SPEAKER_00: In Acts twenty, there it goes.
SPEAKER_00: Acts twenty-seven.
SPEAKER_00: Acts twenty-seven and acts twenty-eight.
SPEAKER_00: We are finishing off our sermon series on the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna finish by looking at these last two chapters.
SPEAKER_00: As we come to the end of Acts, Luke is not just telling us history and telling us what has happened, which has been great, but maybe you've storyteller.
SPEAKER_00: He's giving us history while at the same time giving us real life lessons that we can learn from.
SPEAKER_00: So if you look at, if you're looking at the end of Acts, you may have noticed from Acts 24 to Acts 28, there is this underlying tone of hope.
SPEAKER_00: Because once Paul is arrested, once he's put in chains, the tone of Acts becomes a message of hope.
SPEAKER_00: If you look at just the last few chapters, almost every time Paul gives his testimony, his defense, he talks about or he mentions this idea of hope.
SPEAKER_00: He says, for example, in Acts 23, verse 6, brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees.
SPEAKER_00: It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.
SPEAKER_00: Verse, chapter 24, verse 15, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
SPEAKER_00: So not only mentioning hope again, but he's also mentioning this idea of resurrection again.
SPEAKER_00: Just a couple chapters over in Acts 26.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what he says in verses six through seven.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, in which our twelve tribes hoped to attain, hoped to attain, and they earnestly worship night and day.
SPEAKER_00: And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O King.
SPEAKER_00: So everything, almost every single time he gives his defense or his testimony from Acts 23, 24, and 26, he mentions this idea of hope.
SPEAKER_00: Specifically, a hope of a Messiah King, which is fulfilled in Jesus, a hope of a resurrection, which has been fulfilled in Jesus' resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: This is all here and helping us as we journey along through Acts that by the time we get to Acts 27, it's not just expressing to us what is happening, it's also showing us an example of what life is like when we have hope in God.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're gonna see in Acts 27 and 28.
SPEAKER_00: As we look at the scriptures, as you read those verses, hope is assurance that is grounded in faith.
SPEAKER_00: It is assurance, or you could say confident trust in what God has promised, even if we may not see it.
SPEAKER_00: So when life feels hopeless, it feels like we're out there on a stormy sea and everything that can go wrong actually goes wrong, we have to rely on God's promises, on what he has promised.
SPEAKER_00: That's literally Acts 27 and 28.
SPEAKER_00: Now we're not gonna go through these chapters verse by verse by verse, we're gonna hit the highlights.
SPEAKER_00: But at this point, Paul's been arrested, he has been beaten, he has been accused, he has been put on trial, and throughout all of that, he appeals to Caesar.
SPEAKER_00: He appeals to Caesar, and now he has to make the long trek all the way to Rome.
SPEAKER_00: And it is quite the journey.
SPEAKER_00: And he does this not necessarily just to save his own life, but also to save as really as many lives as he can.
SPEAKER_00: His desire is to bring the gospel to one of the greatest, biggest stages in the world at that time, even if that means going in chains.
SPEAKER_00: Chains, mind you, at the very end of this lesson, at the end of Acts 28, he's going to say, represents his hope.
SPEAKER_00: Hope is going to be the main focus, the main idea of our lesson this morning.
SPEAKER_00: So let's dive into Acts 27.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is under guard by the Romans, and they begin to set sail on their journey, starting with verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius, and embarked in a ship which was about to set sail to the ports along the coast of Asia.
SPEAKER_00: We put to sea, accompanied by a Macedonian from Thessalonica.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 3, the next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and gave them leave to go to his friend and be cared for.
SPEAKER_00: So right there, things seem to be off to a great start.
SPEAKER_00: You know, he's being treated kindly.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing, there's no hiccups at this point.
SPEAKER_00: And then, verse four, and putting out to sea from there, we sailed under the Lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.
SPEAKER_00: The winds being against them is really just the beginning of this trip, and nothing really going right except them actually getting to Rome.
SPEAKER_00: It's just the beginning.
SPEAKER_00: But you read that, and how often does that actually happen in life, right?
SPEAKER_00: You we start a new trip or we have a new opportunity, and things seem smooth at first, and then very quickly things turn south.
SPEAKER_00: Things aren't going as maybe as smoothly as we wanted.
SPEAKER_00: And it's easy in that moment to really play the victim and to be like, well, where is God in this moment?
SPEAKER_00: God must be against me, He must not care about me.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God, where are you?
SPEAKER_00: Where is God?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you look at this story in Acts 27, and doesn't God want Paul to go to Rome and now in verse 4, right off the bat, there's this hiccup?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, if we know throughout Acts 27 and 28, it's not always going to be easy.
SPEAKER_00: Life isn't always easy.
SPEAKER_00: But it's moments like these where we have to remember what God has promised.
SPEAKER_00: God is going to promise, and he has promised Paul here that look, I need you to go to Rome.
SPEAKER_00: You are going to go to Rome.
SPEAKER_00: And for us who are battling life's storm, he has promised that we will be with him.
SPEAKER_00: We have to remember those promises.
SPEAKER_00: So they're going to continue their voyage.
SPEAKER_00: And they continue with more trouble.
SPEAKER_00: Jump down, look at verses 7 through 8.
SPEAKER_00: Acts 27, verse 7, we sailed slowly by a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Nidas.
SPEAKER_00: And as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Siloam and coasted along with what?
SPEAKER_00: Coasted along with difficulty.
SPEAKER_00: So the wind is continuing to work against them and push against them.
SPEAKER_00: By the time you get to verse 9, it says very plainly, not only is it working against them, but this voyage has become very dangerous.
SPEAKER_00: Think about your own experience, right?
SPEAKER_00: Not necessarily at sea, but just in the rockiness of life.
SPEAKER_00: At this point, what is usually your mindset?
SPEAKER_00: Because at this point in life, it's easy to get negative and to think negatively.
SPEAKER_00: And you may, from your own experience and your own wisdom, be looking at the situation and think, yeah, you know what, this is headed toward disaster.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what Paul does, in fact.
SPEAKER_00: He says in verse 10, he says this he says, Sirs, I perceived, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also, this is important, of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Why is Paul saying this?
SPEAKER_00: Paul isn't just, he isn't speaking out of Revelation here.
SPEAKER_00: He's not.
SPEAKER_00: He's just speaking out of his own personal experience.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this isn't the first time Paul is in this situation, right?
SPEAKER_00: You turn over the 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and you can go through the long laundry list of things that he's been through.
SPEAKER_00: He's already been adrift at sea.
SPEAKER_00: And so Paul here is looking at this situation.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I perceive, not God told me, but I perceive that this is not going to be good.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's good to step back for a moment and ask, what good is it for Paul to say this in this moment?
SPEAKER_00: In our own life situations, what good is it to say the same?
SPEAKER_00: And yet, ironically, after Paul says this, in the very next verse, things let up.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Creek close to shore.
SPEAKER_00: Now, of course, the wind is blowing gently.
SPEAKER_00: Now things seem to be working in their favor.
SPEAKER_00: Now things are kind of, you know, smooth sailing from this moment.
SPEAKER_00: There's some caution here.
SPEAKER_00: But of course, it doesn't last very long.
SPEAKER_00: Already what we're seeing in this in this journey is this up and down and up and down.
SPEAKER_00: And look at verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: But soon, but soon a temptuous wind called the Northeaster struck down from the land, and when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, it gives in.
SPEAKER_00: We gave way to it and were driven along.
SPEAKER_00: They were just driven by the wind.
SPEAKER_00: Does that not sound like life?
SPEAKER_00: Things are down, things are up, and things are down and up again.
SPEAKER_00: And just when things look promising and you finally got a grip on life, things are under control, the Northeastern comes in and just blows everything away, right?
SPEAKER_00: If you have a baby, you know exactly what I mean, right?
SPEAKER_00: So it happens.
SPEAKER_00: But we have a tendency in those moments to really get desperate.
SPEAKER_00: To get desperate and try everything we can do.
SPEAKER_00: Find those quick fixes, if you will, right?
SPEAKER_00: We see that laundry pile.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna put that in the closet.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna we're gonna put the dust, sweep the dust under the rug.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna try to ignore those things.
SPEAKER_00: We're trying to do as much as we can to fix this situation very quickly, and that's what they do.
SPEAKER_00: Now, they follow standard procedure at this time in verse 18.
SPEAKER_00: Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo.
SPEAKER_00: That is desperately throw the cargo away.
SPEAKER_00: They do everything they can.
SPEAKER_00: They throw the cargo overboard.
SPEAKER_00: This point I'm reading this and I'm reminded of another storm.
SPEAKER_00: I'm reminded of the 12 disciples.
SPEAKER_00: And when they're in a storm and they're thrown away by the wind, that's you can find that in Mark chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: What do they do?
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember?
SPEAKER_00: They begin to panic.
SPEAKER_00: They begin to ask Jesus, do you not care that I am that we are perishing, that we are about to die?
SPEAKER_00: That can easily be our mindset, even if we look at you know the people here in Acts 27 or our own life.
SPEAKER_00: What does Jesus say in Mark chapter 4?
SPEAKER_00: He says to them, Where is your faith?
SPEAKER_00: Where is your faith?
SPEAKER_00: Remember what we talked about?
SPEAKER_00: What hope is?
SPEAKER_00: Hope is is the assurance that's grounded in our faith.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see Paul here act out of faith.
SPEAKER_00: But even though, comparing to Mark chapter 4, even though Jesus may not be visibly present in Acts 27, he is sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: He is still in control.
SPEAKER_00: And so whether he ceases the storm like he does in Mark chapter 4 or not, our job, our job is to remain faithful.
SPEAKER_00: That means in the face of hopelessness, we continue to be hopeful.
SPEAKER_00: Not delusional, not delusional, but hopefully.
SPEAKER_00: And those are two different things because we're gonna see that.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see how Paul acts differently in a hopeless situation, because it does get pretty hopeless.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: This is how hopeless it gets.
SPEAKER_00: When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of being saved was at last abandoned.
SPEAKER_00: It's in these moments where we have to, again, rely on God.
SPEAKER_00: These are when we are at ground zero, the darkest moments, it all seems hopeless.
SPEAKER_00: We have a choice.
SPEAKER_00: What do we do?
SPEAKER_00: We have to remain faithful.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul does.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 22.
SPEAKER_00: Jump down to verse 22, and it says, What does he do?
SPEAKER_00: He encourages the people on the boat.
SPEAKER_00: Paul speaks out and he says, Now I urge you, take heart, take heart, and he changes his his tune.
SPEAKER_00: For there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
SPEAKER_00: For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Do not be afraid, Paul.
SPEAKER_00: You must stand before Caesar.
SPEAKER_00: Remember those promises, right?
SPEAKER_00: And behold, God has granted you all, those who sail with you.
SPEAKER_00: Uh God has granted you all, those who sail with you, this promise, right?
SPEAKER_00: So take heart, he says, Men of men, for I have faith in God that I will be, it will be exactly as I have told you.
SPEAKER_00: Those words are just so encouraging.
SPEAKER_00: In the midst of this storm, God is able to bring together and collect Paul here.
SPEAKER_00: And I find it interesting and actually very relatable when you look at Paul.
SPEAKER_00: The angel tells Paul, do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: Now, maybe that's just normal angelic talk.
SPEAKER_00: Angels said that often, do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: But this situation also does call for fear.
SPEAKER_00: So maybe it's both.
SPEAKER_00: But it wouldn't be out of the question for Paul, a great man of faith, to experience anxiety and fear much like we do.
SPEAKER_00: I think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, experiencing that anguish.
SPEAKER_00: Because when we are in this life, when we as humans, those are just things we cannot bypass.
SPEAKER_00: They are real emotions that we experience in this storm of life.
SPEAKER_00: When you look at the situation that Paul is in, I'd be scared as well.
SPEAKER_00: Everything that they've seen to go through right now, the situation that they're in, is just hopeless.
SPEAKER_00: It is actually doomed for failure.
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
SPEAKER_00: That's life without God.
SPEAKER_00: Without God, we are just on this journey, this storm to death.
SPEAKER_00: But God promises all of these people that no, actually, no, there's life.
SPEAKER_00: You will live.
SPEAKER_00: You know, He promises us life, eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I know it's not normal here to always think this way.
SPEAKER_00: It's normal in situations like this to be doubtful and to wonder is everything gonna work out the way that God wants?
SPEAKER_00: But what does Paul say?
SPEAKER_00: He acts in faith, remains faithful, unlike the disciples in Mark 4, and he says, Take heart, men, I have faith in God that it's going to work out exactly as God has said in verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: You can see the change in tone from Paul.
SPEAKER_00: From verse 10, when he says, No, there's not going to be much loss of life to verse 22, there's no loss of life.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he's confident in what God has promised.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul uses that.
SPEAKER_00: He uses that to comfort those that are around him, even if that means being shipwrecked.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 29.
SPEAKER_00: Notice what they do.
SPEAKER_00: And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.
SPEAKER_00: They've come to the point where all they can do is pray.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone is realizing this is very dire.
SPEAKER_00: They're appealing to something more.
SPEAKER_00: Paul, though, uniquely, even though he is a prisoner, even though he is in chains amongst what we're going to find is over 200 people on this boat.
SPEAKER_00: Uniquely, he takes a leadership role.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Why is he able to do that?
SPEAKER_00: Why is he able to remain calm amongst the storm?
SPEAKER_00: Because he has a hope like no one else.
SPEAKER_00: It's different.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 32.
SPEAKER_00: Notice what happens.
SPEAKER_00: Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it go.
SPEAKER_00: As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food.
SPEAKER_00: He's taking that role, saying, Today is the 14th day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: They're hungry.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 34.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, I urge you, take some food, for it will give you strength.
SPEAKER_00: For not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 35.
SPEAKER_00: And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat.
SPEAKER_00: And when they look at that, then they all were encouraged and ate some themselves, ate some food themselves.
SPEAKER_00: And we were in all two hundred and seventy-six persons in the ship.
SPEAKER_00: And when they had eaten eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
SPEAKER_00: It's after this, when they're encouraged, when they are strengthened, that they are shipwrecked.
SPEAKER_00: The ship goes down.
SPEAKER_00: And those who can swim swim to a small island just south of Sicily called Malta.
SPEAKER_00: And those who can't swim grab a hold of any part of the ship that's left to make it to shore.
SPEAKER_00: But amongst this storm in this journey that's been up and down and at the end very, very hopeless, what remains do we know?
SPEAKER_00: God's promises.
SPEAKER_00: What God has promised.
SPEAKER_00: And so it will be that all 276, right?
SPEAKER_00: 276 people that are on the boat, all of them were brought safely to land.
SPEAKER_00: This is a story of hope during hopelessness.
SPEAKER_00: And that what God has promised we can rely on no matter the storm that we're in.
SPEAKER_00: Even if that means we're shipwrecked.
SPEAKER_00: God promises that if we believe in him, he promises us that we will make it to shore, right?
SPEAKER_00: We will be with him for eternity.
SPEAKER_00: Because our hope is rooted in what God has said.
SPEAKER_00: We have that hope.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul talked about it.
SPEAKER_00: He talked about it throughout his trials.
SPEAKER_00: Even though death may seem evident on this journey, we have a hope of resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Paul even talks about this through the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 54 through 55.
SPEAKER_00: This is our hope.
SPEAKER_00: When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
SPEAKER_00: O death, where is your victory?
SPEAKER_00: What are you saying about that?
SPEAKER_00: O death, where is your sting?
SPEAKER_00: And so in life's storms for us today, that's something that we have to remember because we rely on what God has said, and we remain faithful.
SPEAKER_00: We see this from Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Because once he makes it in the Rome, he makes it in the Rome.
SPEAKER_00: And he's allowed to be under house arrest.
SPEAKER_00: Look at Acts 28 now.
SPEAKER_00: You turn over the verses 15 through 16, and just as he's about to make it in the Rome, he comes across some Christians here.
SPEAKER_00: He says, This is here, and the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and three taverns to meet us.
SPEAKER_00: On seeing them, Paul notices this, Paul thanked God and took courage.
SPEAKER_00: And when he came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.
SPEAKER_00: So just outside of Rome, he runs into some fellow Christians, and what do they do?
SPEAKER_00: They strengthen him.
SPEAKER_00: It says there, Paul thanked God and took courage.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that when we are in the company of other Christians.
SPEAKER_00: This is how we should feel.
SPEAKER_00: We should have a heart today, like we see from Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Because when I see my family.
SPEAKER_00: When I see you guys, I thank God.
SPEAKER_00: And when I go out faced with this darkness in the world and the world itself and all the adversity and the storms of life, each one of you are there to give me courage.
SPEAKER_00: We encourage each other.
SPEAKER_00: We give each other courage so we can go and face that.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we see here.
SPEAKER_00: I love that also when Paul gets into Rome, what does he do?
SPEAKER_00: He does what he always does.
SPEAKER_00: He just goes and he preaches the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: He goes and he preaches the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to look at some of the last words we have from Paul recorded in Acts.
SPEAKER_00: And it's about hope.
SPEAKER_00: Acts 28, verse 20, talking to the Jews in Rome, he says, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.
SPEAKER_00: What could possibly be hopeful about wearing a chain?
SPEAKER_00: So many of us, I think myself included, would look at that chain and think, that's completely hopeless, actually.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul says, no, because of the hope of Israel, I'm wearing these chains.
SPEAKER_00: Think about what these chains have actually done.
SPEAKER_00: How they represent what God has actually done.
SPEAKER_00: Bringing Paul to Rome, giving him an audience that we're going to see at the very last verse of Acts 28.
SPEAKER_00: Helping him proclaim and advance the gospel without hindrance.
SPEAKER_00: You see, they demonstrate God's control and they display Paul's hope.
SPEAKER_00: The question then is what about your chains?
SPEAKER_00: What do they do?
SPEAKER_00: Do they break you down and make you feel hopeless, destroyed, keep you stuck?
SPEAKER_00: Or do they show others the hope that is within you?
SPEAKER_00: Do they show others that actually know God is in control?
SPEAKER_00: God is who I serve.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking to the Jews here, and the Jews are willing to listen, even though they've heard that this sect has been spoken against everywhere in verse 22.
SPEAKER_00: And yet Paul is willing to speak to them and talk to them from morning till evening about the kingdom and about Jesus there in verse 23.
SPEAKER_00: But by the time you get to verse 24, it's the same story we've seen throughout Acts, and it is some, yes, some are convinced, but others continue in their disbelief.
SPEAKER_00: And then the book ends with these words.
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 28.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verses 30 through 31.
SPEAKER_00: He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and despite the chains, and being under arrest without hindrance.
SPEAKER_00: That's how powerful God is.
SPEAKER_00: You read that, and that is such a hopeful ending, and yet at the same time, it's such a non-ending.
SPEAKER_00: I want more.
SPEAKER_00: Two verses for two years.
SPEAKER_00: What else has happened?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Where is the testimony, the appeal to Caesar?
SPEAKER_00: What happened in those two years?
SPEAKER_00: I think that's on purpose.
SPEAKER_00: I think the ending is supposed to be not really an ending because the kingdom of God has actually never ended and never will.
SPEAKER_00: You see, we're not just, if you will, we're not just readers of Acts, we are participants.
SPEAKER_00: The story, if you will, is still being written.
SPEAKER_00: And every generation after is just another chapter in the history of God's church, and that includes you and future generations.
SPEAKER_00: This is a story of hope, because we stand on the shoulders of giants that we've read throughout Acts, the apostles, Peter, James, John, Paul, great men of faith, and yet also servants throughout Acts that maybe less known.
SPEAKER_00: Stephen, who gave his life, Barnabas the encourager, the dynamic duo of Priscilla and Aquila, right?
SPEAKER_00: The eloquent Apollos, Lydia, even though she may have a weird name, Dorcas, even, right?
SPEAKER_00: Timothy, Titus, and of course we can't even forget the one who's penciling or penning these words, Luke himself.
SPEAKER_00: Showing us and leading us by example, showing us the power of the gospel, the importance of unity despite all the differences that seemed impossible to overcome, and radical generosity and sacrifices, including maybe even their own life.
SPEAKER_00: The early church faced storms, persecutions, and uncertainty, and yet what happened is they kept going and they endured and they persevered because they had a hope, not in their circumstances, they had a hope and a future with God.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason their hope held on is because it was rooted in Jesus, who really endured the suffering, who faced death, and was risen again to give us that hope.
SPEAKER_00: Their hope isn't just wishful thinking, it's not.
SPEAKER_00: It's actually anchored in the resurrection of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So life is a storm.
SPEAKER_00: And for many without God, life is just a storm like Paul's life.
SPEAKER_00: You look at Paul's life, and it's just a journey of one man going to his death, going to see Caesar so that he can be executed.
SPEAKER_00: But because he had a hope, and this is for everyone who is not in Christ, for everyone who is not in Christ and thinking about following Jesus, you can look at this story because he had a hope in God.
SPEAKER_00: This storm, this journey was actually to his king.
SPEAKER_00: It led him to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It actually gave meaning to the storm in his life.
SPEAKER_00: And the same could be true for you as well.
SPEAKER_00: You can be baptized, you can be risen a new creation.
SPEAKER_00: If that's what you want this morning, to start that journey of yours, you can come forward now while we stand and we sing.
SPEAKER_00: I know that I reach the never.