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October 31 - Acts 27 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:12
  Hello friends. Sean here.
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  Good to have you company. Thanks for tapping on play and
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  inviting me into your day. Busy or spacious, However it
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  looks, and today we are in the very last day of October,
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  November, just around the corner.
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  Where has the year gone? I don't even know.
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  I don't know when you decide that it's time to start
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  decorating for Christmas. I was well, a few weeks ago when
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  I was collecting my army uniforms.
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  People there were saying, Padre tell me when is it not too early
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  to put up the Christmas tree and well, they were not happy when I
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  suggested late November. So I don't know when your
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  tradition is. If you want to put up your
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  Christmas tree at the beginning of November, knock yourself out.
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  I'm sure the shops somewhere have already started decorating.
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  So it's a Tuesday and this is a Tuesday where we are reading the
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  second last chapter of the book of Acts and this is when Paul is
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  going to be tossed around at sea.
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  I hope this is not a week where you are going to be sailing,
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  because if you are, this story is going to sound awfully
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  ominous as the weather gets a little bit nasty.
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  So join. Me friends, as we read together
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  Acts Chapter 27. When the time came, we set sail
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  for Italy. Paul and several other prisoners
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  were placed in the custody of a Roman officer named Julius, a
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  captain of the Imperial Regiment.
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  Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us.
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  We left on a ship whose home port was Adramiteum, on the
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  northwest coast of the province of Asia.
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  It was scheduled to make several stops at ports along the coast
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  of the province the next day when we docked inside on Julius,
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  was very kind to Paul and let him go ashore to visit with
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  friends so they could provide for his needs.
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  Putting out the sea from there, we encountered strong headwinds
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  that made it difficult to keep the ship on course, so we sailed
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  north of Cyprus between the island and the mainland.
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  Keeping to the open sea, we passed along the coast of
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  Sicilia and Pamphylia, landing at Myra in the province of
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  Lycia. There the commanding officer
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  found an Egyptian ship from Alexandria that was bound for
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  Italy, and he put us on board. We had several days of slow
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  sailing and after great difficulty we finally neared
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  Snyders. But the wind was against us.
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  So we sailed across the Crete and along the sheltered coast of
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  the island, past the Cape of Salmon.
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  We struggled along the coast with great difficulty and
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  finally arrived at fair havens near the town of Lascia.
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  We had lost a lot of time. The weather was becoming
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  dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall and
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  Paul spoke to the ship's officers about it.
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  Men, he said. I believe there is trouble ahead
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  if we go on shipwreck, loss of cargo and danger to our lives as
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  well. But the officer in charge of the
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  prisoners listen more to the ship's captain and the owner
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  than to Paul. And since Fair Havens was an
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  exposed harbour, a poor place to spend the winter, most of the
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  crew wanted to go on to Phoenix, farther up the coast of Crete,
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  and spend the winter there. Phoenix was a good harbour with
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  only a southwest and NW exposure.
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  When a light wind began blowing from the South, the sailors
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  thought they could make it, so they pulled up anchor and sailed
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  close to the shore of Crete. But the weather changed abruptly
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  and a wind of typhoon strength called the northeaster burst
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  across the island and blew us out to sea.
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  The sailors couldn't turn the ship into the wind, so they gave
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  up and let it run before the Gale who sailed along the
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  sheltered side of a small island named Corda, where with great
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  difficulty we hoisted aboard the lifeboat being towed behind us.
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  Then the sailors bound ropes around the hull of the ship to
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  strengthen it. They were afraid of being driven
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  across to the sandbars of Certus off the African coast, so they
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  lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship and were driven before
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  the wind. The next day, as Gale force
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  winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began throwing
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  the cargo overboard. The following day they even took
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  some of the ship's gear and threw it overboard.
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  The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun
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  and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.
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  No one had eaten for a long time.
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  Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, Men, you
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  should have listened to me in the 1st place and not left
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  Crete. You would have avoided all this
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  damage and loss. But take courage.
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  None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will
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  go down. For last night, an Angel of the
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  God to whom I belong and to whom I serve stood beside me and he
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  said, Don't be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial
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  before Caesar. What's more, God in his goodness
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  has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.
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  So take courage, for I believe God it will be just as he said.
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  But we will be shipwrecked on an island about midnight on the
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  14th night of the storm. As we were being driven across
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  the Sea of Adria, the sailors sensed land was near.
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  They dropped a waited line and found the water was 120 feet
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  deep. But a little later, they
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  measured again and found it was only 90 feet deep.
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  At this rate, they were afraid we would soon be driven against
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  the rocks along the shore. So they threw out four anchors
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  from the back of the ship and prayed for daylight.
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  Then the sailors tried to abandon ship.
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  They lowered the lifeboat as though they were going to put
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  out anchors from the front of the ship.
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  But Paul said to the commanding officer and the soldiers, you
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  will all die unless the sailors stay aboard.
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  So the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat and let it drift
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  away. Just as day was dawning, Paul
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  urged everyone to eat. You have been so worried that
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  you haven't touched food for two weeks, he said.
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  Please eat something now for your own good, for not a hair of
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  your heads will perish. Then he took some bread, gave
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  thanks to God before them all, and broke off a piece and ate
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  it. Then everyone was encouraged and
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  began to eat. All 276 of us were on board.
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  After eating, the crew lightened the ship further by throwing the
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  cargo of wheat overboard. When morning dawned, they didn't
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  recognize the coastline, but they saw a Bay with the beach
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  and wondered if they could get to shore by running the ship
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  aground. So they cut off the anchors and
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  left them in the sea. Then they lowered the rudders,
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  raised the for sail and headed towards shore, but they hit a
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  Shoal and ran the ship aground too soon.
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  The bow of the ship stuck fast while the stern was repeatedly
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  smashed by the force of the waves and began to break apart.
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  The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure they
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  didn't swim ashore and escape, but the commanding officer
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  wanted to spare Paul, so he didn't let them carry out their
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  plan. Then he ordered all who could
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  swim to jump overboard first and make for land.
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  The others held onto planks or debris from the.
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  Broken ship so everyone escaped safely to shore.
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  Jesus, it can be hard to trust you sometimes.
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  When we are on board a ship and we feel as though everything is
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  going to be lost, and you tell us that we are safe, Gee, it's
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  hard to hear your words over the din of the storm in our lives
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  Sometimes, Jesus, I pray for perspective that the volumes of
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  all the different voices are appropriately calibrated.
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  So when the world is shouting its priorities at us, may that
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  be dialed down. And when your Kingdom speaks to
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  us, may that be amplified, so that your voice is so convincing
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  that we are not tempted to listen to the voice of the world
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  around us. Thank you that you give us a
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  different way of being, That when the world shouts at us, you
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  are useless unless you do these things.
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  That your voice that says you are my beloved child may ring
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  louder. And when the world screams about
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  the importance of the now, may we hear your voice that speaks
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  gently about the promises of eternity.
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  We are so safely held in your embrace.
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  Please continue to attune our ears to Your voice.
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  We pray. All of this in your mighty name,
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  Jesus. Amen.