This sermon was a continuation of the sermon series that discusses the Holy Spirit. Within this service, Pastor Ephraim Musiba delves into the role that the Holy Spirit plays in equipping followers of Christ with supernatural powers and ability to carry out God’s tasks. Pastor Musiba details that all of God’s followers have an extraordinary work to fulfil on earth, but cannot accomplish these tasks without the Holy Spirit. Time and time again within scripture, it is observed that God’s chosen followers relied on the Holy Spirit to equip them with the necessary tools to carry out God’s great work.

In elucidating his message, the first point of reference that Pastor Musiba points to in the Bible is the book of Zechariah. The specific passages can be found in Zechariah ch. 4 vs.1 -7: “Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep… What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!” 

To provide greater context to this scripture, God spoke to Zecheriah at a critical juncture. Within this particular moment in time, the Israelites had been set free from the Babylonians and were being led by King Zerubabel back to Jerusalem to rebuild God’s temple and their nation. Despite their victory, the Israelites were still beset by numerous challenges. Some Israelites chose to remain in Babylon. They did not have any material resources to accomplish this task. King Zerubabel often dithered at the prospect of rebuilding God’s temple and the nation of Israel. For this reason, the precise moment that God spoke to Zechariah was most opportune as the Israelites’ fortunes hung in the balance in the midst of their doubts and limited resources. God informed Zechariah that the nation of Israel would be rebuilt through His spirit, and not through the Israelites individual or collective strength. This message empowered the Israelites to persevere and accomplish God’s work.

Further on in the New Testament, we are also able to witness the Spirit of God at work through Jesus’s disciples. Jesus instructed His disciples not to depart until they had heard from the Father. This instruction prompted the Disciples to remain behind so that they could be convicted by the Holy Spirit and then carry out their great work. They faced numerous adversities and were often outnumbered by non-believers who did not wish well upon them but they were still able to carry out their great work. 

The recurrent theme across these two passages and throughout the Bible is that it is the Spirit of God working through people that enables God’s work to be done. If we as believers attempt to carry out God’s great plan for our lives on our own, we will undoubtedly be met with failure. However, should we choose to let God lead the way and surrender to Him, He will empower us in innumerable ways. As creations of God, we are all equipped differently. We are not all called to be preachers but we are all united in our mission to make disciples of all people and spread God’s word where it is desperately needed. This great mission cannot be done our own. We need the power of God to fulfil this great work. This power can be accessed through the Holy Spirit.

All we need to do is ask God to empower us and we will be influential wherever we go. Supernatural wisdom, boldness, courage, boldness, and strength is available through the Holy Spirit. 

God is strategic in placing us in different locations but in order for us to access this power, we need to be tired of being powerless Christians and instead ask God to equip us with His power.  For it is when we seek God that His purpose and power for our lives will manifest.