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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S is an island. Charles, can you tell us w hat an island is ? Yes, a pieee of land sur rounded on all sides by w ater. We know th a t even though the men were safe on land, they were wet and cold, and it was raining. The people on the island were very kind to them and helped them to make a fire to dry th eir clothing and to warm them. While P au l was making a fire a poisonous snake b it him on the hand. When the people of the island saw the snake hanging on P a u l’s hand, they began to th ink P au l was a very wicked man,, and even though he had escaped be ing drowned in the sea, now he was going to die, bu t Paul shook ofi the snake into the fire and felt no harm. Then the people looked a t him for a long time, expecting th a t his arm would swell, or th a t he would fall down dead, b u t when they saw no harm come to him, they changed th eir minds and said th a t he was a god. The governor, or chief man of the island in vited P au l and those who were w ith him to his home, and they w ent and stayed three days, and were kindly treated. Now the fath er of the governor was very sick, and Paul w ent into the room and prayed and asked God to heal him, and the sick man was made well. When he had done this, others in the island who were sick came, and were healed by Paul. Of course Paul could not make them well himself, bu t God gave him the power to heal them. The people showed th e ir love and thanks, giving to Paul and his friends presents of such things as they needed. Of course they lost all they had On th e ship, and ju st escaped w ith th eir lives. God used
Paul to help these people, and we know something else Paul did for these people which was fa r b etter th an ju st healing their sick bodies. Yes, he told them of Jesus and H is love for them, and now three months had passed by since they landed on the island. The w inter was past and the lovely spring had come, so they got into another ship, and they continued th eir journey tow ard Rome, stopping a t two or three places on th e way. They went as fa r as they could on the wafer, and then had to go th e rest of the way on land. When the Christians in the city of Rome heard Paul was eoming, they w ent out to meet him. When P aul met these Christian people, he gave thanks to God for bringing him safely through a long, hard journey; and he fe lt in his h eart th a t God would still tak e care of him. He thanked God, and took courage. T hat is the lesson for each one of us to learn from th is beautiful story. (Empha size this tru th as you close the story.) P aul in M elita and in Rome. A cts 28:1-10. I. The reception of the shipwrecked. 1-10. S ta rt th e lesson by review ing la st Sun d a y ’s lesson. Tell th e story contained in these verses, draw ing the picture. Show how P aul became a m ighty worker although he was a prisoner and how opportunity for service confronts us on every hand, and in every-walk of life. II. From M alta to Rome, 11-16. Draw sign post explaining th eir journey to Rome. This lesson can be summed up in the Golden tex t. “ P au l was not ashamed of th e Gospel of C hrist.”
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