Serve Where Planted

Me

Pastor Dennis and Rachel are under the weather, so out of an abundance of caution Pastor Dennis decided to stay home and not risk get anyone else sick.

Never done well going and doing what I dont want to do.

John, serve where you are planted

This idea bothered me

We

I know this is true of many, whether it is task or location.

But we can see that God has a greater plan

And we are called to serve where we are planted.

This morning we are going to take a look at what God has said about this through the end of the book of Acts.

God

Pray - May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight.

Remember the warning of Paul, before we get into the passage lets back up for a moment to get some background.

When looking at the book of Acts we should remember these events took place over a 30 year period (give or take) and were occurring as many of the Epistles were written.

Acts 27:10–11 ESV

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.

Paul gave a clear warning, but they ignored him.

This may have been because of their focus on the inconvenience given the apparently risk.

It may have been because he was a prisoner and therefore not regarded as worth listening to.

Regardless, he was ignored

Those on the ship try to handle the issue themselves. They use their sailing training to try to go through this issue. They believe they can make it through.

We try to overcome obvious issues that often we are shown we are wrong

Me being sick at SWBTS and Ben telling me to go home.

After a short time on their journey the shipwrecked. We now come to our passage for today, beginning in verse 39.

Acts 27:39–44 ESV

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.

While it seemed they would be fine, they found just how wrong they were.

This issue continued to get worse. They even considered killing the prisoners so they wouldn’t escape. There would rather them die then escape, but the same Centurion that ignored Paul chose to let them live.

Surly this saved their lives. If not for sparing Paul they would surly have died in this wreck.

But they were shown grace by God. This is God showing his will through occurrence, and when we go through something like this, we must Serve where God has planted us

Acts 28:1–2 ESV

1 After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold.

They found great hospitality from the pagans here.

These people were a kind people that wanted to warm them since it was warm. They welcomed them.

This is how the church should act, but unfortunately we do not.

This was of an amazing grace, since it is most likely that on a given island if there was a wreck like this, they would have likely killed them, or at least would not have helped them, which may have saved them.

Acts 28:3–6 ESV

3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

There are many places we should learn from Paul and help when there is a need.

Acts 6 is sometimes misinterpreted in saying the Pastor should not serve, but clearly each member of the church should serve and pull their weight.

But Paul was bitten by a snake.

This is a disputed detail since the island of Malta does not have poisonous snakes. It is not unlikely though that at one point they did have these snakes, but as the island became more populated they were killed off.

The Pagans suppression was shown here, because they took this as a sign of Paul’s crimes. But not only is this not the case, but God kept Paul away from harm.

This gave Paul the opportunity to witness to these people through God’s protective power and gracious intervention.

God provides in miracles, not only to protect us, but also to provide opportunities to witness to the lost.

When we are called to a specific mission by God, he will provide for us and protect us.

Acts 28:7–10 ESV

7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.

Finally we come to the end of what is recorded from their time on Malta.

They were brought into the house of the chief.

Again God provided an opportunity to witness.

We serve with what God has given us. This is both in ability and opportunity. In this case Publius’s father was ill. This allowed Paul to care for them and through the power of God Paul healed this man, and then several others.

We are called to witness through the power of the Holy Spirit

It is important to remember that the Spiritual Gifts were given not for honor or showing off, but to minister of God’s graciousness.

We do not know of what came of these people, but we know that Paul had the ability to witness to these lost people.

You

So what does this narrative hold for us today. There are several aspects we see from Paul to hold onto today that are important.

The first is that the circumstances we are in will often not go as we wish. There are times with clear direction from God or an obvious way to go, but we need to adapt. This can be seen clearly in missions, and really any time we are in another country or are traveling.

The second is to trust Gods plan

The final is God is sovereign. This was not an accident. This ship did not randomly crash. Instead they landed where God intended so that Paul may serve this people before moving onto Rome.

God Mission is Better

Trust God’s Plan

God is Sovereign

Serve where we are planted, or in this case where we are thrown.

I have had plans, but God’s were better.

J. in high school. God is the gardener. How much more can we grow with what he has taught us.

We

Let us embrace our call where ever it may take us.

Let Us Serve where God has planted us.