Storm Story

Well, hello everybody and welcome. My name is René, another one of the pastors here at Twin Lakes Church. We are in a message series called Shelter, how to find shelter in God during this shelter in place order. And we just want to welcome everybody who's joining us, everybody who's joining us on the Spanish simultaneous translation feed. Also want to welcome a bunch of my friends. We've been looking at the comments. I see you Dan Adrania over there in Sacramento. I see you Damara's couple over there in Switzerland and every one of the hundreds of people that are joining us. It's great to have you here for the Twin Lakes Church live stream.

In fact, before I get into the message, I just want to share some comments that we've received from you via hashtag Twin Lakes Live on social media or old-school email us info@tlc.org. In fact, we've already got responses to Mark's request for pet pics. Look at this next picture. I love that this poodle is paying rapt attention apparently to the sermon, but her owner is rooting around in the fridge for breakfast. That's okay. Dogs love me. And we've also gotten some great comments too. I love this via email from Susan Drake. She says, "I'm 82 and I'm not about to learn hashtags, but I want you to know that this morning I'm worshipping with the congregation and singing at the top of my lungs." I love that.

And we got this from Valinda Stafford. She says, "As we were praying, I pictured in my mind's eye all of us in our homes with our arms outstretched, making a gigantic circle. One big happy family." I love that. Again, we want to keep this as a community. So share your thoughts with us. #twinlakeslive unless you're Susan Drake. Then email info@tlc.org. Well, you may recognize this poster. Keep calm and carry on. You see it everywhere these days in posters and on coffee mugs and on t-shirts. But do you know the back story?

Well, way back in 1939 as German bombs were blitzing on London, a British graphic artist decided that he could help with his art and he designed these posters. But the people in charge decided, "That'll never catch on. I mean, it's not a heroic enough call. Just keep calm and carry on. Who'd be inspired by that?" And so they sent all two and a half million posters to be recycled and turned into cardboard. Or so it was thought. Then in the year 2000, a single copy of this poster was rediscovered in the basement of a used bookstore in London. The owners framed it, put it up by the cash register of the store. People started taking pictures of it, posting it, and the rest is history.

Now, of course, there's a ton of takeoffs like, "Keep calm and have a cupcake." How many of you live by that motto? "Can I see a show of hands out there in your homes?" "I see that hand. I see that hand, Kurt Carlton." Yes. Or, "Stay alive and avoid zombies." Sound advice. But personally, I prefer the original, "Keep calm and carry on." Because who does not need to hear this message, especially right now?

Well, the Bible story we're going to look at this morning is sort of the original, "Keep calm and carry on," but it kicks it up a notch to keep confident and carry on. You know, not just keep a stiff upper lip. No, be energized because you really do have hope for your future. Listen, I sincerely believe that your hope level is going to skyrocket as we look into this part of the Bible together this morning. Get ready because I want to tell you a storm story about sailing into an uncertain future. It's found in Acts 27 in the Bible. If you have Bibles with you there in the house, you can look this passage up because we all need this.

Haven't we all been caught by an unexpected and turbulent storm? And here we are all in the same boat, all feeling anxious and disoriented. How are we going to ride out this storm together? Well, listen to the story. It's about a man named Paul, one of the leaders of the early Christian Church. And let me set this up for you. In the two-year span of his life, right before this story, everything in his life seems like it is going wrong. It all starts one day in Jerusalem when he is attacked in a riot, then the Romans arrest him, and then 40 assassins vowed to murder him, and then he's thrown into prison for two years without a trial.

Finally, he is put on trial before the king who decides to keep him under arrest and send him to stand trial before Caesar, and so he is put on a ship bound for Rome where, believe it or not, things get even worse. There's a huge storm and there's a shipwreck, and that is where we need him in today's storm story. Now, I really want you to be able to accurately picture this story. So let me kind of paint the scene for you. It takes place on a Roman ship, and thanks to marine archaeologists, we now have a very good picture of what Roman ships looked like and felt like.

In fact, scuba divers have found several Roman shipwrecks from around the era of this story. The largest yet found is actually about the length of a football field. Now, look at this ship. Does that look like the kind of ship that was designed for open ocean travel? No, these were flat bottomed barges that were really designed to hug the coast and hop from port to port in good, fair weather. They were not designed for open ocean stormy travel. Keep that in mind as we see what happens.

There was a doctor named Luke who was traveling with Paul, and he wrote about it, and his writings ended up as part of our Bibles. And in Acts 27, look at some of the descriptive phrases he uses to describe this journey. He says, "The winds were against us. We made slow headway for many days. We had difficulty arriving, and then when the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete." That's an island in the Mediterranean. "And we moved along the coast of Crete with great difficulty. Much time had been lost." And so just to orient you, the voyage went from the coast of Judea, Israel, up to this island Crete, and the sailors wanted to just kind of skip a few miles up the coast of the island to a better place to harbor for the winter, and then to go on to Italy and to Rome.

But the Apostle Paul warns them, "Guys, don't do it. Don't put to sea. It is too late in the season. Storms could strike," but the captain of the ship and his first mate, according to the Bible, ignore Paul's warnings, and what should have been just a short three-hour cruise up the coast turns into a nightmare when they get blown off course. And you know what's weird is they've actually found ancient engravings of the captain and his first mate on this ship, and they looked like this, which is so weird. But for real, the ship really did get tossed, and the weather really did start getting rough.

And I want you to be able to picture the ferocity of this storm. Check this out. A modern cruise ship was caught in a storm in this exact same part of the Mediterranean, and a crew member took cell phone video in the middle of that storm. What this is is the dining room, and you'll see all the tables and the chairs and the dishes all on the floor and they slide all the way over to the port side of the ship, and then wait for it. Wait for it as they slide back to the starboard side of the ship. Wow. Now this happened on a ship called the Brilliance of the Seas, which is longer than three football fields put together, yet even this massive vessel was being tossed like a stick by waves that were 50 feet high and winds that blew as hard as 80 miles an hour.

Okay, you've seen what a modern cruise ship is like. And by the way, did we need another reason not to want to go on a cruise ship right now? Now picture Paul and his shipmates in this kind of ship, in that kind of storm. I mean, how in the world are they going to survive? And of course, the application is how in the world are you and I going to survive the various storms in our lives, including this COVID-19 storm. Listen, we can't control the weather. You and I can't control the storms when they come. But, listen, we do have agency. The choices that you and I make during the storms create a major difference in how well we survive the storms of life.

And really, it all boils down to three crucial choices in life's storms. Whether you realize it or not, you are making these three choices right now. The only question is, are you making them thoughtfully and wisely? So jot these down. The first is this, ask yourself, what can I do? What can I do? This is a powerful question because so often when we get caught in a storm, we get hung up on why. Why is this happening? Why God? Why me? Why us? Why now? But you know what I've noticed? You rarely get an answer to the question, why. A much more productive question than why is what. What's next?

In fact, I'd make this even more specific. Ask, what is the next best thing that I can do right now? This is a powerful question because when the storm strikes, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. So simply simplify your life and just ask, what is the next best thing I can do right now? Now, sometimes that just means you need to get some sleep. You need to lie down and rest. You need to get unplugged from the constant newsfeed. Or sometimes this means spring into action. Watch how this unfolds on board ship. Verse 16. We were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure so the men hoisted it aboard and then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Sirtis.

They lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. Now, what's this all about? The sandbars of Sirtis. That sounds like a place, you know, Jack Sparrow might visit the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, right? But these are an actual phenomenon in the Mediterranean. These are sandbars, very shallow. You can't see them. They're right underneath the surface of the water. They're off the coast of modern day Libya and they extend about a hundred miles into the Mediterranean. So they are a ship's graveyard and the sandbars of Sirtis is exactly where Paul and his companions are being driven.

So the sailors snap into action and they do whatever they can to slow the boat down. And in the storm we face right now, it is normal and healthy at first to be in shock and to grieve. But you also have to ask what is the next best thing for me to do now? Let me give you some suggestions. Get into a home group. We have groups that you can connect with at TLC dot org slash classes or you can pray. Email Kerry at TLC dot org. Get our church prayer list emailed to you. You probably have extra time in your days to pray for people.

And then if you want to give help or get help, go to TLC dot org slash help. You know, we have people, hundreds of people in our church making bags of food for the hungry, making bags of essentials for senior citizens. We've already distributed literally hundreds of these bags. We've got some other people making face masks for people to use both in the hospitals and elsewhere. So if you want to volunteer for any of those worthy places to serve, you can spring into action at TLC dot org slash help.

One thing I hope all of you are doing, I challenged you to do last week. Every day, reach out to five people, text them or call them, ask how are you? Do you need anything? That personal contact is so important. And then, of course, for all of us, one of the most important things we can do in this storm is shelter at home. I want to put a frame on that because sheltering at home, I know it's inconvenient at best and really tough at worst financially for many of us emotionally, psychologically. But sheltering at home is a truly heroic act right now.

I know it's taking real sacrifice for you, but all the experts say it is saving lives. My point is this. The storm that's out of our control. But you and I still have choices. We still have agency within the storm. So ask, what can I do now? Then the second choice is this. What can I do without? At this point, the sailors have done all they can do. Now they've got to start looking at what they can do without. Look at verses 18 and 19. We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands.

They're trying to lighten the load on the ship. And you know, sometimes there are things we have to give up in order to go on. And I think that the next few weeks and even months for most people will probably involve some subtraction, some belt tightening. And if you look at it the right way, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It can be clarifying and liberating when we must choose what matters most. Speaking personally, Laurie and I have already canceled subscriptions and some other monthly recurring costs so we can save money in order to double down on what we feel matters most in the storm, which is helping people out, being generous to people in need.

So ask what can I do? What can I do without? And let me just stop there because I would say that this is the normal arc of a response to a crisis. The first thing we tend to do is to ask this question to the point where it almost gets into manic hyperactivity. And then when it goes on for a while, we slip into depressive inactivity and we focus on all our losses. And if you don't ask the third and final question, you may get stuck in this loop. Hyperactivity, depressive inactivity. The third question is so important if you want to last through the storm. And the third question is where is my hope? Where is my hope really?

Watch what happens next, verse 20. When neither sun nor stars appear, don't forget that, for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. Now, I want you to notice this is Luke writing this. He's a Christian and he doesn't write those pagan Romans of no faith or little faith. They gave up hope, but we knew better. Now he says, we finally gave up all hope. Why? Because they had lost their means of navigation, the sun and the stars. They were lost with they got their bearings in those days from the stars and the sun. So if they couldn't see them, they were literally disoriented.

Do you see that? Well, these days, do you ever feel right now like I'm so disoriented, I've lost my bearings. Nobody seems to know where we're headed anymore. What do you do when the normal points of reference are gone? Well, Paul gets everyone reoriented by giving them a new way to get their bearings. In verse 21, after they've gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said, men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete. I love that he can't resist saying, I told you so. He says, then you could have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now let's forget about what we should have done. That's in the past. But now I urge you to keep up your courage because not one of you will be lost. Only the ship will be destroyed.

Last night, an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar. And God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you. The sun and stars may be invisible, but Paul has a different way, a deeper way of orienting himself. God's promises given through this angel. So you say, well, René, that doesn't apply to me clearly because I don't have an angel appearing to me with promises from God. Don't you?

Follow me here. If you download your notes at TLC dot org slash notes and you flip over to page two, you can see some verses about hope in the midst of despair. Maybe you didn't get an angel in a dream with God's promises, but you have a Bible full of God's promises and these are just the start. I urge you this week, print these out, read them every day, memorize them, meditate on them. You can still get your bearings. You can still have hope. And like Paul, you can say to the discouraged people around you, so keep up your courage, men and women and boys and girls, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some.

I got a picture, Paul, muttering that last line. So be strong, everyone, until we hit some island or something. Don't ask me, I just have open God. He doesn't know how it's going to work out, but his hope is firm. What he's saying is this. You have to make certain your hope is not tied to your conditions. Does that make sense? Be sure your hope is not tied to your conditions because if your hope is tied to your circumstances, then it's going to change all the time.

If your hope is tied to the boat, then when the boat sinks, your hopes sink. And if your hope is tied solely to your bank account, then when your bank account goes down, your hope goes down. If your hope is tied only to your job, then when your job goes down, your hopes vanish. Paul's saying, yes, there is hope for us, but my hope is not in the boat. And listen, if you forget everything else that I say today, I hope you remember this. See the sailors, the only way they knew to have hope was in the boat, in their vessel. That's what they were used to.

But Paul is saying, you know, funny thing about the boat. I like the boat. The boat keeps me dry. I'm very fond of the boat. I like the boat way better than dog paddling to shore. But guess what, everybody? We're dog paddling to shore. Don't cling to the boat. There is hope for you outside the boat. In fact, can you just say this phrase out loud with me right now in your homes? I know we're not together, but I would love to hear you say it. My hope is not in the boat. Here we go. Three, two, one. My hope is not in the boat.

In fact, I loved it in the last service. You typed it into the comments section over and over and over again, affirming. My hope is not in the vessel that God has used in my life to get me this far, the boat or the job or whatever. That was just a vessel. I am not tied to that vessel. My hope is in God. See, look at verse 22 again. Is this an encouraging verse or a discouraging verse? Well, if you start with the ship will be destroyed, that's very discouraging. But if you go back just one word, only the ship will be destroyed. Then the paradigm completely changes. Only the boat's going down. We're not.

And Paul's statement here kind of reminds me of Jesus when he said to the disciples, when the disciples were afraid of people who were trying to really murder them. Jesus says to them, guys, do not fear those who can only put the body to death. And I imagine the disciples were looking at each other like, uh, that's not very encouraging, but when Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples realized what he meant. Jesus was saying, yes, they crucified me, but I only died. Then I rose again. And mine is the first resurrection of many, including yours. That's the ultimate example of my hope is not in the boat.

Now don't get me wrong. I love the boat. Like for me, I love this church. I love my job, but my hope is not in this church. My hope is not in my job. My hope is in the one who said upon this rock, I will build my church. My hope is not in the boat. My hope is in the Lord of the wind and the waves. Amen. And then watch how the story ends. Verse 33, just before dawn, Paul urged them all to eat for the last 14 days. He said, you have been in constant suspense and I can relate to that for about the last 14 days myself. And you've gone without food. You haven't eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not a single one of you will lose a single hair from his head.

And the lesson here is, and please hear this. He's saying this is not just a spiritual battle. And this is the mistake so many Christians make when it comes to their anxiety. It is a spiritual battle, but it's not just a spiritual battle. It's also a physical battle because we're physical and spiritual beings. You do need to fix your thoughts on Jesus, but you also need to eat right. You also need to have healthy sleep habits. You also need exercise. Paul does not say, everybody get on your knees. You only need prayer to survive this. No, he says, guys, you need to take care of yourselves and then watch what Paul does next. This is so beautiful.

After he had said this, he took some bread and he gave thanks to God in front of them all. And then he broke it and began to eat. Watch this. Then they were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. So when were they encouraged? Were they encouraged at the end of Paul's speech? Not really. Were they encouraged because they saw Paul do some classic heroic move like swinging from the yard arm with a cutlass and say, forward? No, he was just eating lunch. They were encouraged when they saw him simply stay confident and carry on as much as he could with normal life. That's what encouraged them.

Listen, your reaction to the storm is contagious. There are a lot of people in the same boat with you and me right now. In fact, we're all in the same boat. We're all in the same giant boat globally right now. And however you respond really is contagious. Just like this virus started with just one person and now it's been transmitted all over the world. Your response to the storm is contagious too. Panic is contagious, isn't it? Look at toilet paper sales right now all over America. But hope is also contagious.

And what helps the discouraged people in the boat is when they look over and they see you and they see me as we keep confident and carry on and then they do it too. Listen, the greatest gift that you can give people right now is hope. The greatest gift that teachers can give their students right now is hope. The greatest gift that parents can give to their kids right now is hope. The greatest gift that you can give to your neighbors right now is hope because without hope people will give up before any kind of virus even touches them.

And so here's a question to ask honestly of yourself. What do people see you doing in the boat in your life right now? What do people see you posting on social media? What do people hear you saying? Do they see you faithful or freaking out? Ask yourself, am I an example of panic or of trust? Now, of course, I don't mean that it's wrong to feel afraid sometimes and I don't mean you should not be honest with a trusted friend if you're frightened. It is understandable these days to feel alarmed. But you work through that anxiety with a growth goal to become a person of calm hope.

You know, I'm really excited in two weeks on Easter Sunday. We are going to be talking all about hope. That's going to be our theme. And I want to give you an easy way to spread hope to other people, to invite your friends and neighbors to join us for that livestream. And I'm going to tell you all about my plans next weekend on Palm Sunday. Hope you join us then. Don't miss it.

So what happens next to Paul here? Does he survive? Do the sailors make it? Well, read Acts 28 in the Bible this week to find out. It's a great story. One little teaser. Paul swims to shore, stands up on the beach in the midst of the storm, thinks he is safe. And that's when he notices the snake biting his hand. It really is a great story. So check it out for yourself. But for now, remember, my hope is not in the boat. My hope, your hope is in God.

Let's pray together. Would you bow your heads with me? Our Heavenly Father, in this storm, give us your wisdom. Wisdom to know what we can do, what we can do without, and to place our hope firmly in you and you alone. And Lord, after a week of a lot of focus on other things, we pray. Our Father in heaven, may your name be hallowed. May your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We want to pray for the medical professionals, for researchers, for first responders, for civic leaders, for all those in financial difficulty, for the lonely, for the sick. God, grant them all strength and hope and healing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.