WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:06.080 Hey, I'm going to invite you today to Acts chapter 27 is where we're going to be Acts chapter 27. 00:00:06.820 --> 00:00:10.800 And now we're getting to our tail end of our time in the book of Acts. 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:14.840 If you're interested in knowing where we're going to go together after the book of Acts, we. 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:22.060 We like to spend a portion of our, our summer in the, in the Psalms, we just feel like the Psalms are a great a reflective 00:00:22.060 --> 00:00:27.700 portion of Scripture that really encourage us as people in aspects of worship. 00:00:27.740 --> 00:00:33.760 One of the beautiful things about the Book of Psalms is it's not a necessarily a story that ties together like other books of the Bible. 00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:38.510 You could really treat each of the Psalms as individual Psalms in and of themselves. 00:00:38.580 --> 00:00:44.240 There are a couple of Psalms that they work together intricately, like, you know, they'll, they'll be coupled together. 00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:49.640 And so sometimes if you read some Psalms, you'll recognize that that they're, they're paired together. 00:00:49.720 --> 00:00:54.590 But it's great for especially in the summer when our schedules are just different. 00:00:54.800 --> 00:00:56.850 And sometimes we got all sorts of travel happening. 00:00:57.460 --> 00:01:01.160 And it's just a good book of the Bible to refresh our hearts in worship. 00:01:01.460 --> 00:01:08.580 And one of the things I like to point out with the Book of Psalms is when we read the Bible, in many ways it's God speaking to us, but the 00:01:08.580 --> 00:01:10.220 Psalms are the opposite of that. 00:01:10.220 --> 00:01:13.580 It's learning how to connect our hearts and worship to the Lord. 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:20.980 And so when we end the series together, which is three more weeks after today, we'll then dive into the book of Psalms for the month of July, into the first 00:01:20.980 --> 00:01:24.140 couple of weeks of August before we kick off our next series. 00:01:24.720 --> 00:01:29.180 But here we find ourselves in Acts chapter 27, in the last section of the Book of Acts. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:36.420 If you remember how this book unfolded for the very beginning of of the book of Acts really followed the life of of the Apostle Peter, 00:01:36.540 --> 00:01:37.620 primarily. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:43.400 The second half of the Book of Acts centers more around the Apostle Paul and his missionary journeys. 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:45.820 We followed Paul through three missionary journeys. 00:01:46.220 --> 00:01:49.800 And now in this latter portion of the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul, we find, has. 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:54.020 Journey back to Jerusalem after the conclusion of his third missionary journey. 00:01:54.060 --> 00:01:56.640 It's here that a riot breaks out around him, out of. 00:01:56.760 --> 00:01:58.730 Out of anger towards the Apostle Paul. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:02.430 He's then arrested and imprisoned for a couple of years. 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:09.680 Paul then appeals to Caesar being a Roman citizen and pursuit of a trial he feels like is going to be better for 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:13.600 him than staying in the area of Jerusalem where the Jewish people want to kill him. 00:02:14.020 --> 00:02:21.120 And so in Acts chapter 27 is that moment where they load him on a ship and he sets sail for the capital 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:23.020 of Rome to appear before Caesar. 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:30.980 And it's in the midst of this traveling upon a boat that he encounters a storm both literally and 00:02:30.980 --> 00:02:32.020 metaphorically. 00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:39.240 Paul encounters a storm, and it's in the storm of of his life that Paul teaches us what it means to go 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:42.440 through storms and honor the Lord. 00:02:42.820 --> 00:02:45.810 And we think about those seasons that we might experience. 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:47.630 Nobody wants adversity. 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:49.960 Nobody wakes up and says, you know what? 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:52.160 I want to make my life really hard. 00:02:52.160 --> 00:02:53.380 How can I do that? 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:55.600 And, and let me just pursue that path. 00:02:55.600 --> 00:02:59.250 We, we typically want to go after the path of least resistance. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:02.730 But we understand that there's some importance to resiliency. 00:03:03.480 --> 00:03:05.500 Like how do I learn to toughen myself up? 00:03:05.640 --> 00:03:07.860 And maybe even as a parent, when you. 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:15.280 As you raise your kids, you realize somewhere along the way we went from, maybe if you're my generation, what it was like to be an 80s kid 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:22.340 where you rode in the back window of your parent's sedan or whatever it was, and seatbelts were just a commodity to the 00:03:22.340 --> 00:03:24.240 car that no one really knew how to use. 00:03:24.300 --> 00:03:25.220 Is that kind of a thing? 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:26.890 And no one ever heard of a helmet before? 00:03:27.160 --> 00:03:30.700 And then all of a sudden, sometimes it seems like we might have gone too far. 00:03:30.740 --> 00:03:38.290 The other direction where we become a bit of a helicopter parent, which not giving our kids those kind of experiences that teach us, teach them resiliency. 00:03:39.380 --> 00:03:46.480 What does that, what does that mean to provide those right opportunities to, to nurture the heart of my children where, where they learn to, to get tough in 00:03:46.480 --> 00:03:47.030 life. 00:03:47.220 --> 00:03:54.520 But, but, but also learn the compassion that's necessary to just be a well-rounded person in the way that God has created them. 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:57.030 What does, what does that look like for you and for me? 00:03:57.480 --> 00:04:02.540 I remember as a, As a kid, I had an uncle that he was a wrestler in high school. 00:04:02.580 --> 00:04:05.780 He went on after high school to do a a little bit of MMA. 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:12.940 And this is like when MMA first started where they they learned they should probably create some rules because people will kill 00:04:12.940 --> 00:04:14.850 each other without certain rules. 00:04:15.200 --> 00:04:17.920 And so it was during that time period, he got into MMA. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:24.660 And I remember as a 16, 17 year old kid, I thought, man, I'm going to I'm going to jump on those mats with him and wrestle around. 00:04:24.660 --> 00:04:26.140 I'm going to show him how tough I am. 00:04:26.440 --> 00:04:32.900 And here I am on these mats with these people, you know, more grown men than where I was in life and their later 20s. 00:04:32.900 --> 00:04:36.040 And, and what I learned in that experience was I'm terrible. 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:38.740 Like, I am not as tough as I thought I was. 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:43.100 And, and so it was a lot of humbling in that wrestling experience for me. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:50.160 And, but I kept, I kept persistent with this and realizing at first I thought I was just a rag doll and they would 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:50.580 just. 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:50.740 They. 00:04:50.740 --> 00:04:55.200 Maybe they got to get better with me as they just beat me mercilessly on a mat. 00:04:55.460 --> 00:05:01.660 But one of the things I learned is like, eventually if you just keep showing up to the mat, eventually you stop losing, right? 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:05.420 If you want to learn what makes a great fighter, it's it's ten 000 losses. 00:05:05.520 --> 00:05:07.600 That's what that's what takes place before. 00:05:07.720 --> 00:05:09.100 Before you learn how to do that. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:15.360 And it's even been said, you know, the difference between a white belt and a black belt is that the black belt just kept getting up. 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:23.880 And when it when it comes to our our relationship with the Lord, I find when it comes to being a resilient follower 00:05:23.880 --> 00:05:31.640 of Jesus, that sometimes it's the knocks of life that really teach us the sweetness of who Christ is. 00:05:31.940 --> 00:05:36.640 And when we start to experience loss in this world, how we. 00:05:36.780 --> 00:05:40.800 We learn to gravitate towards something that matters more. 00:05:41.280 --> 00:05:43.120 And that becomes critical for us as believers. 00:05:43.220 --> 00:05:50.800 When we think about the the pursuit of our life, because God has called us to something tremendous in this world and being representatives 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:56.240 of him, we realize that that this this earth is passing away. 00:05:56.960 --> 00:06:03.660 But we as followers of Christ, become this connection between heaven and earth and realizing the brokenness of life. 00:06:03.660 --> 00:06:05.260 We're going to face adversity. 00:06:06.700 --> 00:06:06.820 So. 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:10.880 So with Jesus or without Jesus, we're going to experience those challenges. 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:11.760 How do we do that? 00:06:11.760 --> 00:06:16.960 Well, if I'm going to walk this, this broken world, I want to do it with him. 00:06:18.020 --> 00:06:22.480 And so what does that look like for me as a follower of Christ, to honor God where I'm at? 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:29.260 And by the way, I can't think of a better place to do it than than here in Utah to think about what it means to honor Jesus in this place. 00:06:29.340 --> 00:06:33.670 God has a place that he's called us to, to plant our flag for his glory. 00:06:34.580 --> 00:06:41.640 And so, God, how do I represent you well in this world now, when we face adversity in life, like, and realizing 00:06:41.640 --> 00:06:48.240 like, we don't necessarily want that we don't wake up and say, okay, give me challenges, please. 00:06:48.500 --> 00:06:51.740 But there's something to learn through the adversity that we face. 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:56.000 And I like to remind us of a couple of things as we, we start down this road. 00:06:56.040 --> 00:07:00.240 And one is just recognizing how Scripture speaks to the idea of adversity. 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:02.620 I mean, James starts off his story like that. 00:07:02.820 --> 00:07:04.840 And, and, and the book of James chapter one is letter. 00:07:04.940 --> 00:07:06.690 He, he's writing to a persecuted church. 00:07:06.780 --> 00:07:13.900 And he says, count it all joy when you face various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect work. 00:07:14.900 --> 00:07:21.740 Meaning there's something about challenges that shows us the richness of what we possess in Jesus, or the lack thereof. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:29.650 Because it's one thing to say, I believe this, but it's something altogether different to then live that out. 00:07:30.320 --> 00:07:30.460 Right? 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:35.430 We can proclaim all day long, but it's not until the challenges of our life arise that really demonstrates. 00:07:35.480 --> 00:07:36.830 Is this what I believe? 00:07:38.020 --> 00:07:43.400 You know, some some have said it like this a storm reveals the strength of a tree's roots. 00:07:44.140 --> 00:07:45.300 It's not until you're. 00:07:45.400 --> 00:07:52.480 You're pressed against the storm that you begin to recognize what you're really holding on to and will. 00:07:52.960 --> 00:07:53.670 Will it endure? 00:07:54.640 --> 00:07:59.160 Now, some people, when they go through challenges they might determine like this. 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:06.570 They might say to themselves, well, if God is a loving God, he must not be powerful. 00:08:08.780 --> 00:08:12.620 Otherwise he would do something about it to stop this storm for me. 00:08:13.660 --> 00:08:17.680 Or if God is an all powerful God, he must not be very loving. 00:08:18.660 --> 00:08:21.540 Otherwise he would do something to stop the storm for me. 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:29.620 And in the conclusion of that, they determine either there is no God or if there is a God, he doesn't really care 00:08:29.620 --> 00:08:30.880 or is not capable of caring. 00:08:30.880 --> 00:08:38.919 Therefore, I just become a functional atheist in that way and saying there might be a God, but he's indifferent to my plight for whatever whatever 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:41.799 reason God may be. 00:08:41.980 --> 00:08:45.730 But in Christianity, we recognize, well, there's actually a third option. 00:08:47.220 --> 00:08:48.620 And that third option. 00:08:48.620 --> 00:08:52.220 We also realize that we're not God and we don't fully understand. 00:08:52.980 --> 00:08:58.490 But in Christianity, we acknowledge two things about the Lord that he is both transcendent and immanent, and his transcendence. 00:08:58.920 --> 00:08:59.000 We. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:04.360 We recognize that he's far greater than anything in this world, and he has the authority to govern it all. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:10.700 And at the same time, while he is this transcendent God, he's also an imminent God. 00:09:10.700 --> 00:09:17.760 And the way that he becomes personal for you and for me, that he's not indifferent to my pain, but rather he entered into it by giving his own life that 00:09:17.760 --> 00:09:19.170 I might find freedom in him. 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:22.940 Now, in between that, we seek to discover what does that mean? 00:09:22.940 --> 00:09:28.170 To recognize that God is a loving God and an all powerful God and the challenges I face in this world. 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:31.300 And the question becomes, what will I trust him? 00:09:32.760 --> 00:09:33.670 Do I trust in myself? 00:09:35.880 --> 00:09:37.970 Do I trust in something this world offers? 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:40.630 Or am I willing to trust in the Lord? 00:09:41.820 --> 00:09:48.920 Because Romans chapter eight reminds us that that God works together, all things for good to those who are called according to his purpose. 00:09:50.640 --> 00:09:57.560 Meaning, I may not fully understand how God is going to orchestrate all of this, but when I when I see the goodness of who God is and the way that he pursued me with his life. 00:09:58.040 --> 00:10:05.300 It invites me to trust in him, recognizing that while I may go through struggle in this world, that God will work it all out and 00:10:05.300 --> 00:10:09.460 I'll be the beneficiary of a God who is good and all powerful. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.170 What will I trust in? 00:10:14.900 --> 00:10:22.120 Proverbs 2416, which is not a verse I wrote in your notes, but it says this for the righteous fails 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:29.180 seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumbles in times of 00:10:29.180 --> 00:10:33.060 calamity and thinking about the challenges of life. 00:10:33.060 --> 00:10:36.020 It's saying there's a way the wicked, they stumble and that's it. 00:10:37.220 --> 00:10:38.140 But there's a way. 00:10:38.160 --> 00:10:43.800 The righteous in all of their stumbling again and again, they find the strength to arise. 00:10:43.820 --> 00:10:44.980 How do they do that? 00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:53.520 That's the kind of question I want to ask as we look at the storm that the apostle Paul is going to go through here and then consider for our own lives, how do how do I prepare 00:10:53.520 --> 00:10:54.380 for those storms? 00:10:54.380 --> 00:11:00.320 Because God has called me to a beautiful work in this world, but that beautiful work isn't going to be absent without its challenges. 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:06.120 So what does it look like for me to live for his glory in the midst of the challenges of this world? 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:08.640 To find the strength of God carrying me through? 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.800 And in Acts chapter 27, we're going to look at the first 26 verses of this chapter. 00:11:13.340 --> 00:11:18.160 I'm going to look at the first 13, first 13 verses right now, and we're going to ask that question together. 00:11:18.160 --> 00:11:24.380 What does it look like for me to be prepared for the storms that might arise in the midst of the glory of who God is, knowing he cares? 00:11:25.340 --> 00:11:26.580 So verse one starts this way. 00:11:26.640 --> 00:11:30.580 And by the way, we're going to read a lot of names and towns, and I kind of get tired of it. 00:11:30.580 --> 00:11:33.130 So I might just like make up my own words for these. 00:11:33.400 --> 00:11:40.460 But it says, and when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the 00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:43.600 Augustine cohort named Julius, and embarking in a ship of. 00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:44.060 Look at that. 00:11:44.060 --> 00:11:45.260 See who cares? 00:11:45.380 --> 00:11:52.580 And which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:53.940 from Thessalonica. 00:11:53.940 --> 00:12:01.180 The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for and 00:12:01.180 --> 00:12:02.400 putting out to sea. 00:12:02.400 --> 00:12:06.600 From there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 00:12:06.660 --> 00:12:08.960 Let me just say this at the end of verse three. 00:12:09.140 --> 00:12:12.250 It's telling us Paul's been given tremendous freedom. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:15.960 Remember, he's he's a prisoner on a boat with other prisoners. 00:12:16.260 --> 00:12:21.220 Yet the one who's in charge of him has given him freedom to take leave from the ship. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:26.000 And so he's given a quite a long leash and trust and being able to do this. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:33.260 And, and many commentaries think that that that phrase cared for at the end of verse three is actually recognizing that Paul is 00:12:33.260 --> 00:12:38.770 he's sick, he's battling illness, and no doubt being in prison for a couple of years. 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:44.790 He's, he's probably had some tremendous adversity and in terms of ailments that have come upon him. 00:12:44.900 --> 00:12:48.650 And so they've given him permission to seek treatment while they were docked. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:50.450 It goes on in verse five. 00:12:50.640 --> 00:12:55.660 And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia. 00:12:56.140 --> 00:12:58.340 We came to Myra in Lycia. 00:12:59.760 --> 00:12:59.940 The. 00:13:00.160 --> 00:13:04.830 There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy, and put us on board. 00:13:05.160 --> 00:13:12.160 We sailed slowly for a number of days, and arrived with difficulty off Sinitis, and as the wind did not allow us to go 00:13:12.160 --> 00:13:18.720 further, we sailed under the lee of Crete, of Salamine, coasting along with its difficulty. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:24.000 We came to the place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lycia. 00:13:25.160 --> 00:13:29.140 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because of. 00:13:29.140 --> 00:13:31.960 The fast was already over, Paul advised them. 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:39.020 I'm going to tell you what Paul said here in a minute, and that's really what we are going to hone in on, as Luke is giving us a lot of details 00:13:39.020 --> 00:13:40.420 around the circumstances. 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:49.040 And then Paul gives some thoughts for us to consider in light of the challenges that they're experiencing and those it's 00:13:49.040 --> 00:13:56.060 these words that become the nuggets of truth to help us Gravitate towards what matters in seasons 00:13:56.060 --> 00:13:56.900 of adversity. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:13:58.720 And really more than adversity. 00:13:58.760 --> 00:14:00.680 It's where we should root ourselves regardless. 00:14:01.660 --> 00:14:05.200 So that no matter the season of life, we find strength in the Lord. 00:14:05.900 --> 00:14:12.940 But one of the things I just want to highlight for us in verse nine, Paul, or excuse me, Luke tells us that this is dangerous because even 00:14:12.940 --> 00:14:18.220 the fast was already over and most of us would look at that and say, why? 00:14:18.220 --> 00:14:19.780 Like, who cares about that detail? 00:14:19.780 --> 00:14:20.320 What is that? 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:21.510 Why do I need to know that? 00:14:21.880 --> 00:14:24.990 And what he's recognizing is this is this has taken place. 00:14:25.620 --> 00:14:33.130 The sailing of the ship has taken place during a time period where most people determined we need to wait till the spring. 00:14:33.860 --> 00:14:35.060 Now, this is late in the fall. 00:14:35.300 --> 00:14:38.200 And this is typically a time where most ships aren't on the sea. 00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:40.020 And the reason for that is it gets dangerous. 00:14:41.280 --> 00:14:46.840 And so what Luke is saying is like, we're sailing late in the in the season for sailing at a time when most didn't. 00:14:46.900 --> 00:14:49.930 In fact, we're incredibly late in the way that we're doing this now. 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:56.850 And looking at this this particular section of Scripture, we might say to ourselves, Why is Luke giving us all this detail? 00:14:57.060 --> 00:15:03.710 Like, why didn't he just say, and we jumped on a boat to go from Caesarea to Rome, and we wrecked in this particular place? 00:15:03.780 --> 00:15:06.190 Why do I need to know all of these, all these specifics? 00:15:07.100 --> 00:15:10.710 And I would say there's a couple reasons Luke is writing this for us. 00:15:10.860 --> 00:15:15.810 One is Luke is a physician, and he's a man that pays attention to incredible detail. 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:22.360 And he's even more detailed in this specific journey because Luke is a passenger on the ship. 00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:30.460 So he's specifically interested in the well-being of what's about to take place, to the point that he's giving us these details 00:15:30.460 --> 00:15:32.710 and all that they're going through. 00:15:32.980 --> 00:15:39.180 But but more than that, by documenting these particular places, Luke is rooting us in history. 00:15:40.580 --> 00:15:43.860 The, the book of Acts and even the Gospel of Luke. 00:15:43.860 --> 00:15:46.180 Luke writes both of these stories as a Gentile writer. 00:15:46.220 --> 00:15:49.350 He's the only Gentile writer of the New Testament we know of. 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:54.480 But Luke and documenting this for us gives validity to the story that's being told. 00:15:54.540 --> 00:15:59.020 In fact, throughout history, there have been archeologists that have mocked the Bible. 00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:01.120 One of them is a man by the name of Sir William Ramsay. 00:16:01.400 --> 00:16:08.500 I talked about him in the very beginning when we started the Book of Acts together, and William Ramsay wanted to 00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:09.240 use his life. 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:09.560 He was a. 00:16:09.700 --> 00:16:16.730 He was an atheist and wanted to use his, his training as an archeologist to actually disprove the Bible. 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:24.540 And one of the steps that he took to do that was to go back over what Luke documented in the book of Acts and the book of Luke to disprove 00:16:24.540 --> 00:16:25.240 Christianity. 00:16:25.800 --> 00:16:28.930 And he went on an archeological journey for over a decade. 00:16:29.740 --> 00:16:36.700 And when he was to return his, his, his friends and colleagues who were adverse to Christianity, couldn't wait for what Luke discovered. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:44.440 But to their surprise, when he returned, not only did he validate Christianity in the historical reality, especially 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:47.660 that Luke records, he had actually given his life to Christ. 00:16:48.560 --> 00:16:54.860 So when when Luke is writing about particular individuals and specific cities. 00:16:54.860 --> 00:17:00.800 It's as if he's saying to the first century, if you don't believe these stories, it's been documented, you can go back and check it out. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:09.119 But even to the 21st century, it's it's rooted in history and it speaks to the inspiration and the inerrancy of God's word. 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:11.589 And so Luke is, is giving us these details. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:19.740 But then ultimately, it comes to this point where in verse ten, Paul says, sirs, I perceive 00:17:19.740 --> 00:17:26.819 that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also 00:17:26.819 --> 00:17:27.690 of our lives. 00:17:29.040 --> 00:17:33.940 But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 00:17:34.800 --> 00:17:41.260 And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea. 00:17:41.280 --> 00:17:48.500 From there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:52.810 both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there. 00:17:55.120 --> 00:18:02.420 Paul is bringing the people on the ship to a place of recognizing you're about to go through loss. 00:18:04.580 --> 00:18:11.660 And it's in this particular moment that we as people should recognize that that's what really every storm of life produces for us there. 00:18:13.220 --> 00:18:15.020 In a way, there is a sense of loss. 00:18:15.100 --> 00:18:17.820 That's why those moments feel like storms. 00:18:18.780 --> 00:18:21.700 There's a risk, and with risk something can be taken away. 00:18:23.600 --> 00:18:31.060 And the problem with people of a of a worldly mentality and even Christians in, in 00:18:31.060 --> 00:18:38.220 the struggle of this, is that if we root our identity in the things of this world and 00:18:38.220 --> 00:18:45.400 the things of this world are temporary, then our identity will suffer to the point we will 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:52.460 despair, become angry, and live in fear over the possibility of loss and Paul is encouraging 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:57.140 the lives of the people in recognizing like this is about to happen to you. 00:18:57.220 --> 00:19:00.150 And so what you root yourself in becomes critical. 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:07.920 In fact, we would even say in the story, the reason Paul is able to encourage these these individuals on the ship is 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:14.480 because he knows where he's discovered his identity, and he's able to speak with clarity in the midst of a struggling moment. 00:19:14.840 --> 00:19:21.880 In fact, as you read all of chapter 27, you're going to be reminded again and again of the position of the apostle Paul in comparison 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:27.860 to these sailors, because these sailors live with anxiety towards the circumstance they're facing. 00:19:27.900 --> 00:19:34.900 And for the apostle Paul, no doubt he realizes this is a challenge, but there is a peace in his heart that's rising above the temporal 00:19:34.900 --> 00:19:37.000 circumstance for which he finds himself in. 00:19:38.100 --> 00:19:41.480 In fact, in preparing for the storm, I should probably give you point number one. 00:19:41.520 --> 00:19:42.640 I didn't do that yet, did I? 00:19:43.580 --> 00:19:44.100 Okay. 00:19:44.360 --> 00:19:50.360 It's this I don't I think you said no, it sounds more like this, but I'm going to go with the note. 00:19:51.360 --> 00:19:56.180 Finding identity in what cannot be lost. 00:19:57.380 --> 00:20:01.460 Find identity and what cannot be lost. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:05.040 How do I prepare for a storm? 00:20:07.300 --> 00:20:09.320 Find identity in what cannot be lost. 00:20:11.780 --> 00:20:12.960 If we're not careful. 00:20:15.860 --> 00:20:23.000 The positions and the properties we receive in this world will become a 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:25.120 place that we root ourselves to. 00:20:25.460 --> 00:20:32.520 The point we will find our identity in the titles that you carry, the things 00:20:32.520 --> 00:20:33.580 that you own. 00:20:35.180 --> 00:20:39.620 You could live in the facade of thinking that that is what determines the worth of who you are. 00:20:42.520 --> 00:20:46.160 And in the loss of those things, you despair. 00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:51.980 Now, I'm not saying, as a Christian that it's not wrong to grieve and loss. 00:20:53.080 --> 00:20:56.920 I think the greatest loss that we can experience is the loss of life. 00:20:58.280 --> 00:21:01.930 And I think one of the most beautiful things that you can do in the loss of life is grieve. 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:07.960 And the reason for that is because out of everything in this world, human beings weren't made for death. 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:10.800 We were made for life. 00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:15.940 And we don't truly find real life until that life is rooted in Christ. 00:21:17.060 --> 00:21:21.020 And knowing that the curse of sin has come upon us and we experience death. 00:21:21.340 --> 00:21:28.020 I think it's a very God honoring thing for believers to grieve, because in our grieving, we're acknowledging we're made for more. 00:21:29.060 --> 00:21:32.470 It's okay to grieve, but it's recognizing. 00:21:32.860 --> 00:21:39.940 I'm not grieving so much about the identity that I lost and the things that passed from me, but really that all of this was created 00:21:39.940 --> 00:21:42.580 for God's glory and we go through loss. 00:21:42.580 --> 00:21:44.550 It's a recognition of the brokenness of this world. 00:21:44.560 --> 00:21:52.780 It's different for believers because in the life of a believer, our hope isn't rooted in those things, but 00:21:52.780 --> 00:21:54.040 in something greater. 00:21:55.240 --> 00:22:01.320 But it's not until our lives are surrendered to the one who has created us for his purpose that we discover this. 00:22:01.620 --> 00:22:09.600 And Paul, really, in this moment, he's speaking to the life of the sailor as if to say, because if, if, if your hope is in this ship and 00:22:09.600 --> 00:22:15.170 your hope is in the position that you have, and the ship, as if this is your identity, this ship is going down. 00:22:16.360 --> 00:22:21.450 And so it's critical for you in this loss to really examine where are you finding your identity. 00:22:22.840 --> 00:22:25.860 And it's the same for all of us, right? 00:22:25.860 --> 00:22:33.140 The, the titles that you may carry in this world, they're all fleeting, but there's one title that supersedes it all, 00:22:33.140 --> 00:22:35.220 and it gives you a hope beyond this world. 00:22:35.260 --> 00:22:36.660 And it's critical. 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:43.880 And, and the recognition of that title, of what I have in the Lord, then to perceive the the different parts of my life in 00:22:43.880 --> 00:22:49.780 this world as, as simply a steward of either the positions of the possessions that I have. 00:22:49.840 --> 00:22:52.640 But ultimately, I know my destiny because I know who I belong to. 00:22:54.020 --> 00:23:01.100 It's that thought that gave individuals throughout Scripture and throughout history of God's people the opportunity to rise up in 00:23:01.100 --> 00:23:07.930 the midst of difficult circumstances, to glorify God and and to walk in a beautiful relationship with him. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:15.360 In fact, if I just highlighted a few of those for you, like, for example, the life of Abraham, he's, he's, he's considered the, the father of 00:23:15.360 --> 00:23:22.720 the Hebrew people that that went on a journey at 75 years old, having no children of his own, he or Sarah, he's 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:27.940 called from his homeland to go to a place that the Lord was leading him and to the people around him. 00:23:27.940 --> 00:23:35.200 This would have looked absolutely insane because during his time period, you you were you were born, you were raised, and 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:38.180 you died all within a 50 mile radius of where you were from. 00:23:38.180 --> 00:23:39.570 People didn't journey far. 00:23:40.060 --> 00:23:43.940 And the reason for that is, in this particular society, there were not police to protect you. 00:23:43.960 --> 00:23:51.320 Your protection was your tribe and more specifically, your family and especially as you aged in life, your retirement 00:23:51.320 --> 00:23:53.540 plan was your children. 00:23:53.660 --> 00:23:58.400 And so for Abraham not having children, the next place of his protection would have been his extended family. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:06.350 But to up and abandon all that, to go to a place of, of people that were not of his tribe, this was putting his life in absolute risk. 00:24:07.320 --> 00:24:12.570 But it tells us in in Hebrews chapter 11 verse eight, it says, Abraham went out not knowing where he was going. 00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:20.160 By faith he went out to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:23.240 I mean, when you study his life, you recognize he didn't even. 00:24:23.260 --> 00:24:24.480 He never owned property. 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:25.740 Even in the Promised land he went. 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:26.830 He lived like a nomad. 00:24:27.340 --> 00:24:31.600 At the end of his life, he bought a little plot of land to bury his wife in. 00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:38.900 But then in verse ten, it tells you why, for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is 00:24:38.900 --> 00:24:39.560 God. 00:24:41.840 --> 00:24:48.760 A greater identity, a greater hope, Even with the Apostle Paul. 00:24:48.760 --> 00:24:55.940 When you consider how his writings lay out, like if you just kind of put it in a chronological order, you can somewhat see how how the Lord 00:24:55.940 --> 00:25:00.900 is really growing him and, and learning what it means to trust in the Lord. 00:25:01.980 --> 00:25:09.590 You know, the, the idea of, of facing adversity and it helping you become more resilient in your relationship with Jesus. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:17.520 And in second Corinthians, Paul writes this letter and his third missionary journey right after he left Asia or Asia Minor, 00:25:17.580 --> 00:25:18.620 where Ephesus was. 00:25:18.620 --> 00:25:25.760 And there was a riot that took place and some difficulty that Paul went through to the point that when he writes second Corinthians, most theologians think that whatever 00:25:25.760 --> 00:25:29.800 Paul's talking about here, he actually it actually isn't specifically mentioned in the book of Acts. 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:38.120 But but Paul says this for we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. 00:25:38.800 --> 00:25:44.370 For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 00:25:45.540 --> 00:25:49.150 Indeed, we had felt like we had received the sentence of death. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:54.330 I mean, what Paul is saying is we were at the end of our ropes and we didn't even have the strength to get up anymore. 00:25:55.600 --> 00:26:02.960 But but that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:04.460 who raises the dead. 00:26:06.120 --> 00:26:08.000 The one who is sovereign over it all. 00:26:09.560 --> 00:26:15.940 To let go of my hope in this world and to find the hope that is far greater, that rises above it all. 00:26:17.480 --> 00:26:19.990 He goes on a little later and he writes the book of Philippians. 00:26:20.260 --> 00:26:24.700 And Philippians was written shortly after the shipwreck that we're reading in the book of Acts. 00:26:26.100 --> 00:26:31.220 And he says this, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 00:26:32.740 --> 00:26:40.200 When you look at the story of Acts chapter 27, and you see the soldiers filled with anxiety in this moment over losing the things 00:26:40.200 --> 00:26:42.040 of this world and possibly even their life. 00:26:42.060 --> 00:26:47.640 And you look at the Apostle Paul, there is an apparent difference in the way they're perceiving the storm that they're going through. 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:54.740 Paul, no doubt, is recognizing the storm and possibly has fear rising within him in the midst of it. 00:26:55.040 --> 00:26:57.160 But he has a hope that transcends it all. 00:26:58.940 --> 00:27:04.460 He's learning in all circumstances that in Jesus, the brightest days are still in front of him. 00:27:05.260 --> 00:27:07.060 So Paul is resting in the Lord. 00:27:08.120 --> 00:27:10.080 For me to live as Christ and to die is gain. 00:27:10.080 --> 00:27:14.000 Yes, I get great things in this world by having the privilege to honor him. 00:27:14.540 --> 00:27:15.590 But take it all away. 00:27:16.080 --> 00:27:19.400 Even my life and I know my future is even better. 00:27:20.620 --> 00:27:27.160 And so Paul, Paul, he's he's found this, this place of resting his soul and the greatness of, of who God is. 00:27:27.160 --> 00:27:31.840 Now, let me just say this, because I got to move this, this ball forward here and get the point number two. 00:27:32.180 --> 00:27:39.300 But I want us to, to recognize that as, as Paul is sharing this with, with these sailors, he's, he's talking 00:27:39.300 --> 00:27:40.560 about the idea of loss. 00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:47.080 Remember, Paul has already shared with these sailors that they're, they're about to go through a shipwreck if they're not going to listen to him. 00:27:47.160 --> 00:27:48.600 And it tells it tells us that the. 00:27:48.600 --> 00:27:51.740 They choose to listen to someone else rather than the Apostle Paul. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:59.120 Which is rather ironic because when you read the Apostle Paul's life in second Corinthians chapter 11, starting in about verse 20, Paul 00:27:59.120 --> 00:28:06.120 starts to share with us adversity that he went through in life hunger, naked, without clothing and shelter and hungry. 00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:08.650 And one of the things he had imprisonments and lashings. 00:28:09.160 --> 00:28:14.730 But one of the things that says to us in second Corinthians 11, verse 25, is that he had been shipwrecked three times. 00:28:15.520 --> 00:28:18.860 That is before this passage, which makes now at least four times. 00:28:19.100 --> 00:28:24.210 And it tells us in being shipwrecked that he was adrift at sea at least one night and one day. 00:28:24.920 --> 00:28:32.180 I don't know about you, but when I consider everyone that I've known in life, I can't name one person I'm like, that has been shipwrecked once, right? 00:28:32.180 --> 00:28:38.720 The fact that he's been shipwrecked three times, you just might say to him, Paul, you should consider other means of transportation. 00:28:39.240 --> 00:28:40.880 Like, how many times are you going to be? 00:28:40.900 --> 00:28:43.190 How many times can a person be shipwrecked and survive? 00:28:43.540 --> 00:28:47.700 This has happened to Paul three times, and you got to think out of anyone that you might want to listen to. 00:28:48.180 --> 00:28:53.320 You know, Paul may not call himself a sailor, but he's got some wisdom when it comes to the sea. 00:28:53.520 --> 00:28:57.800 Probably not a good idea to get into a boat, especially with Paul. 00:28:57.860 --> 00:29:02.620 He might even say to them, listen, every time I get in one of these things, you know, this happens. 00:29:02.620 --> 00:29:07.510 But but rather than listen to Paul, they chose to listen to a different voice. 00:29:08.900 --> 00:29:10.850 And because of that, they end up in the storm. 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:20.140 The reason I say that for all of us is just to recognize, like sometimes in life, there are storms that we go through that we we 00:29:20.140 --> 00:29:21.000 couldn't control. 00:29:22.980 --> 00:29:27.640 But other times there are storms in life that we go through because it was our fault. 00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:36.680 And when we go through those particular storms, we have a tendency, if we're not careful to, rather than walk 00:29:36.680 --> 00:29:38.920 in our identity, to live in guilt and shame. 00:29:41.020 --> 00:29:48.140 And I think it's critical for all of us to realize whether whether the storm was something you couldn't control or 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:51.640 the storm was something you could control, and you chose not to listen to the Lord. 00:29:52.620 --> 00:29:54.680 In either case, the Lord still cares about you. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:30:03.180 In fact, I think one of the greatest chapters in all the Bible to remind you of that, especially if you're new to 00:30:03.180 --> 00:30:06.170 Christ and you're like, man, I want to get rooted in what it means to follow Jesus. 00:30:06.600 --> 00:30:10.740 Can I just tell you one of the most incredible passages of the Bible you can go through is Romans chapter eight. 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:16.140 Romans chapter eight is one of those chapters that is all about your identity in Jesus. 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:20.900 In fact, in Romans 323, it tells us, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:24.560 And what it's saying is like, not only have you sinned once, but the real. 00:30:24.580 --> 00:30:28.420 The truth is, in the Greek, it's this perpetual state of sinning. 00:30:28.420 --> 00:30:30.200 It's kind of like a sundial. 00:30:30.620 --> 00:30:37.080 You know, the sun just kind of moves around the dial and it doesn't stop or gears in a car as it's shifting, those gears are always turning. 00:30:37.120 --> 00:30:38.770 That's what I'm saying about the life of us as believers. 00:30:38.920 --> 00:30:42.890 We just we walk in sin and you get to you get later into Romans, Romans chapter five. 00:30:42.980 --> 00:30:45.480 But we're delivered by the Lord by his grace, which is fantastic. 00:30:46.120 --> 00:30:52.540 But then you get to Romans seven and Paul saying, but if I try to live this out in my own, try to live the Christian life perfectly, I can't do it. 00:30:52.540 --> 00:30:55.960 He gets the end of seven and says, I despair, oh, wretched man that I am! 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:57.960 Who will save me from this body of sin and death? 00:30:58.040 --> 00:31:04.080 But then when you get to Romans eight, verse one, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:31:05.240 --> 00:31:07.160 In fact, he goes on to say, you've. 00:31:07.280 --> 00:31:11.480 You've been adopted into God's family by which you can cry out to him, ABBA, father. 00:31:11.540 --> 00:31:18.560 And the points of life where the adversity is so great that there may not even be words you can put to it, but it's talking about the intimacy of your 00:31:18.560 --> 00:31:19.640 walk with the Lord. 00:31:20.420 --> 00:31:21.880 God deeply cares about you. 00:31:23.140 --> 00:31:25.980 God desires for you to to grow in him and to know him. 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:27.060 So whether you're. 00:31:27.100 --> 00:31:29.240 You've caused the storm or whether it was a storm you. 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:30.600 You couldn't control. 00:31:30.660 --> 00:31:36.980 The Bible tells us in Lamentations chapter three, verse 22 and 23, great is his faithfulness. 00:31:37.040 --> 00:31:38.760 His mercies are new every morning. 00:31:38.760 --> 00:31:45.760 Meaning, while you might be unfaithful, he is faithful to you and every day becomes this opportunity to grow in the 00:31:45.760 --> 00:31:46.540 grace of God. 00:31:47.760 --> 00:31:51.760 Number one, find identity and what cannot be lost. 00:31:53.240 --> 00:31:56.060 Number two, find reason to take heart. 00:31:56.820 --> 00:31:57.600 I got to do this fast. 00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:00.240 Find reason to take heart. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:03.810 Paul goes on from here and he says the boat's going down. 00:32:03.820 --> 00:32:04.460 There's your summary. 00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:06.700 The boat is going down, okay? 00:32:06.740 --> 00:32:10.100 And he goes on in verse 21 because of that. 00:32:10.120 --> 00:32:13.080 He says this since they had been without food. 00:32:13.080 --> 00:32:15.420 You see, they're panicking. 00:32:15.420 --> 00:32:15.420 Like we don't even have time to eat. 00:32:15.420 --> 00:32:15.980 They're all just worried. 00:32:16.700 --> 00:32:18.090 They're sick to their stomachs. 00:32:18.320 --> 00:32:22.400 Since they had been without food a long time, Paul stood up among them and he said, this. 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:24.560 Here's Paul speaking into their lives again. 00:32:24.560 --> 00:32:27.330 Men, you should have listened to me. 00:32:28.200 --> 00:32:29.410 He probably didn't need to say that. 00:32:29.760 --> 00:32:35.400 He should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:43.400 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship, I 00:32:43.400 --> 00:32:45.050 love this, he's saying you didn't listen to me. 00:32:45.940 --> 00:32:48.920 But God's still going to be gracious to you, and he encourages him this way. 00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:49.520 Take heart. 00:32:51.180 --> 00:32:53.220 So so Paul is really saying two things. 00:32:53.240 --> 00:32:57.500 Don't find identity in things that are being lost and take heart. 00:32:58.880 --> 00:32:59.620 I mean, how do I do that? 00:33:01.060 --> 00:33:08.480 You know, if we think about within our own society today, people that are civil servants, I think of maybe like a, a soldier or 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:14.110 a fireman, we might ask the question, what causes a fireman to run into that fire? 00:33:16.020 --> 00:33:19.060 Or what causes a soldier to fight in battle? 00:33:20.580 --> 00:33:22.800 And maybe their answers could be something along this. 00:33:22.800 --> 00:33:27.260 For a soldier, he might say things like, well, it's for my brothers around me. 00:33:28.180 --> 00:33:35.380 It's for my family and friends at home, maybe for my country, that in that circumstance, he finds reason to rise 00:33:35.380 --> 00:33:39.600 above the challenges, to live for something more, for the benefit of those around him. 00:33:39.660 --> 00:33:39.900 Maybe. 00:33:40.040 --> 00:33:40.890 Maybe for the firemen. 00:33:40.900 --> 00:33:41.730 It's a similar thought. 00:33:42.180 --> 00:33:46.640 I run head first into the fire for the sake of those that I'm called to rescue. 00:33:46.760 --> 00:33:47.900 Because life matters. 00:33:49.540 --> 00:33:52.510 You think about for us as believers, what does it mean to take heart? 00:33:52.800 --> 00:33:53.060 It's. 00:33:53.160 --> 00:33:54.920 It's a response of courage. 00:33:54.920 --> 00:33:56.220 And where do we find courage? 00:33:58.420 --> 00:34:05.560 It's to recognize the the importance of what we have in Jesus, that no matter what, this world may rip away from me, that what I have in Christ cannot be 00:34:05.560 --> 00:34:05.960 taken. 00:34:06.940 --> 00:34:10.280 And the opportunity then I have in Jesus to make a difference. 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:14.489 God's got me in a place to plant a flag for his glory to the benefit of others. 00:34:15.100 --> 00:34:18.330 That what Jesus has done for me, Jesus desires to do in the hearts of others. 00:34:18.520 --> 00:34:25.639 So what better purpose could I live my life for than to see people finding an eternal difference in knowing a God who's pursued them to give his life 00:34:25.639 --> 00:34:29.880 for them, that they could find a worth and identity, that anything greater this world can offer. 00:34:30.139 --> 00:34:35.020 What better thing could I live for that the temple of the circumstances of life. 00:34:35.040 --> 00:34:38.690 That, though it may be challenging, what I have in Jesus supersedes it all. 00:34:38.760 --> 00:34:40.380 So how can I not get up? 00:34:40.420 --> 00:34:41.639 This is what Paul is saying. 00:34:41.639 --> 00:34:42.800 Take courage. 00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:43.780 Find. 00:34:43.960 --> 00:34:45.679 Find strength in who the Lord is. 00:34:45.679 --> 00:34:52.860 Like sometimes when people face challenges in life, the storms of life, some respond in fear and others respond 00:34:52.860 --> 00:34:53.940 in courage. 00:34:54.080 --> 00:34:55.440 And people ask the question, why? 00:34:55.620 --> 00:34:59.260 Why does some respond in fear and others respond in courage? 00:34:59.300 --> 00:35:00.450 And we can just say it like this. 00:35:00.580 --> 00:35:07.720 Because some people, what they look at is the storm, but others in the midst of the storm, what they choose 00:35:07.720 --> 00:35:09.570 to look at is the Lord. 00:35:11.160 --> 00:35:16.500 It's the strength of the Lord that that carries us beyond the circumstances of life. 00:35:16.700 --> 00:35:23.100 Not to put our hope here, that we might delight in the opportunity and privilege it is to represent him in the way that we live. 00:35:23.620 --> 00:35:28.560 But to recognize, no matter what you take from me, you can never rob me of what ultimately matters. 00:35:29.780 --> 00:35:34.370 So that last point is this the answer is always Jesus. 00:35:36.440 --> 00:35:37.600 The answer is always Jesus. 00:35:37.780 --> 00:35:38.460 The soldiers. 00:35:38.500 --> 00:35:43.500 I've been peppering this in the message, but the soldiers might be left asking this question of Paul. 00:35:43.500 --> 00:35:44.910 Paul, you're telling us we're going to lose. 00:35:46.420 --> 00:35:47.250 We're going to lose the ship. 00:35:47.300 --> 00:35:48.040 We're going to lose our stuff. 00:35:48.140 --> 00:35:49.230 We could even lose our lives. 00:35:49.620 --> 00:35:53.010 And and and and Paul, you're telling us to take heart. 00:35:54.060 --> 00:35:55.020 But where? 00:35:56.200 --> 00:36:03.200 And then verse 23, Paul gives the answer for this very night there stood before me an angel of the Lord, to whom I belong and whom I worship. 00:36:04.280 --> 00:36:05.940 And he said, do not be afraid, Paul. 00:36:07.020 --> 00:36:08.170 You must stand before Caesar. 00:36:08.220 --> 00:36:12.000 And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you. 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:18.040 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God, that it will be exactly as I have been told. 00:36:18.040 --> 00:36:25.200 But we must run aground on some island, and how incredible it is that I find 00:36:25.200 --> 00:36:32.220 within this story, because Paul's life has been spared, because Paul is following the Lord, 00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:36.040 everyone on the ship is spared. 00:36:38.500 --> 00:36:45.620 Guys, can I just tell you, this is really a metaphorical picture of our lives that in the the ship of your own 00:36:45.620 --> 00:36:48.640 life, you have people that intersect with you all the time. 00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:57.620 And the ship's going down, but you have something that matters to impart to them, for 00:36:57.620 --> 00:36:59.520 the soul to be able to endure. 00:36:59.660 --> 00:37:00.280 What a gift. 00:37:00.280 --> 00:37:06.460 Because Paul's life in following Jesus, his presence there and representing the Lord all their lives are being spared. 00:37:06.680 --> 00:37:06.960 And. 00:37:07.020 --> 00:37:11.760 And it's the same for you that you have the the privilege to to honor the Lord and the way that you live your life. 00:37:11.840 --> 00:37:14.860 And so if you're here this morning, you're asking the question like, how do I, how do I discover that? 00:37:15.020 --> 00:37:15.980 How do I find the courage? 00:37:16.240 --> 00:37:17.200 How do, how do I do this? 00:37:17.320 --> 00:37:18.740 Like, I just feel like a failure. 00:37:18.740 --> 00:37:24.480 I feel like I mess up, I feel like I'm constantly God's, God's mutt on the side. 00:37:24.520 --> 00:37:26.100 Like, how could God really love me? 00:37:26.100 --> 00:37:27.560 I'm just I'm just saying it. 00:37:27.580 --> 00:37:31.400 If if you just continue to make it about you, you're you're missing the gospel altogether. 00:37:31.400 --> 00:37:38.260 Because the point of the gospel is to take your eyes off of you and look at the greatness of who he is and everything that he's done for you. 00:37:38.340 --> 00:37:45.480 And it's not until you take your eyes off yourself and you see the richness of who Christ is and what he's accomplished at the cross that you even begin to understand 00:37:45.480 --> 00:37:49.820 of a God who cares about you, who has offered everything that you might find freedom in him. 00:37:49.900 --> 00:37:55.160 It's not about you, but everything he was willing to accomplish for you. 00:37:57.240 --> 00:37:59.180 And the seasons of life rock us. 00:38:02.260 --> 00:38:06.840 They rock us in a way that for some of us, sometimes we're good at just quickly diving into faith and for. 00:38:07.140 --> 00:38:10.700 For others, sometimes we have we have difficulty getting there. 00:38:10.700 --> 00:38:12.480 Which leads me to close with this. 00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:14.770 And church history is a man by the name of Philip Melanchthon. 00:38:16.260 --> 00:38:18.770 And Philip was a theologian during the Reformation. 00:38:19.720 --> 00:38:20.680 In the 1500s. 00:38:20.680 --> 00:38:22.400 He was great friends with Martin Luther. 00:38:22.400 --> 00:38:26.900 He was a companion of Martin Luther and an intellectual mind. 00:38:26.900 --> 00:38:28.920 Martin Luther really appreciated him for that. 00:38:29.460 --> 00:38:36.480 But there was also something known about Philip Melanchthon is that he was a worrier, constantly worrying, putting the stress of 00:38:36.480 --> 00:38:44.160 everything on them, because for Philip and Martin, There was a constant threat of people wanting to kill them, imprison them, do have 00:38:44.160 --> 00:38:45.940 ill intent towards them. 00:38:46.180 --> 00:38:54.000 And it's known throughout Philip Melanchthon's life that Martin Luther would regularly repeat to him this phrase, Philip, Let 00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:55.830 Philip cease to rule the world. 00:38:57.400 --> 00:38:58.920 Let Philip cease to rule the world. 00:39:01.100 --> 00:39:03.420 When we go through challenges of life, that's our tendency, right? 00:39:03.420 --> 00:39:05.880 Is just to throw it on us like it depends on us. 00:39:05.880 --> 00:39:12.880 And wearing the anxiety of trying to save it all, not recognizing that 00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:13.840 there's one who does. 00:39:15.160 --> 00:39:16.960 And it's not mine to bear, but his. 00:39:16.960 --> 00:39:24.040 And he bore it on the cross for you and for me, so that no matter the season I go through in this world, I know 00:39:24.040 --> 00:39:26.280 in Jesus I'll never lose. 00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:31.820 This message has been brought to you by Alpine Bible Church in Lehi, Utah. 00:39:31.840 --> 00:39:36.090 If you'd like more information, please visit us online at Alpine bible.com.