On Wednesday evening, I took a thirty-minute evening break to attend Willowdale’s midweek prayer meeting. The topic of discussion was the Holy Spirit and how it influences personal revival and church revival. I was late to the prayer meeting by fifteen minutes, and I thought about skipping the meeting, but I’m glad that I didn’t, for it was just the midweek experience that I needed to push on to Sabbath. One of the questions discussed in my four-person break-out room was how important it is for a person to be filled daily with the power of the Holy Spirit. Collectively, my small breakout group shared a common thought: without a daily infilling of the Holy Spirit, we, as Christians, will fail miserably in presenting, reflecting, and serving Christ.
The question you may want to ask is, what made your pastor almost skip prayer meetings? The answer was that I was cutting my lawn around 5 pm, and my twenty-year-old Hondo lawn mower seemed sluggish, so I decided to remove, clean, and replace the carburetor before the prayer meeting. No problem. I have repeated the spring mechanic regimen many times before, but this time, in my haste, I did not create an itemized replacement list of parts before removing the carburetor. To my surprise and in my hurrying state, seven paper gaskets of various profiles and dimensions stared me in the eye, and I instantly knew that I was in trouble. I am not overly mechanically gifted, but I get by on smaller projects. seven different gaskets without pictures or an instructional page for re-installing the carburetor on my Honda lawn mower awaited me after prayer meeting as my garage after-party.
Returning to the garage, I struggled for about fifty minutes, trying to assemble the parts, every one of the carburetor gaskets now looked identical. The problem was that the seven gaskets were slightly different and unique, and their proper placement was essential for the smooth running of the lawn mower. Tiny and insignificant gaskets, and yet the machine does not function unless the carburetor is fitted and installed correctly. It was obvious that as my frustration grew, I needed divine intervention to save the night. At my point of deepest need, the Holy Spirit impressed me to go and visit Mr. Google and download my lawn mover’s manual, which clearly presents in diagram form the gasket placements for the carburetor re-install. The truth is these tiny insignificant pieces are super important to the overall function and working ability of my lawn mower. I truly believe there is a spiritual lesson to be learned from my mechanical struggle in the confines of my man cave.
This Sabbath, we will embark on a three-week pulpit teaching series called EQUIP: Putting Your Spiritual Gifts into Action. This series will reveal the importance of spiritual gifts in the life of the believer and the mission of the church. Throughout my ministry, I have continually heard these comments from church members, “I’m not gifted, my abilities are tiny and insignificant, and God can’t use me.” Listen to me, friends, things must change; it’s time to believe and take God at His Word! Lies will imprison you, but the truth will set you free. We have the owner’s manual, the Bible. The Word of God declares that those who have been called by God into a relationship with Jesus and into His church have been gifted with spiritual gifts. These gifts are to be used for the building up of the church and the advancement of God’s work on earth. Revival can only happen when little insignificant people allow the Holy Spirit to breathe revival into them. When the Holy Spirit fills us, God will Amazon deliver to each of us as born-again believers a spiritual gift that will benefit His body and the church and bless the world. Say with me today, “I choose to be a disciple of Jesus. I will use my spiritual gift to honor and glorify God. I will answer God’s call, and I will serve.”
Pastor Glenn DeSilva