Text: Acts 27

Topic: How to put faith into action in everyday life

A British playwright wrote, "It's not death, it's life that defeats the Christian church."

Christianity seems helpful in times of crisis but sometimes not in the everyday events of our lives.

During a shipwreck, Paul unconsciously reveals the secret of faith in action.

Paul wrestles with the forces of history.

Paul begins as a prisoner and ends up taking charge. Paul's faith catapults him into authority.

Crisis brought out the best in Paul.

History does not expect a "small" person like a prisoner to do great things. God's history is different: One person with faith in God can change .g., Abraham, Deborah, David.

Illustration: Today only the "high and mighty" seem to be able to stand against crowd.

Paul wrestles with God's sovereignty.

Usually God's sovereignty and human significance work together, but here they seem to work against each other.

God tells Paul that no one will be lost, yet Paul says they'll all die if sailors leave in lifeboats.

Paul does what must be done so that what God says will happen will happen.

Illustration: Great leaders of Christian history—Augustine, Luther, C believed strongly in the sovereignty of God yet acted boldly in the strength God gave them.

Paul wrestles with the threat of death.

While others worried about death, Paul got on with life.

Paul was fully aware that death, rooted in sin, was natural and normal in a fallen world.

In baptism, we die to the old nature, we die to death—with Christ.

Illustration: Kamikaze pilots in Japan had their funeral services before they flew.

Conclusion

We need to let God be God and show our faith in all we do.