Last week we found out about how Jesus changed Saul’s life on the way to Damascus. After that time he became known as Paul.
Today we are going to be thinking about one of the journeys that the apostle Paul made. Paul had made the religious leaders angry by telling people about Jesus. They made a plan to kill him. The Romans heard about this, rescued Paul and kept him in prison in Caesarea for 2 years. Paul said he had done nothing wrong and asked to be brought before Caesar. The Romans agreed and Paul began the journey to Rome by sea. On the way the weather got worse and a strong wind began to blow. Paul warned the captain but he continued with the journey. The wind blew hard and the waves grew higher and higher. The storm did not stop and the men on the boat were very scared. Paul spoke to the men and said “You should have listened to me and not sailed from Crete. But don’t worry – an angel of God told me that I must stand before Caesar. None of you will die but we will crash into an island.” After 14 days Paul and the men on the boat saw an island, it was Malta. They jumped into the sea and swam to the shore. All the people on the ship were saved but the big waves broke the ship into pieces.
From this story of Paul we learn that God protected Paul and gave him strength. When we trust Him He will do the same for us.
You can watch the story at the following link.
Activities
Make a paper boat – Instructions to make an origami boat can be found at the link here
Map the Journey – Older children might like to use the map to plot Paul’s journey.
You will need to find the following places: Jerusalem, Caesarea, Sidon, Myra, Crete, Malta, Syracuse and Rome.
Prayer
There is a prayer activity to remind us that God is our anchor and how we should trust in God for our strength here