Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm Podcast.
We are a Bible -believing church located in beautiful
British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part
of the Christian Fellowship Ministries with 3
,000 churches around the world. We are a church
focused on world evangelism, discipleship, and
church planting. Here we will share recent sermons
from PHSA Church and other sermons from throughout
our fellowship. I'm Pastor David Bigford, and
I will be your host for this podcast. I thank
you for listening today, and we hope these messages
are a blessing to you and bring you closer to
God. Hello, and welcome back to the podcast.
My name is David Bigford. I'm the pastor here
in Salmon Arm. The message I put together is
Sovereignty in the Storm, and the text that we're
going to be using is Acts 27, 21 through 26.
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to be grumpy
when you're tired, cold, hot, or hangry? Isn't
it amazing how even the most devout believer
or the most respectable people can still let
exhaustion get the best of them? Now, I know
that this has never happened to you, and I bet
that everyone here listening can remain calm
as a cucumber even when you are tired or hungry.
When the weather's bad, I bet you're just a pillar
of joy. But, you know, I'm not one of those pillars.
I can be quite grumpy if I'm cold, wet, or hungry.
If I'm trying to sleep and someone or something
wakes me up prematurely, I've been known to snap
a few times. Sometimes I wake up and having not
slept well, it can be very hard to get moving.
And in those times, how do you react? In those
times of physical stress, it's easy to act out.
It's also easy to direct our frustration onto
others and even onto God. Is this right, though?
How should we react to our frailties? Sometimes
I'll try to force myself into action, like in
the Marine Corps, we would call this sucking
it up or embracing the suck. Now, sucking it
up might work sometimes, but often it just makes
things worse. Many of the injuries or ailments
I have from my time in service come from me being
stubborn and sucking it up. So his sovereignty
in the storm, this is this is a illustration
I've used before, but it's about Sergeant Daniel
B. Olson and how he was part of the U .S. Army
Intelligence Unit, the 24th Mechanized Infantry
Division during the first Gulf War, way back
in the early 90s. Their task was to seize Iraq
airbase at Jalaba and trap the Iraqi army, preventing
their escape from Kuwait. So in this story, we
see, you know, we see his his. through this time
in battle. And we kind of get a piece of his
story. In his story, he says, mount up, we're
moving out. And it tells the tale of when he
was having to rush towards the battlefront after
being sleepless night after night and how he
had to pack up and move out into the desert.
How he had to anticipate. the orders since the
start of the war was 40 days earlier, but he
was waiting for the rush to move forward. So
in this story, it's pretty interesting because
people didn't know what to expect. This was the
first real war that America would have entered
into in quite a while since Vietnam. And so there
was a lot of unknowns in this battle. So while
the Army and Marine divisions east of his unit
slogged through artillery fire and landmines
his division raced across the empty desert expanse
and after 30 hours of non -stop driving his company
finally paused for a six -hour rest he was tired
he was exhausted having had gone two days straight
on a on pure adrenaline and as he was sitting
there chilling wind blew the sand in his face
and into a sleeping bag as he plopped down on
the on the rocky landscape It began to rain.
The skies were just full of despair is the way
you'd see it. There was no time to erect a tent
because the wind was blowing too hard. There
was no refuge as he sat there in the sand. So
let's look at our text in Acts 27, 21 through
26. Since they had been without food for a long
time, Paul stood among them and said, Men, you
should have listened to me. and not have set
sail for Crete and incurred this injury and loss.
Yet I know I urged you to take heart, for there
will be no loss of life among you, but only of
the ship. For this very night there stood before
me an angel of God to whom I belong and whom
I worship. And he said, Do not be afraid, Paul.
You must stand before Caesar. And behold, God
has granted you all those who sail with you.
So take heart. So in Acts 27, it's fascinating
on many levels. It gives us this vivid first
-person account of a hair -raising nautical adventure
complete with dangers, intrigue, shipwrecks,
survival. It showcases what courageous Christian
leadership looks like in a chaotic situation.
It advances the narrative. of the book of Acts
as Paul journeys towards Rome to bear witness
to Christ. By all accounts, Acts 27 gives us
an engaging story, but it does more. It gives
us a practical theology. Specifically, it shows
us how the doctrine of God's sovereignty plays
out in the storms of life. But we can put a finer
point on things. Acts 27 provides a case study
on how the apostle Paul, the New Testament author,
most associated with teaching of God's sovereignty,
put his theology and practice in real time. In
other words, in Acts 27, we see the practical
implications of Paul's theological understanding
relating to God's sovereign control over the
world. How did Paul's journey start? Well, in
Acts 27, 1 through 11, we read about him sailing
for Rome. And it says, and when it was decided
that we should sail for Italy, they delivered
Paul and some prisoners to the centurion of the
Augustan cohort named Julius. and embarking on
the ship of a drab medium which was about to
sail to the port along the coast of asia we put
to sea accompanied by aristarchus a macedonian
from thessalonica the next day we put into sidon
and julius treated paul kindly and gave him leave
to go to his friends and be cared for and putting
out to sea from there we sailed under the lee
of cyprus because the winds were against us and
when we had sailed across the open sea along
the coast of cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to
Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found a ship
of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on
board. We sailed slowly for a number of days
and arrived with difficulty off Sinaitis, and
as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we
sailed under the Lee of Crete of Salmon. Coasting
along it with the difficulty, we came to a place
called Fairhavens, near which was the city of
Lycia. Much time had passed and the voyage was
now dangerous because even the fast was already
over. Paul advised them, saying, Sirs, I perceive
that the voyage will be with injury and much
loss, not only of cargo and the ship, but also
our lives. But the centurion paid more attention
to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than
to what Paul said. Paul knows how their voyage
will turn out. Shipwreck, but survival for all
on board. The journey's end has been predestined.
God has a predetermined ending for this trip.
Yes, there will be a loss of material, ship,
cargo, but no, there will not be any loss of
life. That brings me to my first point, which
is the storm. Life is full of storms, but God
is in those storms. There are different types
of storms, a disturbance of a normal condition
of the atmosphere manifesting itself by winds
or unusual force or direction. You've got rain,
snow, hail, thunder, lightning, all these kinds
of things. You can also call a storm a violent
military assault on a fortified place or a strong
position. You can consider it a heavy or sudden
volley or discharge. You could see a storm of
criticism, a storm of bullets, a violent disturbance
of affairs, a civil, political, social, or domestic
commotion. These are all things that you could
classify as a storm. And we have seen some of
these in our own lives. God uses the storms in
Job 38. When he says in Job 38, 22 through 27,
have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or have you seen the storehouses of hail, which
I have reserved for the times of trouble for
the day of battle and war? What is the way to
the place where the light is distributed or where
the east wind is scattered upon the earth? Who
has cleft the channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt to bring rain on
land where no man is, in the desert in which
there is no man, to satisfy the waste in the
desolate land and to make the ground sprout with
grass? We can see from Sergeant Olson's frustration
and how it was beginning to rise at the beginning
of his tale. He's tired, he's exhausted, and
now he's wet. Why did there have to be a storm
now? We are in the desert. How can there even
be a storm right now? So what does Sergeant Olson
do? He prays. He says, God, please stop this
rain. I cried out an acre in frustration. He
says, I begged God to see the depth of my faith
to show him how much I believed he could stop
the rain. I thanked him for the miracle that
would soon come. And then it happened. The rain
came down on sheets. Why are you doing this,
God? I pleaded. Your own son said that a mustard
seed of faith. could move a mountain, I only
asked that you would move a dark rain cloud.
I was disillusioned that God, who controls the
wind and the rain, would not say, peace, be still.
After all, I was his child, wet and cold and
on the desert floor. In Acts, we get a similar
picture. In Acts 27, 12, it says, And because
the harbor was not suitable to spend winter in,
the majority decided to put out to sea from there,
on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix,
a harbor of Crete. facing both southwest and
northwest and spend the winter there if we could
pick it up in thirteen it says now when the south
wind blew gently supposing that they had obtained
their purpose they weighed anchor and sailed
along crete close to the shore but soon a tempestuous
wind called the nor 'easter struck down from
the land and when the ship was caught and could
not face the wind we gave way to it and were
driven along running under the lee of a small
island called cauda we managed with difficulty
to secure the ship's boat after hoisting it up
they used supports to undergird the ship then
fearing that they would run aground on the syrtis
they lowered the gear and thus were driven along
since we were violently storm -tossed they began
the next day to jettison the cargo and on the
third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard
with their own hands 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.
As the storm rages, Paul announces good news
to the ship's crew and passengers in our text
verses 21 through 26. God, through an angelic
messenger, had shown him that what would happen
to all of them. Paul recounts the angel's words,
do not be afraid. You must stand before Caesar
and behold, God has granted you all those who
sail with you. Paul's confidence in God's power
and promise spill out and his encouragement to
the frightened crew. So take heart, men. For
I have faith in God that it will be exactly as
I've been told. So how does Paul respond in light
of his confidence in God's promise? How does
knowing the outcome of the story affect him for
the rest of the journey? Here's where it gets
interesting. As we watch Paul in action, we see
how Paul lives. in light of God's sovereignty.
And what we see may surprise us. Even though
Paul believes in God's promises to save everyone
on board, he sees human actions as still having
a great significance for good or ill. When Paul
learns of the sailors' plan to escape in lifeboats,
Paul warns the soldiers to stop them. Unless
these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.
In Acts 27, 31. So when we think of sovereignty,
you can think of a monarch, a king, a queen,
or a supreme ruler. You can think of someone
who has all authority, omnipotence. Someone who's
supreme and independent power or authority in
government is possessed or claimed by the state
or the community. So if God is sovereign, then
he has the ability to control the weather. And
like Sergeant Olson quoted from Jesus, In Luke
17, 6, it says, Then certainly this prayer from
a faithful follower should have been heard and
the rain would immediately stop. The trick here
is that we neglect to remind ourselves about
God's sovereignty. He has the power. He is all
-powerful, but he's also all -knowing. And his
thoughts are not our thoughts, which we see in
our text. for my thoughts are not your thoughts
neither your ways my ways declares the lord for
as the heavens are higher than the earth so are
my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts
than your thoughts sergeant olson neglected to
provide space for god's will within the storm
often we are in a storm we can't see the whole
picture when we are tired hungry cold wet grumpy
That is when we tend to judge God and his lack
of fulfilling of our prayers the harshest. But
God is always there and we can find our rest
in him even during the storms. So as we continue
on with Sergeant Olson's story, we read it. It
was, then I felt the Lord speak to my heart.
Dan, you say you have enough faith to believe
that I can stop the rain. Do you have enough
faith to trust me when I say that the rain is
for your own good? My answer was simple, no.
How could this exhaustion be for my own good?
What I needed was rest. I never did sleep and
the rain continued through the night. I lay awake
frustrated and cold until the sunrise. When we
mounted up again, we continued the march through
the next evening. When we stopped, I collapsed
onto my sleeping bag. The rain had stopped and
blissful sleep came upon me. This brings me to
my final point which is salvation the term salvation
can be described as the act of saving or protecting
from harm risk loss destruction the state of
being saved or protected a source or a cause
or a means of being saved or protected so a theological
definition would be deliverance from the power
and penalty of sin or redemption So as we reflect
on how Paul's confident declaration, all will
be saved, relates to his urgent warning, you
cannot be saved. We run into the mystery of the
divine sovereignty intersecting with human agency.
We also discover an important corrective for
those who push either side of the tension too
far. If we see God's sovereignty as editing out
human agency and responsibility, we don't see
it the way Paul did. If we become passive or
careless about life, believing that whatever
God has predetermined will automatically happen,
we are not following Paul's example. By the way,
this was the heir of the minister who allegedly
told missionary William Carney, young man, sit
down. When God pleases to convert the heathen,
he will do it without your aid or mine. If we
treat human choice and actions as irrelevant
in the outcome of life's story, We are off sides
with Paul. So Sergeant Olson's story continues.
We seized Jalabat after a fierce fight. When
the shooting stopped and the smoke cleared, I
got a closer look at the destructiveness of the
44 -day war. I crawled through the bunkers and
foxholes abandoned by the enemy and inspected
the area where the Iraqi troops slept the day
before. I felt the blankets that the enemy slept
under under the night that it rained so hard.
and in an instant god opened my eyes the blankets
were wet the holes in the ground were filled
with mud the bunker stank with mildew could it
be that the same rain that kept me awake had
demoralized these troops did the clouds and blowing
sand that made me so miserable conceal our forces
as we maneuvered for our attack didn't the pouring
rain uncover buried iraqi minefields and didn't
the stormy weather keep the enemy from using
its chemical weapons did the god whose hands
control the winds and rain know what was best
for me that night as i cried out in desperation
i humbly bowed my heart and soul and at that
moment i declared he did in acts twenty seven
verse thirty nine forty four it reads now when
it was day they did not recognize the land but
they noticed a bay with a beach on which they
planned if possible to run the ship ashore so
they cast off the anchors and left them in the
sea in the same time loosening the ropes that
tied the rudder then hoisting the foresail to
the wind they made for the beach but striking
a reef they ran the vessel aground the bow struck
and remained immovable and the stern was being
broken up by the surf the soldier's plan was
to kill the prisoners lest any soul should swim
away and escape but the centurion wishing to
save paul kept them from carrying out their plan
he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard
first and make for the land and the rest on planks
or on pieces of the ship and so it was that all
were brought safely to land paul's understanding
of god's sovereignty did not remove his belief
in the importance of human choice and actions
he understood human agency still carried historical
efficacy the soldiers and sailors could not do
anything they wanted and still count on being
saved by God's sovereign power. Their actions
would affect the ending of the story. People
are not chess pieces moved by a divine hand.
God has granted humans the power to impact outcomes
by our decisions. God's sovereignty and human
choices both matter. They are two sides of the
same coin, with God's side being the head and
ours the tail. In ways we cannot fully explain,
they merge into life's story in an amazing way.
Like gears that move in opposite directions but
still mesh together, divine sovereignty and human
agency work together to accomplish God's purpose.
Acts 27 shows us that in the midst of life's
storms, God's sovereignty plays out through human
choices and actions. He accomplishes his will
but does so through the thoughts and decisions
and actions. So in the midst of your storm, in
life, Rest in God's sovereign concern and control,
but also seek to take wise actions as you trust
him to accomplish his good purpose. If I could
have every head bowed, every eye closed, wherever
you're listening, I just want to give a quick
invitation as we finish this message today. If
your heart's not right with God, if you're troubled
in your spirit, it's time to turn to Jesus. And
if you do want that, if you want to give your
life to Jesus, you can do that by signifying
that with an uplifted hand. This is a simple
thing. Obviously, I can't see you, but God sees
your heart. So if you raised your hand and you
meant that, I want you to just repeat after me.
Dear Lord, I know that Jesus Christ is your son
and that he came to earth and died for my sins.
I accept him as my Lord and Savior and I turn
from my sins. I turn from living away from you.
And I accept you as my sovereign Lord. In Jesus
name, I pray. Amen. If you've prayed that prayer
and you mean it, I do believe that your life
has changed and it will be changed. And if, you
know, from that point, if you need a Bible, if
you need anything, you know, that can help you
with your journey to move forward in Christ,
I want you to reach out to us here. If you're
in Salmon Arm, please come to church. Introduce
yourself. We'd love to see you. But again, thank
you for listening today. I think this was a bit
of a shorter message, and I pray that it helps
you and that you can go from this place and come
back again. And remember to like, share, and
subscribe to this podcast to go look at our YouTube
channel, our Instagram page, our Facebook page,
and just follow along with us as we strive to
build a work for God here in Salmon Arm with
a vision to plant churches locally and globally
and help us and partner with us in that. In Jesus'
name, I thank you for listening again. God bless
until you come back again. Bye. Thank you for
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