Set Sail For Adventure Series

SET SAIL FOR ADVENTURE

Text: Acts 27:1-12

Introduction

1. Soon, Tina and I will be embarking on our 12th cruise. That’s an amazing thing for me to say, because it took Tina twenty-five years to talk me into it. The reason…I saw the movie Titanic too many times! In fact, on our first cruise I got a letter from the head cruise director. He confirmed that the captain of the ship was an expert “iceburgologist,” and an expert at navigating the Bahamian Triangle.

2. In our text today, Paul was about to embark on a cruise he would never forget! But it wasn’t going to be a leisure cruise. However, it would be quite the adventure!

3. Read Acts 27:1-12

Transition: Let’s jump on board with Paul and the others on their great adventure.

I. Fast Forward to the Fun

A. Now that Paul’s trial before Festus and Agrippais was over, it’s time to travel to Rome.

B. Luke tells us in vv. 1-2 with, “When the time came, we set sail for Italy. Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of a Roman officer named Julius, a captain of the Imperial Regiment. 2 Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us. We left on a ship whose home port was Adramyttium on the northwest coast of the province of Asia; it was scheduled to make several stops at ports along the coast of the province.”

1. The first thing that should jump off the page to us is the word “we.” This tells us that Luke was on the ship with Paul. He was an eyewitness to what he’s about to tell us. Most likely, they let Luke accompany Paul to Rome as his personal physician, which was his occupation.

2. In addition to Luke, Aristichus was also along serving as Paul’s personal servant. You might remember him as the man who was drug out of the theatre at the beginning of the riot in Ephesus.

3. Both Luke and Aristichus went along to support and take care of Paul. We all need people to support us and help as along the journey. Don’t think you can do this on your own!

C. Then Luke tells us in vv. 3-4, “The next day when we docked at Sidon, Julius was very kind to Paul and let him go ashore to visit with friends so they could provide for his needs. 4 Putting out to sea from there, we encountered strong headwinds that made it difficult to keep the ship on course, so we sailed north of Cyprus between the island and the mainland.”

1. One of the people that Luke mentions that I didn’t talk about yet was a Roman officer named Julius. He was a captain of the Imperial Regiment. The major thing that Luke tells us about him was that he was kind to Paul.

2. In this instance he allowed Paul to go to shore and visit with some of his Christian friends so that could help him with some of his needs, most likely food and clothing.

3. However, they also probably gave Paul encouragement and the strength of fellowship. Paul was going to need this spiritual support and love, because once that headed out to sea again, they ran into some bad weather that made it difficult to maneuver the ship.

4. The best route to take was to south and west of Cyprus. However, the summer and early autumn winds, which came from the northwest, caused them to stay closer to the shore, going north of Cyprus. Things were beginning to get difficult.

D. Next, Luke tells us, “Keeping to the open sea, we passed along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, landing at Myra, in the province of Lycia. 6 There the commanding officer found an Egyptian ship from Alexandria that was bound for Italy, and he put us on board.”

1. Once they got around the northeast peninsula of Cyprus, they were still facing some difficult winds.

2. But hugging the coast and taking advantage of the gentler night breezes, the ship finally docked at Myra.

3. While at Myra, Julius discovered an Egyptian ship headed to Italy.

4. It was a large cargo ship that not only carried a large supply of grain, but also big enough to carry 276 passengers. So, Julius got them on board the ship.

E. However, things don’t get any better. In vv. 7-8 Luke tells us, “We had several days of slow sailing, and after great difficulty we finally neared Cnidus. But the wind was against us, so we sailed across to Crete and along the sheltered coast of the island, past the cape of Salmone. 8 We struggled along the coast with great difficulty and finally arrived at Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.”