"The Holy Spirit Is Our Power Source"

Pastor Laura Guy

August 30, 2009

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We rated the excitement of our spiritual life on a scale of 1 to 10. If our faith is in the God who created the cosmos and who came in the flesh and performed miracles and who sent the Spirit to launch the Church, why is it that most of us live that faith at about a 3 or 4 on the excitement scale? It's like finding creative ways to start a car that won't start without a push, until someone comes along and shows you that you weren't properly connected to the power source.
We read Acts 1:1-8 where Jesus tells the disciples that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. The Greek word for power is where we get our word "dynamite." Jesus tells them that they will risk their lives being his witnesses throughout the world, but he promises the power before he tells the task. The power is available to us before the task begins.
We thought about what Jesus meant by "baptism of the Holy Spirit." For some, it means a separate kind of baptism, manifesting in speaking in tongues. For others, it's the gift of the Spirit given to all believers at their baptism. Being a mainline church, we don't teach about a second baptism or speak in tongues for worship. But we acknowledge that some of those experiences happened at the Cane Ridge Revival - a part of our history as a denomination. In the end, maybe it's best to say to God that we welcome whatever experience God desires for us to have.
We wondered if baptism of the Spirit might also mean an immersion in the Spirit - flowing in and out and all around us, like water from our baptism.
We prayed that the Holy Spirit would add power and excitement to our spiritual lives.
We celebrated communion at the table of forgiveness and new life.