Your Plan - God's Plan Series

[Scripture read before this sermon]

20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. 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.’ 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.” 27 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28 So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. 29 And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 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. (Acts 27:20–32)

Love Loud video before me. Repaired a fence and awning for two single mothers in our community Mullendore Elementary School. You are extending Christ’s love by doing a carnival Snow Heights Elementary School and a backpack program as well. Lastly, Multiple block parties are going on and I am so proud of you guys. By the way, Seven baptisms today scattered among our services – wow!

Sermon Introduction

Think about your life for a moment. Have you missed an opportunity you regret? Do you wish you had invested in Google 20 years ago? Do you think you have missed the perfect plan for your life? Do you think you are still on “Plan A” for your life? For many in the room with any years of experience, you feel like your closer to plan ZZ rather than plan A. You sit here wishing you had waiting for marriage before becoming intimate with someone else. Sometime in life we find ourselves saying, “I wish I would have listened.” For those of you who are married, “I told you so,” maybe ringing in your ears right now ?.

Returning to Acts

We are nearing the end of the book of Acts. Personally, I have learned so much because I was more familiar with the early part of Acts and these later parts – not so much. A few moments ago, you heard the middle part of a passage that really extends over Acts 27 and 28. Now, Paul, the prisoner is on his way to Rome by ship. The reason he was a prisoner was there were charges brought against him by the religious leaders of Jerusalem. His life was in great danger. In order for him to actually get any kind of safe trial, he appealed to Caesar so he could get a fair trial. As a result, he was on a ship, and they were sailing to Rome. A week ago, we witnessed Jesus predict Paul would go to Rome to testify about Jesus (Acts 23:11). Two years have gone by since Paul left Jerusalem. God has a plan for Paul’s life but a terrible storm threatens this plan.

There is no wreck is enjoyable – every kind of wreck is something I want to avoid! But perhaps a shipwreck is most terrifying of all for everyone on board experiences the prolonged agony of possibly contemplating their drowning. Unlike a modern cruise ship, Paul is on an Egyptian grain ship, which around one hundred eighty feet long by forty-five feet wide. Plus, the fact that they are two hundred sixty-six souls on board the boat around October, a time when most experienced boatmen knew to be on dry land, makes the narrative more chilling. It is an incredibly turbulent time & most of us cannot fully comprehend just how scary it would truly be.

Your life is not governed by dumb luck, chance, or fate. Our story serves to build our faith in God’s character and His control over our lives. Watch how you can be confidence in making real time decisions while we hearing from God.