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• British playwright wrote, "It's not death, it's life that defeats the Christian church."
• Christianity seems helpful in times of crisis but sometimes not in the everyday events of our lives.
• During a shipwreck, Paul unconsciously reveals the secret of faith in action.

• Paul begins as a prisoner and ends up taking charge. Paul's faith catapults him into authority.
• Crisis brought out the best in Paul.
• History does not expect a "small" person like a prisoner to do great things. God's history is different: One person with faith in God can change things—e.g., Abraham, Deborah, David.
• Illustration: Today only the "high and mighty" seem to be able to stand against crowd.

• Usually God's sovereignty and human significance work together, but here they seem to work against each other.
• God tells Paul that no one will be lost, yet Paul says they'll all die if sailors leave in lifeboats.
• Paul does what must be done so that what God says will happen will happen.
• Illustration: Great leaders of Christian history-Augustine, Luther, Calvin—believed strongly in the sovereignty of God yet acted boldly in the strength God gave them.

• While others worried about death, Paul got on with life.
• Paul was fully aware that death, rooted in sin, was natural and normal in a fallen world.
• In baptism, we die to the old nature, we die to death—with Christ.
• Illustration: Kamikaze pilots in Japan had their funeral services before they flew.

• We need to let God be God and show our faith in all we do.