Do you remember the first time you saw the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, or the White House? When my son Allen was about 4 years old, I took him to Washington DC for the first time. I will never forget the look on his face when he first saw the Lincoln memorial. His mouth dropped open and all he could do was stare at what he later called, “that giant man sitting in the big chair.” Of course the rest of the things he saw that day also impressed him, but he never got over big old honest Abe. That may be a little of how Paul felt when he finally walked into Rome. To learn about that, please open your Bibles this morning to Acts 28.

We set out today on the last leg of Paul’s crippled journey to the empire’s capital city, Rome itself. Seven or eight months ago, during his trial in Caesarea, Paul appealed to Caesar which initiated this voyage across the Mediterranean Sea that encountered harsh winds, a ferocious 2 week storm, and a disastrous shipwreck. Last week, we watched as Paul ministered to many sick people on the Island of Malta where they crash landed. Ironically, the word Malta literally means refuge and it became just that for them during those brutal winter months.

Follow along in Acts 28 – Download the Sermon Notes– Download the Sermon Text

Please open your Bibles to Acts 28. The last chapter of this incredible book, and nearly the last message of our series.

The latest ordeal with Paul started back in Acts 26 when during his trial before King Agrippa, Paul appealed to Caesar. Chapter 27 describes how they set sail for Rome to allow Paul to do this but turns into an ill-fated voyage that wound up in a 14 day hurricane, culminating with their ship crashing into some island. Miraculously, all 276 passengers made it safely to shore and that is where we pick up the story today.

Welcome to Malta. Malta is an island about 60 miles south of Sicily. It is 18 miles long and about 8 miles wide. The sailors probably were familiar with it although they’d never sailed into this particular bay before which is why they didn’t recognize it. As I researched it for this message, I didn’t recognize it either. I always pictured it as an island full of wild savages who took pity on these visitors. No, not at all.

Follow along in Acts 28 – Download the Sermon Notes– Download the Sermon Text

Paul had good news and bad news and we’ll hear both today. Follow along in your Bibles Acts 27 and with these sermon notes.

Last week we left Paul, Luke and Aristarchus in a bit of a bind. Having set out from Caesarea, Paul is on his way to Rome so his case can be heard by the Emperor. But this trip hasn’t gone too well. Already in this chapter, Luke says the winds were against them and he uses the word difficulty twice to describe their progress. After stopping in Myra to change ships, they sailed down to Fair Havens on the lower side of Crete before making the fateful mistake of heading 40 miles west to try to spend the winter in Phoenix, not the one in Arizona. Paul warned them not to go, but they did anyway and as they did so, a fierce storm swept down from the island and blew them out to sea where a nasty hurricane engulfed their ship for the next two weeks.

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The last time we were in the Book of Acts, Paul had taken charge of the courtroom in Caesarea and challenged King Agrippa, Governor Festus, and all those in attendance to consider the resurrection of Jesus Christ and be saved. Sadly, as far as we know, none of them did. Agrippa said he was almost persuaded, before he walked out telling Festus that Paul could go free if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar. It’s probably a good thing he wasn’t turned loose or he might have been murdered. We’ll never know since he would now be shipped out to Rome.

Follow along with the Sermon Text and in your Bible in Acts 27.

JT Clark shares about the ministry that he and his wife developed called, My Brother’s Crossing. The ministry was birthed after Bobby and Pam Clark were involved in a traffic accident that took their lives. An incredible set of circumstances occurred on the night of August 21, 2015 that put the truck driven by C.J. Martin and the motorcycle ridden by Bobby and Pam on paths that would cross.

I don’t know how it was with you, but when I grew up and mom would say, “Well, did you finish your homework?”

I would say, “Well, I almost finished it.”

I always heard something like this – “Almost doesn’t count except with horse shoes and hand grenades.”

Of course, that was before corn hole, right? Today, you don’t have to get the bean bag in the hole. As long as you get it on the board, you still get points. As long as you get the horse shoe close to the pin, you don’t have to get a ringer, you still get points. And with a hand grenade you don’t have to hit the target, just get close and the gun powder will do the rest.

Well almost… I can’t tell you how many dollars I almost made, how many turkeys I almost got, how many deer I almost shot. Almost doesn’t count, except in horse shoes, hand grenades and corn hole.

Today, we meet a man who was almost saved. We’re going to learn more about him this morning. Follow along with these Sermon Notes and in your Bible in Acts 25.

In 1972, two investigative reporters, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, detonated one of the biggest political bombshells of all time when they researched and discovered the now infamous Watergate story. Any of you remember that? It dominated the news for what seemed like years and ended with the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Over the years, such journalists have exposed other governmental plots and schemes and we are better for it. If only we had some today with that same passion and determination.

The Roman Governor in Acts 25 could also have benefited from someone like that. Please follow along as we read from Acts 25:1-12

He is Risen! What a great privilege it is to be able to come and celebrate the Resurrection in person. I think all of us remember where we were last year on Easter morning and for most of us it wasn’t inside of a church. I am thankful we are able to do that this morning. Amen!

Resurrection Day is a day that we celebrate the greatest victory, the greatest news in all of human history. In fact, in all of universal history. This is the day that the power of sin and death and hell were finally broken, finally defeated and it pushed the reset button for everything in the universe. What a great day!

If you have your Bibles, follow along in Matthew 28 and here with sermon notes.

We’re going to take a break from Paul today, so please open your Bibles to Hebrews 9. Praise God it’s this March and not last March. Last year at this time, we were all cowering in our caves worried about where our next fix of toilet paper was coming from. Remember that? I won’t ask you how many extra rolls you now have in your closet but I suspect many of us have a stash just in case.

Thankfully, COVID numbers have dropped significantly in our area and across the US. Although some new and current cases persist, they are greatly reduced from what we saw a few months ago. The reasons for this decline are still being debated, but speculation includes everything from the rollout of the vaccines to normal cycles of the virus itself. Although I hope we discover those reasons, for now I’m just thankful for the reprieve from suffering, and in some cases, deaths from this pandemic. It’s been encouraging to see more and more of you return to in-person worship as you have been vaccinated. While I know that not everyone has had that opportunity yet, many have and are now fully vaxed. Because Nancy’s mom lives with us, all three of us got ours about a month ago and we carry the cards to prove it. But I’m not here to talk about COVID vaccinations. We’re going talk about getting immunized from something much worse. For you see, although the vaccine may prevent us from ever getting this disease, we will still all die one day from another infection called sin. If we remain untreated, the eternal consequences are most severe but entirely avoidable. To help us understand this a little better, please follow along as we read from Hebrews 9:11.

Follow along in Hebrews 9 – Download the Sermon Notes– Download the Sermon Text

The story is told of the devil and his demons trying to come up with a new lie to trap more souls. One said, “Let’s say there is no God!” No, Satan replied, “they can look at Creation and tell that’s a lie.” Another said, “Let’s say there is no heaven!” Again the devil said, “No, they know in their hearts there is life after death and all want to go to heaven!” A third said, “Let’s say there is no hell.” “No,” the devil replied, “That won’t work either. All people have a sense of justice and know evil will be punished.” The fourth finally spoke up and said…we’ll find out later today. Please open your Bibles to Acts 23.

Follow along in Acts 23 – Download the Sermon Notes– Download the Sermon Text