Paul Is Shipwrecked

Acts 27:1-2, 14-25, 33-36, 41; 28:1,7-9

Our true story comes from a part of the Bible called Acts, which is short for “the Acts of the Apostles.” An apostle is someone who is sent to teach others about Jesus.

We begin with a man named Paul. Paul loved Jesus. Paul knew Jesus wanted him to love people and go here, there, and EVERYWHERE, telling the good news that Jesus wants to be everyone’s friend forever.


Paul told everyone that Jesus wants to be their friend forever, but some hard things happened. One day, Paul was on a boat.


While the boat was sailing, there was a really big storm. OH, NO! First, the storm started small. Then it got bigger! OH, NO! 


There was so much wind! The wind blew the boat this way! The wind blew the boat that way!


All of the people on the boat were afraid. But Paul was not afraid, because he knew that God would take care of them. 


So, what did Paul do even though hard things were happening? Paul chose to love like Jesus and encourage everyone on the boat to not be afraid.


Paul encouraged everyone, but the storm did not go away, and the people were still so afraid. 


Suddenly, the boat hit some land and got stuck! OH, NO! The boat was stuck, but all of the people on the boat were safe, just like Paul said they would be. When they looked around, they weren’t in a place they expected, and their boat was broken. What was Paul going to do? 


Paul chose to love like Jesus, even though more hard things were happening. Paul helped the people who were sick. Paul prayed for the people. And Paul told them that Jesus wants to be everyone’s friend forever, here, there, and EVERYWHERE.


Wow! Even though Paul had so many “OH, NO” hard moments, he still chose to love like Jesus and tell people that Jesus wants to be their friend forever. And that’s what we can do, too, because Jesus wants to be our friend forever.






Bible Verse: Walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us. —Ephesians 5:2, NIV

Text Truth: Even when it is hard, we can love like Jesus.



Family Devotional

After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “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. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
—Acts 27:21-26

In our Bible story, Paul had some hard things happen. First, a big storm made everyone on Paul’s ship afraid. Then the big storm made Paul’s ship wreck! But no matter what happened, Paul loved like Jesus. Paul encouraged, prayed, helped, and told everyone that Jesus wants to be their friend forever. And the best part is that Jesus wants to be your friend forever, too!

Walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us. —Ephesians 5:2, NIV

Paul loved like Jesus when it was hard, like during a storm, after a shipwreck, and in a strange place. So, with your family, make a list of things that are hard. What are some things that you think are hard? Get a piece of paper and have each family member write down a thing they think is hard. And have each family member write down their name next to the thing they write. We all have times when things are hard, but Jesus is always with us, helping us love like Him!

Pray with your family. Allow any family members to pray if they wish. In your own words, say, “Dear God, Thank You for sending Jesus to always be with us and help us love like Him. We really can love like Jesus during hard times, like . . . (Read the list your family made.). I pray we will remember how much Jesus loves us so we can go here, there, and everywhere telling everyone that Jesus wants to be their friend forever. In Jesus’ name, amen.” 

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Story illustrations are the copyright of Sweet Publishing and licensed by FreeBibleimages (http://freebibleimages.org) for free download under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike 3.0 unported license.
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