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Acts 27 Lessons from a Storm

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Acts 27 Lessons from a Storm ••6/19/20106/19/2010 Lessons From a Storm The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul by James Smith Acts 27:127:1--33 Acts 27:127:1--33 When it was decided that wewe would sail for Italy, they •• Acts 20:4 proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius. And of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the embarking in an Adramyttian ship, which was about to Thessalonians, and Gaius of DerbeDerbe,, and Timothy, and sail to the regions along the coast of Asia, wewe put out to Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. sea accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian of •• Colossians 4:10 Thessalonica. The next day wewe put in at SidonSidon;; and Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care. •• Philemon 1:231:23--2424 EpaphrasEpaphras,, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, •• We = Luke, Paul and Aristarchus as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers. Acts 27:127:1--33 Acts 27:427:4--88 From there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of •• Paul was given great freedom and his friends ministereministeredd Cyprus because the winds were contrary. When we had to him sailed through the sea along the coast of Cilicia and Lesson #1 It is Good to be With Friends PamphyliaPamphylia,, we landed at Myra in LyciaLycia.. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he put us During a Storm aboard it. When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off CnidusCnidus,, since the wind did •• Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times. not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of CreteCrete,, off SalmoneSalmone;; and with difficulty sailing past it we camcamee •• Proverbs 18:24 to a place called Fair HavensHavens,, near which was the city of A man of too many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. LaseaLasea.. ••11 ••6/19/20106/19/2010 Acts 27:427:4--88 Acts 27:927:9--1212 When considerable time had passed and the voyage Lesson #2 Even if the Winds are was now dangerous, since even the fast was already over, Paul began to admonish them, and said to them, Contrary, Find a Way to Keep Going "Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the •• Luke 5:185:18--1919 ship, but also of our lives." But the centurion was more And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship than paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to by what was being said by Paul. Because the harbor set him down in front of Him. But not finding any way to was not suitable for wintering, the majority reached a bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the decision to put out to sea from there, if somehow they could reach PhoenixPhoenix,, a harbor of CreteCrete,, facing southwest roof and let him down through the tiles with his and northwest, and spend the winter there. stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. Acts 27:927:9--1212 Acts 27:927:9--1212 •• Paul was offering sound advice, it was now late Lesson #3 Sometimes Those in Charge September --fromfrom mid September to mid November were Don’t Take Our Advise dangerous times to travel. •• Romans 3:1 •• Ships were docked or taken ashore from mid November Every person is to be in subjection to the governing until the end of February authorities For there is no authority except from God, •• Paul had already been shipwrecked three time by now and those which exist are established by God. •• Hebrews 13:17 •• 2 Corinthians 11:25 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, watch over your souls as those who will give an account. three times I was shipwreckedshipwrecked,, a night and a day I have Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would spent in the deep. be unprofitable for you. Acts 27:1327:13--1414 Acts 27:1327:13--1414 When a moderate south wind came up, supposing that Lesson #5 God Causes the Storm they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing along Crete, close inshore. But before •• Psalm 135:7 very long there rushed down from the land a violent Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. He causes the wind, called EuraquiloEuraquilo;; vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightning for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His Lesson #4 The Winds Can Change treasuries. Quickly in a Storm •• Psalm 148:7148:7--88 Praise the LORD from the earth, sea monsters and all deeps; fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word ••22 ••6/19/20106/19/2010 Acts 27:15 Acts 27:1627:16--1717 and when the ship was caught in it and could not face Running under the shelter of a small island called the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven ClaudaClauda,, we were scarcely able to get the ship's boat along. under control. After they had hoisted it up, they used Lesson #5 Sometimes You Have to Drift supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of SyrtisSyrtis,, they let down the sea anchor and in this way let •• Sometimes the winds are too strong and you have to themselves be driven along. allow yourself to be driven along Lesson #6 Sometimes You Have to •• To keep going would cause too much damage to the crew/ship Work Really Hard to Survive Acts 27:1827:18--1919 Acts 27:20 The next day as we were being violently stormstorm--tossed,tossed, Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and they began to jettison the cargo; and on the third day no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own our being saved was gradually abandoned. hands. Lesson #7 You Learn What is Really Lesson #8 Sometimes Your in the Dark Important in Life and Begin to Lose Hope •• This was a cargo ship, not a prisoner ship --therethere was a •• Have you ever experienced many days without seeing cargo of great wealth aboard, but it did not seem so the light of day? important when their lives were at stake Acts 27:2127:21--24a24a Acts 27:2127:21--24a24a When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, "Men, you ought to have Lesson #9 God Speaks in the Storm followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. "Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life •• Just when all hope of being saved was lost, God spoke among you, but only of the ship. "For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve •• It is God’s word that gets us through the storms of liflifee stood before me, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; •• God told Paul that he must stand before Caesar ••33 ••6/19/20106/19/2010 Acts 27:24b Acts 27:24b and behold, God has granted you all those who are •• God saved 276 people because of Paul, Luke and sailing with you.' Aristarchus Lesson #10 Don’t Discount the Benefit •• Our country despises Christianity not realizing the blessings it receives because we are here of the Presence of God’s People •• Where would America be if not for the remnant of GGodod’s’s •• Remember Sodom and Gomorrah --itit would only take 10 people? godly people to save the unrighteous cities Acts 27:25 Acts 27:26 "Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe "But we must run aground on a certain island." God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. Lesson #12 Expect Detours Lesson #11 We Need Encouragement to Get us Through •• Sometimes the God who causes the storm, uses the storm to direct our path •• Are you an encourager or a discourager in the midst ooff the storm? Acts 27:2727:27--3131 Acts 27:2727:27--3131 But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being Lesson #13 Don’t Jump Ship driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to surmise that they were approaching some land. They took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms. Fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and wished for daybreak. But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship's boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.“ ••44 ••6/19/20106/19/2010 Acts 27:32 Acts 27:3327:33--3434 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat Until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging and let it fall away.
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