12. Paul is Shipwrecked on the Way to Rome

There are so many things to learn from this lesson. One that I like is that God told Paul he would get to Rome. Paul had total faith that no matter what happened, he would safely arrive in Rome. If God says it is going to happen; it is going to happen.

Last week we learned about Paul being a prisoner. He went before Felix and Festus. Then, Paul talked to King Agrippa about Jesus.

Paul told Festus "I appeal to Caesar". As a Roman citizen, Festus had to send Paul to Rome for a trial. A centurion named Julius was in charge of getting Paul to Rome safely. There were a lot of soldiers and there were other prisoners going to Rome with them. Festus told Julius that Paul had not broken any laws, but was being tried for religious reasons, so he was nice to Paul.

The ship stopped several times to pick up cargo and Paul was allowed to leave the ship to visit friends. Because it was Fall, the seas were rough. They switched ships when they found one going to Rome. The captain made room for everyone.

The winds shifted and the seas became very rough, and the storm grew worse. Water sprayed into the boat, and it sprung leaks, so they started throwing stuff overboard to make it lighter. The ship bounced around in the storm for days. They didn’t even bother eating for a long time. Luke says in Acts that they did not see the sun or stars for many days. They really didn't think they would live through the storm!

Paul remembered that God told him he would get to Rome, and he told the scared seamen that they wouldn’t die in the storm, but only the ship would be lost. After 14 days, they saw land.

Paul took bread, prayed to God and everyone ate. They needed to get strength to swim to the shore.

The ship hit a sandbar and huge waves rolled over the ship and the boat cracked in half! The soldiers couldn’t swim chained to the prisoners, so Julius said to free them and let them swim.

The people that couldn’t swim, used pieces of the ship to get to the shore. They all made it to the shore, shivering in the rain. They were tired and bruised but alive! God kept them safe. Next week, we will learn more about their time on the Island of Malta.

Lesson is found in Acts 27.

The kids love these standups! I usually print one in color to use as a teacher's visual for review and the students are printed in black & white. I made this to work with the boat idea below. You can use felt or blue paper instead of printing the storm page. I added wood crates to the storm page as part of the review. You can have the students add fish and/or ocean stickers to the water. Because, of course, they love stickers! Click here to download.

I had found these boats at hobby Lobby and Dollar Tree. I used them for Jesus Walks on Water. They can be used for Jonah and this lesson. I used the precut blue felt. You can have the students shake them like a storm.