Introduction

• In the last lesson, we learned about how Paul and Barnabas went to share the good news about Jesus with a governor. But an evil man, named Bar-Jesus, was against it. Who intervened to help Paul, so that the good news could be shared? (God.)
• Today, we will learn about another specific time God stepped in to protect Paul.

Bible Story

Paul was arrested because of his faithfulness to Jesus. One day, he was travelling by boat to Rome as a prisoner.
For fourteen days and nights, the boat that Paul was on was tossed around at sea during a big storm. Eventually, the sailors figured out that they were getting near land. They realized that the water was becoming less and less deep. They became afraid that the bottom of their boat would hit rocks and become destroyed. So, they dropped their anchors and started to pray for daylight to come.
The sailors wanted to hurry and escape the ship. So, they lowered a life boat into the water.
“Everyone must stay on the ship,” Paul warned the captain. “Otherwise, they will die.” So, everyone stayed on the boat during the storm. While it was still dark, Paul spoke to everyone.
“You must all eat something!” he said. “It has been fourteen days. I beg you all. Eat!”
Paul took a piece of bread and gave thanks to God for it in front of everyone. He tore a piece off and ate it. Then, everyone began to eat some, too.
Morning came, and the sailors saw a beach ahead. So, they cut the anchors free. But when they did, the front of the ship got stuck, and the back of the boat was smashed apart by crashing waves.
The soldiers did not want the prisoners to escape. So, they decided to kill them instead. But the captain wanted to save Paul’s life. He ordered that everyone swim to shore. Finally, everyone was safe. They had become shipwrecked on the island of Malta.
The local people on the island were friendly and welcomed them by building a fire. But the warmth of the fire caused a snake to crawl out. It bit Paul on the hand.
“This man must be evil!” the local people said. “The goddess of justice will kill him.” But Paul just shook the snake off his hand and was not harmed.
“This man is a god!” they said. They were amazed that nothing had happened to Paul and changed their thinking about him.
The governor of the island welcomed Paul and the others. His father was sick. Paul prayed for him, and he was healed. After this happened, everyone on the island brought their sick people to Paul, and they all were healed
Review

No matter what happened to Paul, God was in control and still protecting him. God is still in control today and is able to protect us, too.
Even while a prisoner and in the middle of a storm, Paul still gave thanks to God. And we can, too. We can always be thankful to God for being in control no matter what is happening in our lives.

1. How did God protect Paul? (God protected Paul during the storm, during the shipwreck, from the soldiers who wanted to kill all the prisoners, and from the snake that bit him.)
2. Paul trusted God in many difficult situations. What are some situations where we can trust God to protect us?
3. How can we respond like Paul did during these times? (We can find specific things to be grateful to God for, just like Paul gave thanks to God for the bread.)

Prayer

Dear God,
Help me to stay focused on you and not my worries or fears. Amen.