Years ago, my wife and I, this was before I had the accident with my knee, we used to take an annual bike trip. One of the years we went to Elroy-Sparta Bike Trail and decided to go off the beaded path and ride our bikes to Tomah to see some of the Amish farms and ride around. One thing we didnt realize was how hilly the thing was going to be. It really, really was hard. It took its toll. Wed get to the top of the hill and say, Oh, glad thats over, and thered be another hill. Wed ride to the top of that hill, and thered be another hill. We just wanted to quit. The hills wouldnt stop coming. In your life, when youd get to the top of a hill have you ever stopped and thought, Oh, Im glad thats done only to find theres another hill? Anybody here? Am I talking to the right crowd? You get there, and you think, Whew! Thats done, and you coast a little bit. You cant coast because theres another hill to conquer. It just seemed like one hill after another. We never would reach the top. We just wanted to quit, but boy was the ride down fun! Thats the longest, fastest coasting Ive ever done in my life. You know, all of we believers encounter what were calling The Wind this morning. John Ortberg talks about it in his book, how every believer will encounter wind. You will encounter opposition as you begin your journey of faith. So, resiliency is the key word that were going to focus on, how to be resilient believers, how to persevere through the wind because we can weather the wind, pun intended. We can weather the wind. The wind eventually subsides. Eventually, we get to the coasting part, but we can weather the wind. In Acts 23, Paul is going through a windy period of his life. Hes going through a storm period. There is an opposition against him, people who have stirred up trouble for Paul; and now Paul is standing for the governing body called the Sanhedrin, and his fate rests in their hands. He is concerned. The Lord is going to administer to him in Verse 11 (pg 1104 of pew Bibles). It says, The following night the Lord stood near Paul… Now this is not just a leading of the Lord; this is a manifestation of the Lord. Paul is seeing Jesus, hearing Jesus; how it all transpired, we dont know the details, but this goes beyond you and I receiving a leading from the Lord. Paul was able to see Jesus and hear his instruction. Jesus said, Take courage! Why did Jesus say, Take courage? He needed encouragement. There was fear. This is the storm. This is an attack. Paul needed these words of encouragement. He says, As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome. Whats the strong word that he uses here about the testimony? He says, You might? You may be? No, he says, You must. Its going to happen. Its part of Gods plan. You wanted to get to Rome, Paul? Paul wanted to get to Rome. He wanted to get to the headquarters of civilization, the most powerful capital, the ruling Roman Empire. He wanted the Gospel to get there in the worst way. He talked about that. Jesus says, Its going to happen. Your faith does not rest in the hands of the Sanhedrin. Your end is not going to come here in Jerusalem. You will go to Rome. You must go to Rome and testify about me. Thats the plan; thats the promise. Remember, Gods plans do not change. Gods plans cannot be thwarted. Remember that! Lets turn to Chapter 27; lets go a few chapters ahead (pg 1108). Paul is now on his way to Rome. He has testified before King Agrippa. Agrippa says, I would have released you had you not appealed to Rome as a Roman citizen. So, Paul departs on a cargo vessel with 276 men. Some of them are the crew who are traveling with the grain, seeking to make a profit. Others of them are prisoners, under the care of a Roman centurion by the name of Julius, whom Paul strikes up a relationship with-even though hes a prisoner. These are very unique circumstances. In Verse 9, as they set out for sale, they started to have difficulty at sea. They start to encounter some strong waves and some strong wind. Lets begin reading in Verse 9 (pg 1109). Luke said, Much time had been lost… Im going to say Luke. Luke is writing this. Remember Matthew, Mark, Luke? Luke, the physician, is writing the Book of Acts. He is the author of the Book of Acts. He uses the first person, plural, we because hes on the vessel. He lived these experiences with Paul. So, when you hear the word we, thats Luke speaking, and hes referring to himself and Paul and all who were there on the vessel that day. …Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now, it was after the Fast. So, that would have put it at mid-October, right? So, you could sail with caution in September. You dont want to sail at all in November, but in October, its one of those things like youre taking a big risk. You might make it. Theres a good chance you wont make it. Paul is a seasoned veteran of the sea. Hes an experienced missionary by now, and hes learned a thing or two about navigation. So, hes going to throw in his two cents worth here. He says, So Paul warned them, Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also. Paul is a realist. Paul looked at the situation and says, Heres whats going to happen. If we embark on this journey, were going to experience loss. You can bet on it. Youre going to lose cargo, and you might even lose your lives. If you are going to be a resilient believer, you have to have a realistic view going into things; and if you step out of the boat, you will encounter wind. If you go into things with kind of a laissez-faire, unrealistic attitude, youre going to be knocked flat. My wife was running a marathon, her first marathon, a few years back. She said it was her first and only marathon; so far that prophesy has come to pass. She trained for it very hard, and her brother flew in to run it with her. About half way through, shes running around and being all cocky. Shes going, This is going to be easy. Im feeling great. He just shook his head and said, You sure have a lot to learn. Boy…you dont realize. She said a few miles later, she was ready to quit, ready to die. He said, Dont quit. Lets go. If youre going to run a marathon, you have to know its going to hurt. You have to know youre going to hit the wall. If you start an exercise program, you know youre going to be tempted to quit, especially if you go to Kierstens Power Pump class at the Club. Youre going to be tempted to quit many times during the course of that class. If you start a diet, youre going to be tempted to quit, especially this afternoon, especially if somebody puts spice cake in front of you. Youll be tempted to quit. Youve got to persevere. If you take a step of faith and start a business, dont be fooled into thinking its going to be just a million bucks overnight, smooth sailing all the way through. Its not going to happen. When starting a church, I knew wed encounter storms eventually. When you enter a marriage, when you marry somebody, you say, Im going to spend the rest of my life with you. You take that big step of faith. Its not always going to be easy. There are going to be trials and struggles. If you have children, its not always going to be easy. Youre going to encounter trials and struggles. Change your vocation, go back to school, join a ministry: whatever you do, you will encounter wind. We should all get bumper stickers on our cars that say, Wind happens. Lets be realistic about life. Wind happens. Paul says, Wind is going to happen. Were going to encounter storms and struggles. He was a realist. Whats more interesting about this is remember who he is right now. Hes still the Apostle Paul, but what is he? He is a prisoner of Rome. Prisoners dont usually give orders on a ship. Prisoners dont usually advise centurions whether to sail or not. Though Paul is confined in body, he is not confined in spirit. Pastor Ortberg writes about that in his book, about resilient people taking charge. They dont allow themselves to be aggressive. He said, Though he was a prisoner, he was still a leader, and Paul acted as a leader. He spoke out. He was not going to let circumstances determine his attitude. Thats what a resilient person does. I had a friend named George who was in a serious trucking accident, big hulk of a guy. He broke his neck, and he was never going to walk again. He had this big halo on his head. If you were a doctor, and you told George, Youre not going to walk again, George would kick you out of his room. Hed fire you. If you were a therapist, and you said, George, I dont think youre going to be able to walk again, youd no longer be Georges therapist. If you were Georges friend and came into the room and said, Boo hoo, poor George! Youre not going to walk again, youd be gone from his room. He would say, I dont want any negativity in my room because Im going to walk. I was with George the first day he stood up from his wheelchair onto the parallel bars and sat back down. I was with him when he took his first steps on the parallel bars. I was with him when he took his first steps with his walker. I was with him when he took his first steps with his four-pronged cane. Thats been 20 years ago. George is still walking. He said, You might confine my body, but you cannot confine my spirit. Thats what a resilient person does. A resilient person does not let circumstances dictate to them what their attitude is going to be. Is a centurion going to listen? Lets find out. Verse 11, But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and the owner of the ship. The captain and the owner of the ship wanted profit. That was his motivation. Paul wanted safety. The captain and owner wanted to take the chance because they wanted to make money. So the centurion doesnt heed his advice. It says in Verse 13, When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Any of you ever ignored sound counsel before in your life? Ignored Godly counsel? Howd that go? Did you maybe think, Oh man? I wish I had listened. I wish I would have headed what they said, but I wanted to do what I wanted to do, so I just wasnt going to be stopped. You ignored Godly counsel. The storm comes and it rocks your world. I took my son camping when he was a little boy for Scouts. It was a beautiful night, and a couple guys said, You better put stakes in there, in the ground. Stake your tent up tonight. Heard we might get a storm this evening. I looked up at the sky, and it was blue. Its a nice summer breeze. Its clear. How in the world? I dont see, as far as the eye can see, a cloud in the sky. My sons like, Dad, should we put the stakes in now? Dont need to, Son! Look at the sky! Why, its a fine day. I know those men said a storms brewing, but I dont see it! No reason to put in the stakes. Lets retire. Two in the morning, the wind was blowing. It was the worst storm Ive ever been in in my life. The tent is all over. Im trying to keep my son dry. Hes sleeping. Im holding him. Hes about five or six years old, and the rains coming in there and moving this way and that. Im hoping it blows over, and the next thing you know, were just getting dumped on. He wakes up, and the tent just blows all over, We shouldnt have come, Dad! Were trying to get out to the van. It was pouring out so bad, you couldnt even see the van. I was saying, Where is it? Where is it? The tent blows into the woods. It was just chaos! We sat there in the car under the blankets, shivering cold. We were both soaked. Youve done that right? Youve ignored Godly counsel. You didnt put your stakes in the ground, and the wind came and boy! It was not fun! Thats whats going to happen here. What does he know? It looks like a nice breeze to us, so they launch anchor. What does Paul know? Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the northeaster, swept down from the island. The shop was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. Theyre just drifting. They dont know where theyre going. They cant see anything. They start throwing the tackle overboard, all the cables and the pulleys and all their gear, their riggings. Theyre afraid theyre going to hit a sandbar. Theyre afraid the ships going to just break up and collapse. They take such a violent beating that they begin to wrap cables around the boat to try to secure the boat, wrap it up like a package with string-only using cable. In Verse 18, they start throwing cargo overboard. Pretty soon, theyre going to start throwing grain overboard. Isnt it interesting that when the storms of life hit, whats really important becomes apparent? It seemed like profit was all-important, but when the storms of life hit, their lives were what was important. Thats the way it is. When the storms of life hit, youll find out whats important to you really fast. Wont you? Verse 20, "When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging… How did you navigate in those days? You used the heavens. You didnt have fancy instrumentation. They looked at the moon and stars and sun. Those are gone, so they have no idea where they are at, what direction they were heading. They didnt know if they were heading north, south, east or west. The rain does not subside. The wind does not relent. They are in constant fear for their lives. Theyve gone without sleep. You dont sleep in those conditions. Theyve gone without food. Before they eat, later in the story, it had been 14 days since theyd eaten. These men are exhausted; theyre delusional. And what happens? Luke says, We finally gave up all hope of being saved. He says we. Who is included in that? Paul. Had Gods plans changed? Remember he said to Paul, Youre going to preach in Rome. Youre going to stand before Caesar and proclaim the Gospel. Had that plan changed? Gods plan doesnt change. Whats more is Gods plans cant be thwarted by anybody. So what had changed? Did the promise change? No. The conditions had changed. The circumstances had changed. Their emotions, their feelings, their attitudes had changed, but Gods promises hadnt changed. Occasionally, we encounter believers who put their faith in their conditions, their circumstances, their feelings, their attitudes, their emotions; and as a result, their faith is never secure because all those things change. Storms blow in; my faith is gone. Storms blow out; my faith is strong. But if your faith is on what does not change, the character of God, the nature of God, the promises of God, the plans of God, then regardless of the circumstances you encounter, your faith can remain constant. But even a person of Lukes stature, even a person of Pauls stature, even a person of your spiritual stature, if a storm is long enough, and the winds are strong enough, you can begin to doubt. You can begin to doubt your call. You can doubt your mission and regret youd ever gotten out of the boat in the first place. Were going to watch a clip right now. It is one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies, The Cinderella Man. Its based on a true story of a boxer named James Braddock who fought during the Great Depression. Hes fighting not just for a title; hes fighting for his children who were once taken away from him because he couldnt afford the heating bill. He couldnt afford the milk bill, and as hes fighting, he takes a shot that should end the bout. Lets watch and see what happens. I love that! When we encounter opposition, and I know much of the opposition is the cause of our own doing-sometimes it is; sometimes its not-as believers, we believe theres an enemy of our souls. Jesus talked about him as a real entity; his name is Satan. Though he was never afraid of you and I, we know that, hes not intimidated by us, I bet you when he gives us his best shot and thinks were going to fall to the canvas and quit, we remember our mission-we remember who were fighting for-and we get back up. We put in our spiritual mouthpiece; we give a nice smile and say, Is that all youve got? and we fight on. I think that might bother him a little bit. Not only does it bother him, it encourages others. Courage is contagious. Remembering our mission enables us to be resilient. Remember our mission. It enables us to take the shots that life gives us and keep on our feet, keep fighting on even though were in pain or even though were tired, or even though we want to quit. For the Cinderella Man, there was a cause that was greater than his pain, and that was his children, his family. He thought about that cause, and he fought on. For Paul, the cause was the Gospel and the Kingdom of God. He was able to overcome his pain, and he was able to fight on. In Verse 21, that point was the darkest point of the story. Its going to start to get a little brighter. It says, After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: Men… I have to say this: even men of Pauls stature cant resist taking a shot occasionally. They cant resist an I told you so. Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Those guys must have thought he was delusional. Hes delusional. The wind is still pounding, and the waves are still pounding. The rain is still coming down. At any second, they could lose their lives, and this guy seems to know. He seems to have inside information that theyre going to be saved. But hes talking to them so convincingly, and hes so sure of it himself, that theyre going to start believing him. He says, Only the ship will be destroyed. Isnt that interesting? Do you know you can be where God wants you to be, doing what God wants you to do and still encounter loss? Youd think if God was in this, Hed say, And not even your ship will be destroyed. No, sometimes, your ship is destroyed. Sometimes, you encounter loss and hardship. It doesnt mean necessarily youre out of Gods will, but storms happen. Wind happens. He said, Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, Do not be afraid, Paul. Why did the angel say, Do not be afraid? Because Paul was happy? Because Paul was sleepy? Why did he say, Dont be afraid? Paul was what? Afraid. He just was afraid. He was the apostle Paul. He had lost sight of the mission, the commission of Jesus, and the promise that he would go to Rome. Hes lost sight of that. He was afraid. He said, Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar… He reminded him of the promise. Circumstances have changed. Conditions have changed. Your attitudes, your emotions have changed, but Gods plan hasnt changed, Paul. Put your faith in Gods plan. Youre right where he wants you to be and God has graciously given you all the lives of all who sail with you. So keep your courage up, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as He told me. Thats a working definition of faith, right there in Verse 25. I believe God that it will turn out just the way He said. If you want a definition of faith, right there you have one. Its that God will do exactly what He said. Still being tossed around by the waves of the sea, the Adriatic Sea, about midnight, they are approaching land. They send out sensors. Theyre at 120 feet deep. Then they send out sensors again. Theyre at 90 feet deep. Theyre afraid theyre going to crash, so they put anchors out the back of the stern of the boat. They drop four anchors out, and they pray for daylight. Thats an expression: Theyre praying for daylight, literally and metaphorically. Some men try to escape. Were talking about the power and clout Paul has as a prisoner. He stops the escape, and he says, If those men escape on the lifeboat, theyll perish. They have to stay with the boat, and theyre stopped. Paul instructs everybody to eat. He takes charge, instead of the centurion, and they all eat for the first time in 14 days. They throw the rest of the food overboard to lighten the shop. Daylight comes, and they see land. They cut the anchors, they lower the rudders, and they start to sail toward land. Before long, the bow of the boat is stuck in a sandbar, and it wont move anywhere. Its completely stuck. Their greatest fear happens. The waves pound against the stern of the boat, and the boat just splits up. It is destroyed. These men are in the water, and what do they do? They said the rest got there on planks or on pieces of the ship. Some could swim, but the rest grabbed on to pieces of the ship. This way everyone reached land safely. Isnt that ironic? The greatest fear was that the ship would break apart, and they would be cast into the sea, and God took their greatest fear and used that as a means to bring about their rescue. Isnt that something? The very shattered pieces of their boat are what they cling to so they can be brought to safety. Thats the kind of God we serve. When our lives break apart, He uses those very pieces to bring us to dry land, to bring us to security. Hes wonderful at that. You dont need any other illustration but the cross. What does the cross represent? Mans sin: its pain, its suffering, its death, its apparent defeat. And what does God bring about through the triumph of the cross? Triumph, victory over sin, victory over death and the grave, the promise of eternal life, freedom from sin. God is able to take the shipwrecks of our lives, even when we make mistakes and go the wrong way; if we yield that to Him, He is able to bring about our salvation and deliverance. Look at the cross. What man meant for evil, God used for good. Death became life. Bondage to sin became freedom. Darkness became light, and God will do that in your life too if youll allow Him to, if youll step out of the boat in faith, if youll continue to believe in Him and trust Him despite the wind, despite what you encounter. As our ushers bring our communion around to us this morning, hold on to the elements until weve all received. While theyre passing it out, were going to reflect on the words of a song by Josh Groban, who is becoming one of my wifes favorite singers. Its called You Raise Me Up (http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/joshgroban/youraisemeup.html). As the communion comes by you, just hold it; dont receive it. Listen to the song, and well receive it together in a few moments from now. Close your eyes for a moment, and thank the Lord for what He has done, for the triumph of the cross. If there are any areas where you need to pray for resiliency, those areas where you feel like quitting, you need to press on. When youve started to question and doubt like Paul did, give that to Him. If there is an area youre contemplating a step of faith, and you just need encouragement, as Jesus gave to Paul, ask Him to encourage you. Just have a private time with the Lord, just for a few moments together, and then Ill lead us into receiving the Lords Supper. Father, as we navigate the chorus of this life, as we traverse these seas, we are going to encounter storms and wind. Its inevitable. Those winds take various shapes and forms, but its opposition. Its hard to fight the wind. And as believers, you said in this world, we will have trouble. You wanted us to look realistically at the commitment weve made, but You said, Fear not. Ive overcome the world. Because Your promise is Your character, and Your plan and purpose does not change, we choose instead to put our faith in You and Your word. Forgive us for the times weve put our faith in ourselves or in our circumstances or our feelings. We falter, and weve either wanted to quit or we have quit. I pray that those who have quit will get back in the game. Theyll get back out of the boat. I pray that those whove fallen will get themselves off the canvas, smile, and fight on. I pray for those who are weak in need, that they will strengthen themselves in their faith and fight on. Thank you, Lord, for the sacrifice Youve made. Thank You that through the cross, death was swallowed up by life. For Your shed blood, for Your broken body represented by the blood, we worship You and give You thanks. In Jesus name, Amen Lets receive together of the bread and then of the cup, affirming that we are part of His covenant, that we are His children. Amen.