Power for the Mission: Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

Oct 11, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: A Tesla’s Stalled Mission and Our Empty Batteries

A high-speed police chase ends in failure when an electric patrol car’s battery drains mid-pursuit. Like that Tesla, believers often race toward God’s mission without adequate spiritual power. The mission of disciple-making requires more than good intentions or human effort—it demands supernatural fuel. Without the Holy Spirit’s ongoing presence, even the most passionate efforts sputter out. Jesus’ followers are called not just to activity but to empowered dependence. The gap between our calling and our capacity is meant to drive us to our knees. [47:04]

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
(Matthew 28:18-20, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been relying on your own strength in discipleship? What practical step can you take today to prioritize the Spirit’s power over your plans?

Day 2: The Hummingbird’s Desperate Feast

A hummingbird survives by feeding every 10-15 minutes, its metabolism burning through energy at breakneck speed. So it is with the Spirit-filled life—yesterday’s filling won’t sustain today’s mission. Like Israel’s daily manna, the Spirit’s presence requires fresh reception. The Christian life isn’t a sprint but a rhythm of returning, a constant leaning into the Source. Dependence isn’t weakness but the doorway to divine energy. [59:40]

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.
(Ephesians 5:18, ESV)

Reflection: What “low battery” warning lights have you ignored in your spiritual life? How can you create space today for the Spirit’s renewal?

Day 3: Billy Graham’s Hotel Room Revival

A discouraged evangelist meets God in a dreary British hotel room. As Billy Graham and Stephen Olford pray, heaven breaks open—not through eloquence or strategy, but surrendered hunger. The same Spirit that transformed Graham’s ordinary sermon into a harvest of souls still ignites unlikely vessels. Power follows presence. Our task isn’t to manufacture results but to host the Flame-Maker. [01:03:42]

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
(Acts 4:31, ESV)

Reflection: When have you settled for natural giftedness instead of spiritual boldness? What intimidating assignment might the Spirit be waiting to empower?

Day 4: Ananias’ Dangerous Obedience

A disciple named Ananias walks toward his enemy’s house, hands trembling but heart yielded. Saul—the church’s persecutor—becomes Paul the apostle through this ordinary man’s risky yes. The Spirit specializes in rewriting stories through available people. Divine assignments often feel like absurd detours, yet they carry eternal fingerprints. Our role isn’t to understand but to obey. [01:11:54]

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul."
(Acts 9:10-11, ESV)

Reflection: What “Straight Street” is the Spirit prompting you to walk down this week? How might simple obedience unlock someone else’s destiny?

Day 5: Rosaria’s Trash-Can Conversion

A hostile professor fishes a pastor’s letter from the garbage, unaware the Spirit is rewiring her heart. Ken Smith’s ordinary kindness becomes the bridge for Rosaria Butterfield’s radical transformation. Disciple-making isn’t about perfect arguments but present love. The Spirit works through shared meals, persistent friendship, and willingness to enter others’ worlds. Our assignment: join what God’s already doing. [01:13:55]

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
(Ezekiel 36:26, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your life seems “too far gone” for God’s reach? How can you partner with the Spirit’s quiet work in them this week?

Sermon Summary

The mission of making disciples is too big to run on human energy. The picture of a Tesla patrol car losing power in the middle of a high-speed chase exposes the problem: a car can have a mission, but without power, it cannot finish what it was sent to do. Jesus gives the church a clear assignment to go, make disciples, baptize, and teach, but his final promise carries the power for that assignment: “I am with you always.” The presence of God through the Holy Spirit is not an extra for a few gifted people. The Holy Spirit is the power for the mission.

Jesus himself shows the pattern. Jesus lived thirty years in relative obscurity, and then the Holy Spirit descended upon him at his baptism. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, and Jesus returned “in the power of the Spirit” to begin proclaiming good news, casting out demons, healing the oppressed, and calling disciples. Peter later says that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth “with the Holy Spirit and with power.” The Spirit comes, and then power and effect for ministry follow.

The early church follows that same pattern. Jesus gives fearful, fractured disciples the Great Commission, but then tells them to wait for power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. Pentecost turns ordinary disciples into witnesses whose lives shake the world. The Holy Spirit dwells in every believer at salvation, but Paul still commands believers to “be filled with the Spirit.” The Spirit-filled life is not a one-time event. The hummingbird image makes the point: yesterday’s filling cannot sustain today’s flight. Fresh filling creates dependence and brings believers back to their source.

The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, teaches truth, gives power when the gospel is proclaimed, sparks new life, and produces spiritual growth. God is already at work in people like Cornelius, Saul, and Rosaria Butterfield, and the Spirit invites disciples to join him there. Peter goes to Cornelius because God is already drawing Cornelius. Ananias goes to Saul because God is already doing something in Saul. Ken Smith reaches out to Rosaria because God gives him an assignment.

The call is simple: give up control to the Spirit’s influence, confess and repent where sin has grieved the Spirit, and ask the Father for more. The Holy Spirit does not make believers strange; he produces the character of Jesus, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, mercy, and supernatural power for the mission. Believers were made for the presence of the Lord.

Key Takeaways

1. The mission needs Spirit-given power The call to make disciples cannot be carried by personality, courage, charisma, or sheer effort. Human resolve may begin the chase, but it cannot sustain the mission God has given. The Holy Spirit supplies what human strength cannot produce: lasting spiritual fruit in the lives of others. [48:52]
2. Jesus modeled dependence on the Spirit Jesus did not begin public ministry merely through visible ability or divine status. The Spirit descended, led, anointed, and empowered him for proclamation, healing, deliverance, and disciple-making. The life of Jesus establishes dependence on the Spirit as the pattern, not the exception, for his followers. [54:17]
3. Yesterday’s filling cannot sustain today The Spirit-filled life requires a daily return to God, like Israel gathering fresh manna or a hummingbird continually feeding. Spiritual emptiness often comes from attempting to live on an old encounter rather than present dependence. Fresh filling keeps the heart near its true source of life. [60:21]
4. God is already working in people The Spirit often prepares hearts before a disciple-maker ever arrives. Peter, Ananias, and Ken Smith simply entered situations where God was already moving. Faithful witness begins by paying attention to where God is at work and obeying the invitation to join him. [67:37]
5. Surrender makes room for fresh filling The Spirit’s influence grows where control is yielded, sin is confessed, and God is asked for more. Repentance is not a way to earn God’s presence but a way to stop resisting the One already dwelling within believers. The Father gives the Holy Spirit generously to children who ask.

## [76:21]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[47:04] - A Mission Without Power
[49:13] - The Call to Make Disciples
[50:45] - Jesus Promises His Presence
[51:08] - The Holy Spirit Powers the Mission
[52:37] - Jesus Anointed by the Spirit
[55:51] - Power for the Early Church
[57:27] - Keep Being Filled With the Spirit
[59:01] - The Hummingbird and Daily Filling
[61:34] - Billy Graham’s Fresh Filling
[65:48] - How the Spirit Makes Disciples
[67:37] - God Is Working, Join Him
[69:10] - Peter and Cornelius
[70:55] - Ananias and Saul
[72:53] - Rosaria Butterfield’s Conversion
[75:56] - Three Steps Toward Fresh Filling
[79:41] - Invitation to Surrender and Ask

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 28:18-20
“And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [49:13]

Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” [55:51]

Ephesians 5:18
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,” [57:27]

Observation questions

In Matthew 28:18–20, what commands does Jesus give his followers, and what promise does he give them as he sends them?
According to Acts 1:8, what are the disciples told to wait for, and what will that power enable them to become? [56:46]
What contrast does Ephesians 5:18 make between being controlled by wine and being filled with the Spirit? [01:16:21]
What examples show that God was already at work in Cornelius and Saul before Peter and Ananias entered their stories? [01:09:16]

Interpretation questions

Why is Jesus’ promise, “I am with you always,” essential to the command to make disciples rather than simply a comforting statement at the end of the Great Commission? [50:45]
Acts 1:8 connects the Holy Spirit’s power with being witnesses. What does this suggest about the purpose of spiritual power in the life of a believer? [56:51]
If every believer receives the Holy Spirit at salvation, why would Paul still command believers to keep being filled with the Spirit? [57:27]
Peter went to Cornelius and Ananias went to Saul after God had already been working in their lives. How does this change the way believers might view difficult, unlikely, or spiritually curious people around them? [01:10:44]

Application questions

Where have you been trying to carry out God’s mission through your own personality, effort, courage, or ability rather than depending on the Holy Spirit? What would dependence on him look like in that situation? [51:04]
The Spirit-filled life requires a fresh, daily return to God rather than relying on yesterday’s filling. What practices help you return to God regularly, and what tends to leave you spiritually drained? [01:00:32]
Is there an area of sin, self-rule, bitterness, or distraction that may be grieving the Holy Spirit’s work in your life? What might confession and repentance look like this week? [01:17:18]
Think of one person in your life who may be more open to God than you realize. What signs might show that God is already at work, and what is one simple step you could take to join him? [01:15:38]
What would it look like for you to give the Holy Spirit greater influence over a specific decision, relationship, habit, or fear this week? [01:16:47]
When you ask God for more of the Holy Spirit’s work in your life, what kind of fruit of Jesus’ character—such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, or mercy—do you most need him to produce? #!!1:21:03!!

Sermon Clips

43s

#DailySpirit

“Without a regular filling, the hummingbird cannot survive. And when it comes to the Holy Spirit in your life, you were not designed to run on yesterday's filling. The spirit filled life is not a onetime event. It's actually a daily return. It's like manna for Israel in the Old Testament where we need these fresh heavenly deposits from the Lord because it creates dependence, and it invites us back to our source where we receive his life.”

24s

#PowerOfTheHolySpirit

“See, the power that you need is is not your charisma. It's not your personality. It's not your courage. It's not your gifting. It's not the talents that you have. Your power to accomplish this mass of calling is not from anything you can bring to the table. The power that you're going to have is is completely from one thing, and that's the presence of god inside of you through the holy spirit.”

50s

#FruitOfTheSpirit

“When more of the Holy Spirit comes into your life, if you don't have a background in this, you may think, well, does that mean something strange and something... What it means is he begins the fruit of the spirit and you love, joy, peace, long suffering, patience, goodness, kindness, mercy. He begins to produce in you a character like Jesus. And he begins to give you power and anointing, anointing, supernaturally natural power from the Lord. So don't be afraid of him this morning. You were made for this. You were made for the presence of the Lord.”

38s

#PoweredForPurpose

“And I think if you've been around the church for any time, you know that this is the mission that we are called to. And yet, for for many, many years, the church has tried to motivate people towards this. It's like that the pastor will get up here and, like, we'll give this braveheart sermon. You know what I mean? Where it's like you you try to rally the troops and, like, let's go, and let's do the mission. Let's get after it. Like, that... That's what we try to do. And yet, for years and years, nothing changes. Because like a Tesla, in a speed chase with no battery power, we cannot accomplish the mission without power.”

22s

#SpiritLedDiscipleship

“And and yet he is the cheat code of the Christian life because he is he is the one that actually works through us to accomplish a mission that is too big for us. And and here's what I wanna say so clearly this morning. This will sort of be the preface that that guides us through our entire message this morning, that you cannot make disciples without the powering of the holy spirit in your life.”

42s

#InviteGodIn

“Don't be afraid of his presence in your life. Just invite him in and say, lord, I want you to direct my life. I wanna submit to you. There's nothing there's nothing to be afraid of with him. And I do believe the first thing the Holy Spirit does is he begins to he begins to to clean out the vessel. He begins to to make us aware of areas that we need to bring before him. And I would encourage you just do that right now.”

18s

#SurrenderToGod

“And he's saying, if you wanna experience a fresh filling of the spirit, we have to give up control of the influence of the holy spirit in life. It mean you lose control of yourself. It just means that you simply intentionally give your will over to him and you say, I'll obey you. I'll follow you. I'll be submitted to you.”

39s

#PowerForTheMission

“So Hartman, realizing that, he wasn't gonna be able to to do what he needed to do, he ended up, dropping out of the chase. And, ultimately, the rest of the officers had to let the suspect get away. And I think this is interesting because if we look at this story, the car had a mission to accomplish. It just didn't have the power. And what I wanna teach us this morning is this, very, very simple idea. You need power for the mission that God has given you.”

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