"What's Stopping You?"

"WHAT’S STOPPING YOU?"

Acts 2: 14-41

I) Intro:

A) Obstacles into Opportunities (Local illustrations work best)

II) Text: (Joke about length…remember the text is a sermon)

A) Recap

1) Spirit came upon them / other tongues

2) Being made fun of

B) Peter Defends position

1) Not drunk…

2) Uses text from Joel to authenticate the Spirit

a) God said this would happen!

C) Authoritatively Presents the Gospel with great success!

D) Remember Peter’s History

1) Made "Billions" of mistakes

2) Denied knowing Christ

E) Now Peter is doing Great things for God

F) Application

III) The Same Spirit given to Peter and the other 120 is also given to you and me!

A) Last week I pointed out that the gifts of the Spirit were not just tongues

B) This week we see Peter’s gifts

1) Exhortation

2) Evangelism

C) The Power of the Holy Spirit

1) Is given to all people (vs. 17)

2) Belongs to you and to me today

3) Application

IV) What’s stopping you?

A) God forgives and forgets

B) Desires for you and me to do His work

C) Equips / Empowers / and Encourages through the Holy Spirit

D) Gives us the choice to serve dynamically or make excuses why we can’t

1) Some have many reasons why they can’t

2) Convinced of the "Correctness" of their reasons.

E) W.W.J.S. (What Will Jesus Say?)

1) When you stand before Jesus and tell him your reasons why you couldn’t, will he agree with your reasons or will he see them as excuses.

F) NO EXCUSES!

V) ACTION STEPS

A) Trust God!

B) Prepare for Satan’s subtle attacks!

1) Reminds of your Past…remind him of his future

C) Allow Spirit to work in you and through you!

Do you know why the Dead Sea is dead? Nothing flows OUT OF IT.