Power Of The Holy Spirit Series

Power of the Holy Spirit

A few years ago, we had just arrived back in Port Canaveral from our February cruise and had taken the shuttle to the Alamo car rental lot.

We did all the things we needed to rent our car. We showed them our licenses and declined seven upgrades, three insurance offers and the chance to pre-purchase our gas, and we were finally given the keys to our car.

We went out to the lot and there it was a brand-new Ford Fusion. So, I did the walk around, making sure that there were no dings or scratches and that everything that was supposed to be there was there, and what wasn’t supposed to be there wasn’t there.

I popped the trunk and stowed our luggage, jumped in the car, adjusted my seat and pushed the button on the dash to start the car, and nothing. Not a sound. The tachometer didn't move. Nothing. So, I pushed the button again, and still nothing. Hmmm, I thought, there seems to be a problem.

Now I’m not a Ford guy, but as my dad used to tell me, “All cars are nice when they are new”, and this car only had 700 miles on it.

After I pushed the button the third time and nothing had happened, I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to ask one of the employees what I was doing wrong. It was then I noticed the hybrid designation on the dash. I had been turning the car on and off, waiting for an engine sound that wasn’t going to come.

This is the third week of our Holy Spirit series, and we’ve covered The Promise of the Holy Spirit and the Presence of the Holy Spirit. As we continue today and into February, the preaching team will take you deeper into the attributes of the Holy Spirit.

Today I’d like to take you back to the scripture that was read for us, in particular verse 8 where we read, Acts 1:8 Jesus said “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”

This morning, I’m going to focus on the Power of the Holy Spirit. And here is the last promise that Jesus made to his apostles before he returned to his Father. And it was a promise of power. Jesus didn’t say they might receive power, or they may receive power, but that they would receive power. He didn’t say that their receiving Power from the Holy Spirit was a possibility; he said that receiving power from the Holy Spirit was a certainty.

Let’s go back to the story I started with. When I sat in that Ford Fusion in the Alamo parking lot, I thought it was powerless. I was convinced that I was sitting in a car without power, but the reality was that the power was there. All I had to do was claim it.

If instead of pushing the button again, which simply turned the car off. If I had put the car into gear, I would have been able to utilize all the power the car had to offer.

And once I claimed the power that was there, it was an awesome car. Even if it was a Ford.

Because to quote my father again, “All cars are nice when they are new.” Now, dad usually made that statement whenever I spoke about my non-Ford car.

My teen years were full of rebellion. My father was a Baptist and a Tory, who drove Fords and cheered for the Leafs. If you cut him, he bled blue.

By the time I was 19 I was attending a Wesleyan University, had a poster of Pierre Trudeau on my dorm room wall, drove an Oldsmobile and was a Habs fan. I’m sure I caused Dad a lot of sleepless nights wondering where he’d gone wrong.

In my last message, I spoke about how The Holy Spirit was present at the creation of the world; He was present at the conception of Christ; He was present at our conversion, and how He will be present at the conclusion of the world.

But sometimes, looking at the big picture can be overwhelming. The fact that nothing exists without the Holy Spirit is the truth, but it’s such a big truth. And while we understand we wouldn’t be here without the Holy Spirit, how does that affect our day-to-day life?

This promise of Holy Spirit power is a personal promise. It is an intimate promise, and it is a promise for every believer.

And the promise of the Holy Spirit isn’t simply a promise of companionship and comfort, it is a promise of power. But what does that mean for us today, January 30th, 2022?

The Collins English Dictionary lists 25 meanings to the word power, but for our purpose today, the first definition will suffice.