get his dog back, prying the jaws of the gator loose. In honor of the bravery displayed by his owner, Gunner was selected to take part in an educational initiative called Deputy Dogs, Pets on Patrol. According to a program representative, Carmine Dellaquilla, Gunnar will assist in helping children throughout Lee County avoid danger. She said, “School bus safety, safety as it relates to the water. Alligators in the pond, toads, cane toads. Any types of danger that children face every day.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

The God who watches over all creation has his watchful eye on you and will not let you be devoured by evildoers. Young David said, “The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Sam. 17:37).

So many of us do it: You get into bed, turn off the lights, and look at your phone to check Twitter one more time. The economy is cratering. Still, you incessantly scroll though bottomless doom-and-gloom news for hours as you sink into a pool of despair.

This habit has become known as doomscrolling--the act of consuming an endless procession of negative online news. With protests over racial injustice and police brutality, it’s only gotten more intense. The constant stream of news and social media never ends. According to a recent survey from the Pew Research Center, 66% of Americans feel worn out by the amount of news available.

Recently, Dictionary.com named doomscrolling one of its “New Words We Created Because of Coronavirus.” There’s something else in the etymology, though. Particularly in the word doom. The act of doomscrolling, then, is to roll toward annihilation. Taken biblically, it has a Revelation tone. Simultaneously, each person watches the demise of so much, while also slowly destroying themselves.

Doomscrolling will never actually stop the doom itself. Amidst all of the pain, isolation, and destruction of the past six months, it’s not worth it to add on to the strain with two hours of excess Twitter every night. Try these things instead: Put down your phone, turn off your news notifications, and focus on good news to lift your spirits.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The gospel literally means “Good News” and it is what people desperately need right now. Become a testimony of hope (1 Pet. 3:15), light (Matt. 5:14), and the good news of a Savior (Luke 2:10) whom we proclaim (Acts 8:35).

In the depths of World War II, Swedish authorities decided their citizens needed to know what to do if the fighting finally arrived on their doorstep. Though they maintained neutrality, it was hard to believe they could continue to do so—especially as their Nordic neighbors got caught in the tides of violence. So, they decided on a handy pamphlet, delivered to households across Sweden. Roughly translated to "If War Comes," the pamphlets offered tips for how to interpret sirens and what to take along in the case of evacuation.

The pamphlets didn't end with the war. For more than four decades, Sweden distributed these little bits of instruction on catastrophe—until the end of the Cold War seemed to diminish their usefulness and they were discontinued. Now, Sweden is bringing them back.

The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency is organizing a reboot of the pamphlet, this time augmenting its advice on conventional warfare with tips on how to grapple with threats of this era: terrorism and cyberattacks, pandemics, misinformation campaigns, and crises related to climate change.

The agency expects to deliver these pamphlets to 4.7 million Swedish households. A spokesman for the agency said, “Back then the focus was only on war; today society looks totally different. There are considerably more complex threats. People need to learn more and know more about how to handle … their own and their nearest relatives’ fundamental needs for a while.”

Since 1939, Stan Lee created or co-created some of the world’s most popular superheroes. His super-human imagination gave birth to Black Panther, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Thor, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, and Ant-Man, just to name a few.

Of course, the world has no shortage of storytellers, but Lee was something of a mutant in the field. The Avengers series alone has generated more than $10 billion in ticket sales at the box office since 2008. So, what set his stories apart from the rest? Lee was able to tap into deeply rooted human instincts.

He explains his secret in a 1984 interview with ET:

The whole formula … was to say: Let’s assume that somebody really could walk on walls like Spider-Man, or turn green and become a monster like The Hulk. That’s a given; we’ll accept that. But, accepting that, what would that person be like in the real world if he really existed? Wouldn’t he still have to worry about making a living? Or having acne and dandruff? Or his girlfriend jilting him? What are the real problems people would have? I think that’s what made the books popular.

We all know we need a superhero to rescue us from our enemies and from calamities. But we simultaneously want this hero to be someone with whom we can identify. There are two instincts woven into our fallen nature: the knowledge that we need someone to save us and the deep desire for another to understand our struggles. Lee was also well-known for his cameo appearances inside the stories he had written. Each film since X-Men in 2000 (until his death in 2018) has featured a brief incarnation of the author.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Stan Lee wasn’t the first to write himself into his storyline. Jesus did not simply rescue us from afar. He wrote himself into our story. He became a man and subjected himself to all the tyrannies of a fallen world.

In his book, Rick Mattson writes:

I’m not the one making the exclusive claim about salvation—Jesus is. He is the one who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). I’m simply trusting his authority to know these things. It’s like going to my excellent family physician, Dr. Lehman. If he tells me my cholesterol is too high and that I need to cut down on sweets and fatty foods, I believe him. He’s an expert on the matter. Sure, there are plenty of other voices I could listen to about my health, including celebrities, infomercials and tabloid articles. To the extent that these voices disagree with Dr. Lehman, they’re most likely wrong. My physician has made the “exclusive” claim that his patient, me, has a certain malady that requires a certain treatment. I’m just the amateur who believes him.

Editor's Note: This simple illustration can show that proclaiming the exclusive claims of Christ need not be arrogant. Preachers can easily adapt this illustration with details from their own lives. Here’s my adaptation of the illustration (with a twist of humor):

I went to a sleep specialist doctor because apparently, I snore a lot. I told everyone, including the sleep specialist doctor, “Fine, do your study, but I am NOT wearing one of those CPAP machines.” I was convinced the doctor was getting kickbacks from the CPAP machine company. So I spent the night with electrodes stuck on my head and the doctor gave me his diagnosis: you have sleep apnea and you need to wear a CPAP. Now I trusted his expertise even less. I called a doctor friend to investigate this quack with his kickback scam. My friend said, “Your doctor is the real deal. Wear the CPAP machine. You’ll have more time on earth to enjoy your grandchildren.” So, every night I put that silly mask on my face. Why? Because after kicking and screaming, I have come to trust and to surrender to my doctor—his authority, his expertise. Why do followers of Jesus obey him in all things? Because they have surrendered to his authority and expertise.

Possible Preaching Angles: Rick Mattson writes, "This analogy can work with any authority figure you can think of: pilot, air traffic controller, professor, lawyer, scientist, astronaut, boat captain and so on. I prefer the doctor image because it’s so universally revered. I suppose a skeptic could push back on the analogy by pointing out that sometimes doctors are wrong and one should get a second opinion. That’s fine. The point is that somewhere in the process I, the amateur, trust in some authority who makes an exclusive truth claim about my condition.”

It was a very lucky St. Patrick’s Day for a woman in need of a life-saving assist at a Chicago area restaurant. A last-minute staffing issue left the Trifecta Grill in need of a busboy to fill in during the busy holiday weekend. Waitress Alina Benge had an idea: she would call her dad, who had recently retired. “Just because he’s had the time on his hands … and not doing a whole lot,” Benge said.

Her dad is Dr. Bill Benge, a retired Harvard-trained cardiologist, who jokes he traded his white coat for a white apron. Bartender Nicole Papalia said “this is not funny – but what happens if there’s some medical event, and he just happens to be here on this night? We were all kind of laughing in jest about it.”

But just after he arrived an elderly customer began choking on her meal. Restaurant owner Patrick O'Neil said, “He wasn’t here for more than five minutes with his apron on when a lady stopped breathing from choking.” So instead of clearing tables, Dr. Benge stepped in to clear a blocked air passage. “Did the Heimlich maneuver, which is abdominal thrusts, and she was able to clear the object,” Dr. Benge said.

His daughter said, “I kind of go back in my mind and say, what if he wasn’t here? How would that have turned out? What would the outcome be? I’m just so lucky my dad was here that night.”

Dr. Benge says it’s a good reminder that we should all take a moment to learn the Heimlich maneuver, because you don’t have to be a doctor to save someone’s life.

Possible Preaching Angle: 1) Incarnation; Humanity of Christ - Jesus served as a humble carpenter at the Father’s request (Jn. 6:38) and at the right time stepped forward to save the world (John 3:17); 2) Evangelism; Salvation; Soul Winning – Christians should be prepared at a moment’s notice to rescue the perishing.

National Public Radio aired a segment on dying well and what the living can learn from the lives of the deceased. The segment featured a marketing expert named Lux Narayan. Narayan and his employees examined 2,000 editorial, non-paid New York Times obituaries over a 20-month period. What surprised them was that the most common word in the obituaries was “help”:

I was fascinated when I saw that word because when you're analyzing 2,000 paragraphs of text, you wouldn't expect one or two words to stick out and stand out as prominently as this did. And what we found fascinating when we went through some of those descriptors was the fact that the help took on different contexts. For example, Reverend Rick Curry, who helped veterans and disabled people by running writing and acting workshops. There's Jocelyn Cooper, who was a grassroots organizer in Brooklyn in the 1960s. And she helped pave the way for the first African-American woman to sit in the US Congress.

It's beautiful that the people … are remembered … in terms of helping people … And even more fascinating was the fact that the overwhelming majority of obituaries featured people famous and non-famous who did seemingly extraordinary things. They made a positive dent in the fabric of life. They helped … It was beautiful how that word stood out so strongly.

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Easter; Redeemer; Savior – In his death (and resurrection) Jesus is the supreme example of unselfishly helping others. He came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28); 2) Church, Mission of; Help; Serve - Christ followers should also have the goal that the significant word of their own life will be “helped.”

Nancy Abell tried to get Katharina Groene to turn back. But with 150 miles to go on her solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail, Groene wanted to see her adventure through. Abell met Groene in Washington, after Groene had walked 2,500 miles northward from the Mexican border. It was late in the season, and Abell was concerned because Groene didn't have snowshoes.

She couldn't stop thinking about the German hiker all alone in the mountains. A few days later when forecasters said to expect two feet of snow in the mountains, Abell called the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office, explaining that Groene might be in trouble.

On the mountain, Groene was dehydrated and disoriented and thought she might have frostbite. She kept falling down and having to will herself to get back up, a sign of hypothermia. Surrounded by evergreens that were sinking under the weight of the snow, she screamed for help. No one heard her. She got out her phone and began recording messages for the friends and family she hadn’t seen for months, apologizing for dying on the trail.

Officers launched a search, and soon found her. Rescuers said it's likely she would have died within a day. Groene told reporters one reason she went on the hike alone is because she had lost her "faith in humanity." Thanks to Abell, it's back in "a really big way."

Possible Preaching Angle:

1) Advent; Christmas; Savior – When we were hopelessly lost and in great need, God sent his son to be our savior (Matthew 1:21); 2) Helplessness; Lostness; Loving others – Christians should also feel the same concern for the lost, whom they meet every day, and do all they can to help rescue those who are perishing.

Kevin McKay drove the school bus along gridlocked, dark roads as pockets of fire burned all around. Nearly two dozen elementary school children were on board with him. Smoke began to fill the bus, so McKay took off a shirt. He and two teachers on the bus tore it into pieces and doused them with water. The children held the damp pieces of cloth to their mouths and breathed through them.

He had only been on the job, driving the bus for Ponderosa Elementary School in the northern California city of Paradise, for a few months. Now, McKay was ferrying the 22 stranded children to safety as the Camp Fire scorched everything in its path. It would take five harrowing hours for them to reach safety.

Family members of most other students had already picked up their children. But nearly two dozen students were stranded because their family members hadn't made it to the school. McKay discussed evacuating the students with Ponderosa's principal. Two teachers, Abbie Davis and Mary Ludwig, evacuated with McKay and the students.

As they drove away from the school on roads thick with smoke, the bus became stuck in the gridlock of vehicles trying to leave Paradise. Should they abandon the bus, they wondered?

Davis said she thought she was going to die several times along the journey. At one point, they prayed, Ludwig said. Hours later, parents and children were reunited. McKay said Davis' husband hugged him so hard, he "near lifted me off the ground."

The Camp Fire is now the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history, killing at least 81 people and leaving more than 900 people still unaccounted for. Recounting their escape on Sunday, McKay was modest. But Davis and Ludwig said McKay was a true hero. "We had the bus driver from heaven," Ludwig said.

Potential Preaching Angles:

In our time of greatest danger, Jesus, our ‘rescuer from heaven’ came to save us. He brings all who trust him safely through the fire (Matthew 1:21).