ACTS 27
13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.
14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island.
15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.
16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure,
17 so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor[b] and let the ship be driven along.
18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.
19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.
20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
21 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.
22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.
23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me
24 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.’
25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.
26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
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While reading today's passage, I was reminded of our Next Generation Church School. In a situation where the pastor is leaving and we haven't been able to find a successor, I ended up taking charge of the Youth Group and Children's Ministry. Despite not having majored in theology, having to lead worship and study the Bible with the students made me feel like I was facing a storm. However, I prayed to God. And the response I received was that if I do my best, God will fill in the rest. No matter how stormy the situation may be, if you are in deep communion with God, you can see the way ahead.
Yesterday, a student asked me a question. 'Teacher, I'm supposed to go to the beach with my school friends tomorrow, can we have the worship online?' I responded like this: 'If you skip church for the first time after coming every Sunday, it becomes easier to skip it again the second time and onwards which will make God sad. Please pray about it, and let me know your decision.' An hour later, I talked to that student and he said he decided to stay and will come to chruch for worship. When we look at the small decisions we make in our daily lives like this, we can understand where our priorities lie. We go through many decisions in our daily lives. There are simple decisions just to survive, but as we grow spiritually, we find ourselves making decisions to revive.
Let us entrust everything to Jesus Christ when times are tough.
오늘 본문을 읽으면서 우리 Next Generation Church School이 생각났습니다. 전도사님이 떠나시고 후임 전도사를 아직 찾지 못한 상황에서, 저는 결국 청소년 그룹과 어린이 사역을 맡게 되었습니다. 신학을 전공하지 않았는데, 학생들과 함께 예배를 드리고 성경을 공부해야 하는 일은 마치 폭풍에 맞서는 듯한 느낌을 줬습니다. 그러나 저는 하나님께 기도했습니다. 그리고 받은 답변은, 최선을 다하면 하나님이 나머지를 채워주신다는 것이었습니다. 상황이 얼마나 폭풍우처럼 어려워도, 하나님과 깊은 대화를 한다면 앞으로 나아갈 길을 볼 수 있습니다.
어제 한 학생이 저에게 질문을 했습니다. '선생님, 내일 학교 친구들과 바다로 가야 하는데, 온라인으로 예배를 드릴 수 있을까요?' 저는 이렇게 대답했습니다. '매주 일요일마다 교회에 와서 예배를 드리던 너가 처음으로 한 번 빠지면, 두 번째, 그리고 그 이후에도 빠지기 쉬워진다. 그럴 경우 하나님이 슬퍼하실 거야. 이에 대해 기도해보고 결정해서 결과를 알려줄래?' 한 시간 후, 그 학생과 통화했는데, 남기로 결정했고 예배를 위해 교회에 올 것이라고 했습니다. 우리가 일상에서 이렇게 작은 결정들을 볼 때, 어디에 우리의 우선순위가 있는지를 알 수 있습니다. 우리는 많은 의사결정을 내리며 일상을 보냅니다. 단순히 살아가기 위한 의사결정도 있지만, 영적으로 성장함에 따라 우리는 영적인 회복을 위한 결정을 내리게 됩니다.
힘들 때 모든 것을 예수그리스도에게 맡기는 우리가 됩시다.
