Pastor Rick Interviews David Oyelowo of Captive

About this sermon

Rick Warren interviews David Oyelowo of Paramount's, Captive at Saddleback Church. To learn more about this movie and the story of Captive, visit: http://captivemovieresources.com/ On March 11, 2005 a rapist named Brian Nichols was on trial in Atlanta. He’d already spent time in prison awaiting his trial. But when he was brought to the Fulton county courthouse, Nichols grabbed the deputy’s gun and shot and killed the judge, the court reporter, a deputy sheriff, and a federal agent, leaving four dead as he escaped the courthouse. A massive manhunt was launched in and around Atlanta, but Nichols kidnapped a young woman named Ashley Smith, took over her house to hide out, and tired her up in the bathtub. Ashley was a meth addict, a young widow whose husband had been killed in a drug-related murder, and she had just lost custody of her little girl due to her addiction. So a murderer and meth addict – two hopeless people - were now thrown together in a crisis, while the police manhunt searched for Nichols. Just prior to being taken hostage, Ashley had started attending a Celebrate Recovery for her addiction and had started reading a copy of The Purpose Driven Life that she’d been given. She had first thrown the book away, but her friend fished it out of the trash can and gave it to her a second time, the next day. So while the murderer was holding her hostage and hiding from the police, Ashley began to read portions of The Purpose Driven Life to her captor. His harshness began to soften, hope began to rise in his heart, and he began to wonder if maybe God has a purpose for his life. As they talked about what Ashley had read to Brian Nichols, Ashley fixed a breakfast of pancakes for her captor and he responded by hanging some curtains for her. With great courage and compassion, Ashley convinced Brian that God did have a purpose for his life so he set her free and peacefully turned himself in to the police. It was a flat-out miracle. It was moment of redemption for both, and a second chance for both people who had felt so hopeless.

Topics

• Leadership
• Overcoming Obstacles