Travel Dangers Series

Introduction

In July 2022, eastern Kentucky faced catastrophic flash floods, with Letcher County hit hardest as 8-10 inches of rain submerged homes, claimed 45 lives, and destroyed over 4,000 properties, including County Line Community Church.

Pastor Anthony Mullins, a third-generation Baptist preacher and pastor of County Line Community Church, lost his own home but became a pillar of hope to the community.

He encouraged people with Scripture passages, such as Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.”

Mullins offered survivors raw, biblical wisdom in prayer tents along Highway 7, sharing Scripture to help them voice their grief.

To a widow amid her ruined home, he offered, “Like Noah’s flood, this pain carries God’s promise of renewal.”

His honest faith, rooted in his own losses, drew skeptics and believers alike, guiding them to journal their pain as a step toward healing.

He encouraged resilience through “Holler Hope Hikes,” dawn gatherings where survivors sang hymns and shared stories, inspired by Scripture’s call to comfort others: “He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:4).

These grew from 20 to 150 participants, uniting diverse groups.

Mullins’ words, like urging a teen orphan to “rise like the Jordan,” sparked purpose in despair.

His hands-on help shone brightest.

Leading Baptist Disaster Relief, Mullins mobilized volunteers to gut 200 homes, distribute 5,000 meals, and secure $500,000 in grants.

He rebuilt a single mom’s home and aided undocumented families.

By 2023, the church reopened and baptized 30 in a once-destructive creek.

Pastor Mullins served other people when they were going through life’s storms.

Today, we are going to learn how the Apostle Paul served others when they went through a storm on the sea, in a sermon I am calling “Travel Dangers.”

Scripture

Let’s read Acts 27:1-44:

1 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. 2 And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3 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. 4 And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5 And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

9 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 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. 12 And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

13 Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. 15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. 17 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. 18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19 And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 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.