Clinging To the Promises of God

Acts 27:21-24, 30-44

Battle Belongs

Great are you Lord

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INTRO:

Split into groups of 2 or 3.

In your groups come up with a crisis.

Plane crash, car accident, sickness, etc…

Pretend you are a journalist writing a story on the situation.

How did the Crisis begin and how did it end? How was it solved?

So in short, in groups of 2 or 3 write a short journalistic story reporting on a crisis event and tell the story in a few sentences of how it started and how it ended.

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TRANSITION

Today we are going to read about a time Paul was sailing in a bad storm.

They get stuck at sea, heading for disaster. However, God will get glory through this situation!

Let’s see how it plays out.

Read Acts 27.

Acts 27:9-11 “9 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.”

Acts 27:21-24 “21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’”

Acts 27:25-26 “25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But we must run aground on some island.””

Acts 27:30-38 “30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship’s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go. 33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” 35 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36 Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) 38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.”

Acts 27:39-44 “39 Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore. 40 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 41 But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. 42 The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.”

EXEGESIS:

I love this narrative in the life of Paul.

Starting in verses 9-11, I want you to pay attention to vs. 11.

Paul is about to get on a ship and who is on it?

Sailors.

Roman Soldiers

Prisoners.

Paul, a Prisoner, speaks about the loss of life and possessions (boat) if they set sail.

But what position is Paul in right now? Sailor, Soldier, or Prisoner?

Prisoner!

Who’s going to listen to a prisoner over a sailor?

Acts 27:11 “11 But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.”

This makes sense right?

The soldier will pay attention to the boat experts, not some prisoner…

Now, I’m not faulting the soldier here. I agree with the soldier.

You would be wise to listen to a non-christian world class brain surgeon about the results of your head MRI scan than you would to listen to the Christian janitor at the elementary school with no medical background.

Which is exactly why this is awesome.

God fulfills his promises through ordinary people.

God’s glory is most exemplified through men who have been simplified.

In other words.

Our weaknesses are avenues for God to show his strength!

Yeah, Paul isn’t a sailor, but watch how God will use the that to get glory in this situation!

In verses 12-20, we see they set sail with 276 on board.

In vs. 21, we begin to see things are not going well.

Storms have pushed the boat off the coast and far out to see.

And now men are hungry!

Paul, then steps up and shows his humanity.

What does Paul say in Acts 27:21 “21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me...”

Paul says, “Told ya...”

hahaha.

Now, it’s a wonder the soldier’s don’t immediately throw Paul overboard here.

No one needs the “I told you...” right now…

We need answers, hope, and a plan!

To which Paul comes back down to earth and says,

“Take courage… there will be no loss of any of your lives, but only of the ship...”

Now, Paul isn’t wrong.... He did tell them.

But now, will everyone listen?

In vs. 24-25, Paul tells them, this is not my words… “God has granted you all those who sail with you… so take heart, men, for I have faith in God…”

Paul humbles himself and says, hey listen, this isn’t about my words.

It’s about God’s promises.

We are all in this together, trust God.

vs. 33 Paul urges the sailors to eat.

This is also kind of funny to me because it’s been 14 days at sea and they have not eaten.

How do you feel about 10 hours without food?

3 hours without food?

HANGRY!

So Paul, smartly, recognizes, to endure the rest of this journey, we can’t be hangry.

In vs. 36, they listen to Paul and they eat.

QUICK APPLICATION:

What is fascinating here is we see a movement on the boat from a lack of trust in Paul, to now doing what Paul is suggesting.

How do we get there?

Faith is contagious.

When you are around someone of great faith, people catch on to that.

It’s sometimes said that the best things in life are caught not taught.

In other words, get your hands dirty. Show someone how to do something and then give them the space and freedom to do it!

Don’t lecture them to death. Show them, and let them do!

As Paul proves his trust to the men on the boat, they listen and follow his faith.

Paul’s faith is Contagious.

Then things come to a crash… literally.

The boat crashes onto some reefs.

The soldiers decide to kill the prisoners so none would escape.

In Acts 12:19 we can read about what happens when Roman soldiers allow prisoners to escape.

Acts 12:19 “19 And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death.”

Roman law stated that prisoners who escape from Roman guards would hold those guards responsible and ultimately put them to death.

The soldiers don’t want to die, so they decide to kill them…

But look at what the leader, the centurion, says.

Acts 27:43 “43 But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land,”

Acts 27:44 “44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.”

The same Centurion who in Acts 27:11 did not trust Paul, now in vs. 43 trusts Paul over his own soldiers.

The Centurion, being grateful for Paul’s trust in God, orders everyone to be spared and ultimately they all make it safely to land.

APPLICATION:

How many times has life not made sense to you?

I can think of many times for me.

When my parents divorced.

For the years leading to their divorce of fighting and chaos.

The struggle that still looms during holidays and events through the year where I feel torn between whom to visit.

The death of my child. An innocent life whom never made it out of Allison’s womb, but passed away at only 15 weeks.

Life so often doesn’t make sense.

What makes even less sense than the tragedies in life is thinking you can make it through those tragedies without Christ…

It is by the promises of God and ONLY BY THE PROMISES of God that we continue in this life.

Nehemiah 8:10 “... for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.””

Life is full of tragedies.

But… Life is also full of joy.

Joy can be experienced IN THE MIDST of tragedies.

Can you imagine the joy that must have filled Paul knowing God promised not one of the 276 would die and then seeing that promise fulfilled!

What a joy that would be!

Even as he lay soaking wet on a beach after spending weeks being tossed about in a storm at sea…

God prevailed.

Paul saw that.

But not only Paul, the Centurion as well. He went from not trusting Paul, but seeing Paul’s trust in God and himself, trusting Paul!

Now, there is no evidence the Centurion trusted God, but that’s also not the point.

The point is as we trust God and show our faith in God, that display of faith to others around us will be caught!

People will be encouraged.

Truett Cathy, founder of Chick Fil A once said, “How do you identify someone who needs encouragement? If they are breathing.”

Isn’t that true.

We all need to be built up. This world does enough tearing us down.

Ask yourself, Have I encouraged someone today?

Said a thank you today?

Have I intentionally built someone up with my words today?

As our faith continues to face storms in life, the more we are anchored to Christ, the more we see his promises ring true.

And like a church bell ringing across the field, the ringing promises of God become clearer.

As I experience hard times, I am reminded of that ringing and I hear the promises of God echo through my head.

I then have the choice to keep the encouragement of God to myself, or share it with others!

Friends.

Let us be people who are quick to see and recognize the promises of God at work in our lives.

And let us also be quick to share that promise with others.

You may not even realize you are in the storm on a boat about to capsize.

You may not also realize your friend beside you feels as if their boat has already flipped and is quickly going down.

In both situation, we can remember the promise of God and be an encouragement to ourselves and to our friend.

Are we doing that today?

Acts 27:36 “36 Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves.”

By offering food in the midst of the chaos.

We see Paul encouraged them all.

May that be you and me friends.

May we be a constant source of displaying God’s glory to a lost and dying world.

And may we do so in an encouraging way to those around us!

Let’s go to small groups.