Sermons from Sweet Home

The ship didn't just wreck on any island, it was a divinely ordained island. There were people on that island that God wanted Paul to preach the Gospel to. And indeed, that island with its leader got to see the glory of God. Your shipwreck is not always about you, but about God's bigger plan. 

After days on the sea being driven by a severe storm the ship Paul is on eventually finds land and crashes into a sandbank. 

The more popular Jesus became, the more enemies he made. In this story he has some enemies that try to catch him out, accuse him and perhaps get him killed. But Jesus knows how to deal with conflict. He understands how people with hard hearts think. For those who often struggle with interpersonal conflict, this teaching might just have some nuggets of wisdom in it. 

That friend, that annoying friend always inviting you to church, or "praying for you", or inviting you for Bible study, that might just be the best friend you have. In this life we have good friends, and we have great friends. Great friends are not only good to you, but they bring you to Jesus. In this story we see four friends help a very desperate and paralyzed man get to Jesus. 

Jesus never touched a demon-possessed person, he just spoke to them. But whenever someone was physically ill, Jesus would want to touch them, even though it wasn't necessary. On this particular day Jesus was faced with a different challenge, he came face to face with a leper. A leper was considered cursed by God, a sinner and highly contagious. Lepers were unclean outcasts from society, and from the Temple worship. If Jesus touches him, he could become unclean,  he could contract the disease and he could be shunned by society. Did he end up touching him? 

After a long night of grueling fishing Jesus challenges Peter to fish again, to let down his nets again. And Peter submits. He has learnt to do whatever Jesus says even if it contradicts his own reasoning. And you know the rest of the story. Jesus can command demons, but here it seems like he can even command fish. 

In this beautiful story we see Jesus heal the mother-in-law of his friend, his disciple. Jesus is staying at Peter's house, he seems to be a couch surfer. After a long day of preaching and doing miracles Jesus is still not consumed with himself, but rather with others. So he heals this lady, probably from Malaria. Then he goes to bed, but gets up early the next morning while everyone is still sleeping. Why did he so often disappear on his own into secluded places? 

It sounds like a scene out of a movie. While Jesus is preaching in a synagogue a demon-possessed man suddenly addresses him. Talk about a sermon interruption. The demon launches a host of questions at Jesus. But Jesus doesn't answer him. He just tells him to "shut up and leave". And the demon obeys. Isn't it interesting how easily evil spirits obey Jesus, yet we don't? What do they know about Jesus that we don't get? 

A mighty God-ordained storm moves across the Levant and hits this ship in a hard way. For days and nights there was no hope to be saved and everyone pretty much thought they were going to die. Everyone except one person: Paul. During the night Jesus appeared to him and gave him courage and told him that there would be a shipwreck but they would all be saved. 

In this great chapter we see the Apostle Paul preach a great sermon again that includes his testimony. He talks about visions and resurrections. To the mind of a Roman pagan like Festus this must have sounded ridiculous. But Paul was not a fool and didn't speak like an educated man. And the only way Festus could make sense of this man is to say he is losing his mind due to his great learning. But Paul is sharp, and even uses the opportunity to preach the Gospel to Herod and perhaps convert him.