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Sermon Details
- Pastor Name: Jonathan Cornell
- Date & Time: March 15, 2015 | 10:00am
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SERMON SERIES:
Markers
Phil Staples was a man who faced death each and every day. “I’m one cheeseburger away from a heart attack,” he said to a perfect stranger at a truck stop in Winslow, Arizona. Phil weighed nearly 450 lbs. Not only that, but Phil suffered from an autoimmune disease called chronic urticaria, a condition in which his body would sporadically break out in large patches of hives. Most of all, he was discouraged, unable to see a way out of his captivity to food and inactivity. Three marriages later, with children he’d not seen in years, Phil’s prison cell was the cab of his 18-wheeler. His coping mechanism, fast food, every shape and size. Phil Staples was in need of a rescuer.
That day in Winslow, Arizona, he met a man named Joe Cross, who himself was on a journey of deliverance from the very same things. The story of these two men is the subject of a documentary film entitled Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. For both of these men, their rescue would come in the form of a glass of vegetable juice.
That day, Joe gave Phil his contact information and told him if he was ever interested in his help in beginning his journey of regaining his health, he should call him. It wasn’t until months later that late one evening, Joe received a phone call from a broken man who was in need of rescuing. You see, that day in Arizona, Joe introduced Phil to a tangible element, a unique sort of meal that would be his deliverance.
Eugene Peterson in his memoir The Pastor says, “A life of faith cannot be lived in general or by abstractions. All of the great realities we can’t touch or see take shape on ground we can see.” We all need touchstones in our lives that show us the way to our rescue, something that we can see and touch and remember. For Phil it was juice; for the Israelites it was a lamb. Our Marker for today is a lamb.
Download the entire transcript here: Exodus 12 A Lamb to Rescue
