6 Oct, 2009
A Family Legacy of Rescuers
Flood rescuer repeats father's heroic actions
LITHIA SPRINGS, Georgia (CNN) -- As Zack Stephney stepped into the floodwaters last week, history washed over him. Thirty years after his father drowned in a rescue attempt, Zack Stephney helped save a woman whose car sank.
The youngest of five children, he was only 8 when his father died.
For three decades, he'd carried with him mere snapshots of memories: Family time at Christmas. Riding on the back of Dad's motorcycle. Tommie Stephney's love for drag-racing.
But as the 37-year-old Douglasville, Georgia, man set out September 22 to try and save a woman whose car was swept away by rushing waters, he thought of his father's drowning. He, too, had fought to rescue people struggling against currents.
Maybe it was his training in the U.S. Army Reserves after high school or his father's experience, but keeping everyone calm, warding off panic, was top of Stephney's mind. More than 25 men stationed themselves on two points around the water as he waded in, and fed out the rope tied around him.
"'What's your name?'" Brooks remembered him asking calmly, his eyes locked on hers. Then, he said, "'Melissa, everything's going to be OK.' And I believed him."
"It could've happened to me the same way it did my dad," he said.
What Stephney did was not unlike the countless heroic efforts that played out in disaster areas during the flood. First responders and regular citizens risked their own lives to save others.
But he had something else pushing him, the kind of inspiration rooted in family legacy. And without a doubt, Tommie Stephney would have been proud of his boy.
(To view the full article, go to cnn.com 11/2/09)
Galatians 1:3-5 [NIV]
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Colossians 1:12-14 [NIV]
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Galatians 2:20 [NIV]
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
What does God's Story teach us about being a rescuer?
I love today's story for many reasons. Certainly it is amazing that anyone would wade into the dangerous, raging current to rescue a perfect stranger...but even more amazing is the fact that today's hero was the son of another hero who gave the ultimate price to save someone else. His father had set an example that he was determined to follow!
In much the same way, we see our Savior setting an example that He has called us to follow. He left heaven and entered into the dangerous, raging current of evil that was running wild and carrying all humanity along with it. He dove in and rescued us when we needed it most.
Now He has called us by name...children of His...to carry on the family legacy of risking it all to rescue others.
Connecting today's story and God's Story to my story
Can you imagine being stranded in a raging flood and having someone risk their life to come save yours!?! You would be forever grateful. That is exactly what has happened if you have been rescued by Jesus...and He has rescued you in more ways than one!
- He has rescued you from your sin and eternal separation from God. Instead, if you call Him your Lord, you have been forgiven of those sins and promised an eternity with Him in heaven.
- He has also rescued you from the present evil age. This world will bring hard times while we wait for His return, but He has promised to never give us more than we can handle. He has also promised that He will never leave us but will walk with us every step of the way. What a great rescuer!
Connecting today's story, God's story and my story with my friend's story
- Many of our friends are stranded in the middle of a deadly current. Maybe it is addiction or depression. Perhaps it is overwhelming hurt from the past or the broken relationships of the present. God can use us to rescue them from whatever is keeping them from the love of Christ. Are we willing to dive into the junk of their life and walk with them? Are we willing to risk it all to help save them? Maybe it can start with something as simple as asking the question, "What's your name?" and then letting them know that everything is going to be alright.
- Galatians 2:20 reminds us that this life is not ours to live...we are to live every day by faith in the One who has rescued us...regardless of where He calls us or who He calls us to.
- May we remember that we are a part of a family with a legacy of being rescuers.
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