The Anchor of Hope

Sunday, October 27, 2024

Start with Application Testimony

[Give people an opportunity to share how they applied what we learned last week]

Last week’s question: What door do you just need to step through this week?

INTRO

Paul has been in Roman custody for two years in Caesarea

After seeing no other way out, Paul had appealed to Caesar in order to bypass the circular legal process with the Sanhedrin and get to Rome, which is where he knew Jesus was calling him (Acts 23:11)

While this decision moved him towards Rome, it also kept in imprisoned when he could have been freed (Acts 26:32)

Paul is now ready to embark on his journey to Rome and is apparently rejoined by Luke, who was allowed to travel with him

READ

Question to consider as we read:

Why is hope so important?

Acts 27:1–28:15 CSB

1 When it was decided that we were to sail to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Imperial Regiment. 2 When we had boarded a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, intending to sail to ports along the coast of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us. 3 The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to his friends to receive their care. 4 When we had put out to sea from there, we sailed along the northern coast of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5 After sailing through the open sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we reached Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 Sailing slowly for many days, with difficulty we arrived off Cnidus. Since the wind did not allow us to approach it, we sailed along the south side of Crete off Salmone. 8 With still more difficulty we sailed along the coast and came to a place called Fair Havens near the city of Lasea. 9 By now much time had passed, and the voyage was already dangerous. Since the Day of Atonement was already over, Paul gave his advice 10 and told them, “Men, I can see that this voyage is headed toward disaster and heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion paid attention to the captain and the owner of the ship rather than to what Paul said. 12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to set sail from there, hoping somehow to reach Phoenix, a harbor on Crete facing the southwest and northwest, and to winter there. 13 When a gentle south wind sprang up, they thought they had achieved their purpose. They weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 But before long, a fierce wind called the “northeaster” rushed down from the island. 15 Since the ship was caught and unable to head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 After running under the shelter of a little island called Cauda, we were barely able to get control of the skiff. 17 After hoisting it up, they used ropes and tackle and girded the ship. Fearing they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the drift-anchor, and in this way they were driven along. 18 Because we were being severely battered by the storm, they began to jettison the cargo the next day. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 For many days neither sun nor stars appeared, and the severe storm kept raging. Finally all hope was fading that we would be saved. 21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, “You men should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete and sustain this damage and loss. 22 Now I urge you to take courage, because there will be no loss of any of your lives, but only of the ship. 23 For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood by me 24 and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to appear before Caesar. And indeed, God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.’ 25 So take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me. 26 But we have to run aground on some island.” 27 When the fourteenth night came, we were drifting in the Adriatic Sea, and about midnight the sailors thought they were approaching land. 28 They took soundings and found it to be a hundred twenty feet deep; when they had sailed a little farther and sounded again, they found it to be ninety feet deep. 29 Then, fearing we might run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come. 30 Some sailors tried to escape from the ship; they had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to put 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 the ropes holding the skiff and let it drop away. 33 When it was about daylight, Paul urged them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food, having eaten nothing. 34 So I urge you to take some food. For this is for your survival, since none of you will lose a hair from your head.” 35 After he said these things and had taken some bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all of them, and after he broke it, he began to eat. 36 They all were encouraged and took food themselves. 37 In all there were 276 of us on the ship. 38 When they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing the grain overboard into the sea. 39 When daylight came, they did not recognize the land but sighted a bay with a beach. They planned to run the ship ashore if they could. 40 After cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach. 41 But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow jammed fast and remained immovable, while the stern began to break up by the pounding of the waves. 42 The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners so that no one could swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion kept them from carrying out their plan because he wanted to save Paul, and so he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. 44 The rest were to follow, some on planks and some on debris from the ship. In this way, everyone safely reached the shore. 1 Once safely ashore, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The local people showed us extraordinary kindness. They lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold. 3 As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the local people saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They expected that he would begin to swell up or suddenly drop dead. After they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. 7 Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him. 9 After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. 10 So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed. 11 After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island, with the Twin Gods as its figurehead. 12 Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed three days. 13 From there, after making a circuit along the coast, we reached Rhegium. After one day a south wind sprang up, and the second day we came to Puteoli. 14 There we found brothers and sisters and were invited to stay a week with them. And so we came to Rome. 15 Now the brothers and sisters from there had heard the news about us and had come to meet us as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

EXAMINE

What are the key points in this passage?

#1 | The ship crew puts themselves in a bad situation

Paul gives advice based on his experience sailing on the Mediterranean sea

Acts 27:9–11 ...Paul gave his advice 10 and told them, “Men, I can see that this voyage is headed toward disaster and heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion paid attention to the captain and the owner of the ship rather than to what Paul said.

This wasn’t a revelation from God - it was based on Paul’s own personal expertise

It turns out Paul was right and they encounter a terrible storm

Acts 27:20 For many days neither sun nor stars appeared, and the severe storm kept raging. Finally all hope was fading that we would be saved.

Not only are they in a bad storm - they are beginning to lose hope and motivation

#2 | God gives them enough information to anchor them

God gives them one simple promise to hold on to: they will all survive this voyage

Acts 27:21–25 ...Paul then stood up among them and said, “You men should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete and sustain this damage and loss. 22 Now I urge you to take courage, because there will be no loss of any of your lives, but only of the ship. 23 For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood by me 24 and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to appear before Caesar. And indeed, God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.’ 25 So take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me.”

God does not tell them what to do or what else is coming - he just removes their biggest fear, which is death and failure

Hope is not about knowing how something will work out - it’s about being confident that it will

#3 | They make it through the storm by holding onto God’s one promise

By holding on to this one promise (that they will all survive) they found the motivation to:

Find the heart to eat and strengthen themselves (27:33-37)

Form a plan for getting back to shore safely (27:39)

Fight through the ship breakup and make it to shore (27:44)

While they held on to God’s one promise, He worked to:

Protect the lives of everyone (27:42-44)

Provide for them on the island of Malta (28:2)

Protect Paul from the snake’s poison (28:5)

Bless and heal the people of Malta (28:8-9)

Provide provisions and passage to Rome (28:10-11)

Plant people along their way to welcome and care for them (28:14-15)

God gives us promises to anchor us to Him, while he works on our behalf

God reveals what we need to know, and that’s what we need to hold on to

Consider Deuteronomy 29:29 The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.

APPLY

Explore and apply the passage with these questions:

[Allow the conversation to go where people take it - we want people to feel the liberty to explore the topics of the passage that stand out to them. Select the questions from below that you think are right for the conversation, or add your own. Questions should be focused, yet open-ended. Wherever the conversation goes, help your group “land the plane” on the core idea of the lesson when you wrap up.]

What kinds of questions do we ask God, that we think we need to know, but we really don’t?

What do we really need to know from God, that we don’t typically ask him?

How have you seen God work around you, when you’ve held on to one of His promises?

Where we want to “land the plane”

Sometimes the biggest obstacle we are facing is despair itself. If we don’t think we can make it, it’s hard to think of solutions or find the energy to do the work we need to do. Rather than asking God for step-by-step instructions, we should rather focus on holding on to His promises. His promises remove the obstacle of despair so we can move forward and do what we need to do. They also anchor our confidence that He will take care of everything else.

Application question for the Week

[Encourage people to provide an answer now, if they are able - to provide an opportunity for accountability and praise reports the following week.]

What promise has God given you, that you need to anchor yourself in this week?

REFLECT

Prayer Points for Today

Ask the Lord to speak His promises to each of us, so we can anchor ourselves to them.

FOOTNOTES

The Detailed Voyage. Why did Luke go into such lengthy detail about the voyage from Caesarea to Rome? There is no easy answer. (1) It may simply be a device to emphasize Paul’s journey to and his arrival at Rome. As the Gospel writers stressed the Lord’s final approach to Jerusalem and His last days there to heighten the impact of His death and resurrection, so Luke climaxed his Luke-Acts work with the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom to Gentiles in the Roman capital. (2) Luke may have used the example of great ancient epics of his day which commonly employed the theme of a storm and shipwreck. This would parallel the modern use of a chase scene in a movie or television drama. The problem with this view is a simple one. How does this contribute to Luke’s purpose in writing? Simply following the example of ancient epics would not really add to the book. (3) Possibly the writer desired to show a parallel with Jonah and his storm (Jonah 1:4–15). After Jonah lived through the storm by miraculous means he preached to a large Gentile capital city. The comparison with Paul is obvious. (4) The purpose of this account is to show God’s sovereign protection and direction in Paul’s ministry. It was God’s will for the apostle to minister the gospel in Rome. (5) It was Luke’s intention to show Paul’s leadership and thereby to underscore the fact that God’s program had become primarily Gentile and therefore Paul was God’s man of the hour. In the account Paul certainly does come off as the one who is in control even in the spheres of ocean travel and shipwreck. (6) Some think the story is something of an allegory. In the Old Testament the sea was portrayed as an enemy; so here it figures opposition to the spread of the gospel. In spite of all antagonism the good news of the kingdom will survive and will ultimately reach its predetermined goal. But this is so allegorical it is a highly improbable view. The answer to the question of Luke’s great emphasis on the journey to Rome may be a combination of answers 1, 3, 4, and 5, though it is difficult to be dogmatic. Stanley D. Toussaint, “Acts,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 426–427.

Day of Atonement Relevence. The Day of Atonement occurred in late September to early October. After that time of year the unsettled weather patterns over the Mediterranean Sea made sailing hazardous. In those days sea traffic ceased by early November. Paul was perhaps included in the ship’s council because of his experiences in travel (cf. 2 Cor. 11:25, “three times I was shipwrecked”) and his natural leadership. Contrary to Paul’s advice the majority (Acts 27:11) decided it best to sail on to a more commodious harbor and to winter there. The authority rested ultimately in the hands of the centurion because grain ships were considered to be in government service. So they sailed along the southern coast of Crete. They hoped to reach the harbor of Phoenix. Stanley D. Toussaint, “Acts,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 427.