Overcoming Obstacles To Serving God

Godly Passion (v.19)

A. A drive provoked by emotion

B. Jesus was driven by an anguish over the multitudes who He saw as having no shepherd and as a result He said the fields are ready. (Matthew 9:36-37)

C. In this passage Paul was driven by passion to the point that He was ready to be stoned.

D. Illustration of Gary Habermas.

Godly Conviction (vs. 8-18)

A. Definition of conviction

B. These people were willing to worship the power right in front of them.

C. Just because we are saved, Christian, doesn’t mean we get to set aside the conviction of our sin that put Jesus on the cross.

D. We should be so convicted that it drives us to appreciate the very depth of what Jesus did for us.

E. Some people believe they do but their lives do not reflect it.

F. We should all be driven to the foot of the cross fresh every day.

G. Then we should take that fresh conviction out into the world with us.

H. That fresh conviction will remind us of the glorious and greatness of our salvation.

I. It will remove our taking for granted what Christ did for us.

J. That conviction should drive us to be ready and faithful with the gospel.

K. The church at Laodicea had no conviction about Christ but they did have conviction about protecting their own wealth.

L. We have no business trying to protect ourselves, we are not called to do that.

Godly Calling (13:4)

A. Paul was sent out by the HS.

B. We are not supposed to live a life of just Christianizing ourselves

C. We have to be convinced of our godly calling.

Conclusion:

Jesus did something great for us.

We should be looking to do great things for Him at the same level of greatness

Nothing great can be done without an equal amount of sacrifice.

We have to be proactive in following these principles it doesn’t just fall on us from heaven.