Keep Courage When Obstacles Keep Coming | Acts 28:1-16 | 7-19-26 | Sunday PM

**Andrew Montoro** (0:00)
Find your places, Acts chapter 28 tonight. Acts chapter 28
I'm going to jump back into Acts chapter 27 just a little bit to get the context.
Let's have some allergies or something there. All right. So Paul had said in the storm there in Acts chapter 27, be of good cheer, for I believe God. Right? As the storm continued, it continued over two weeks. The Bible says in verse number 40, when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea and loosed the rudder bands, hoisted up the main sail to the wind and made towards shore. And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground, and the four parts stuck fast and remained unmovable, but the hind part was broken with the violence of the waves. The soldiers' council was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose and commanded that they, which could swim, should cast themselves first into the sea and get on land, and the rest, some on boards and some on broken pieces of the ship. So it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land. By the way, just as God had promised. Verse number one of 28 And when they had escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. We call it Malta today, there in the Mediterranean Sea.
And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness, for they kindled a fire and received us every one because of the present rain and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt, this man is a murderer whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire and felt no harm. How be it, they looked when he should have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly. But after they had looked a great while and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. And the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publis, who received us and lodged us three days courteously. And it came to pass that when the father of Publis lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux to whom Paul entered in and prayed and laid his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came and were healed. Who also honored us with many honors and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary. And after three months, we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle whose sign was Castor and Pollux and landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days and from thence we fetched a compass and came to Regulum. And after one day, the south wind blew and we came the next day to Pertolli, where we found brethren and were desired to tarry with them seven days. So we went toward Rome. And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Apiphorum and three taverns whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage. When we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard. But Paul of us suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. So here's our title tonight. Keep courage when obstacles keep coming.
Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you today. And Lord, we ask, Lord, I thank you just for the encouragement and Lord, just the recalibration of my thinking that your word helped me even this afternoon, just reviewing for tonight. Lord, I ask that you would bless the preaching tonight, that you would encourage us, that you would challenge us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Keep courage when the obstacles keep coming. One of my favorite quotes from Brother Gaddis, the pastor there at Southwest Baptist Church, he was my pastor when I was in Bible college. He was quoting someone else, but he said many times, the problem with life is it's just so daily.
It just keeps coming. Isn't that, you know, if there was just the one big problem, and we just dealt with that, and then we could say, okay, we're through that, it's going to be smooth sailing. But that's not reality. That's not life. When this breaks, you know something else is about to break, right? What do they say? Things always come in three or whatever. Okay, it just has the idea that this life keeps happening, and there's going to be obstacles, and there's going to be problems.