The Promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-11)

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Here’s a summary of this week’s sermon:

• The Book of Acts is a follow on from the Book of Luke, and both were written by Luke. In the book of Luke, we see what Jesus did and taught before he was taken into heaven. And in the Book of Acts, we see what Jesus did through his followers, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

• Jesus told them that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came on them and that their job was to be witnesses in Jerusalem and then gradually spread outwards until they covered every group of people on Earth.

• The Holy Spirit is one of three persons who make up God (the Trinity) and he is not constrained by a physical body, so he can be with everyone at the same time.

• Two roles of the Holy Spirit that we see in this passage are giving us power and helping us witness about Jesus.

• The passage ends with Jesus being taken up into heaven in a miraculous way, and the promise that he will one day return in the same way.

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💬 CONVERSATION STREET --

Matt + Anna discuss:

• Have you ever had someone come up to you and say “This is what God wants to say to you…”?

• What do you think of the “Fish in water” analogy that Sharon used to explain true freedom?

• What does Paul mean when he says that he is a bond servant of Christ?

• How does the Holy Spirit empower you to live your life?

• Oftentimes, the way the Holy Spirit empowers you to live life doesn’t make sense to everybody else. Why?

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• Complete Transcript

  Sharon Edmundson: This is the third talk in our series on the Book of Acts. The Book of Acts is a follow on from the Book of Luke, and both were written by a man called Luke. In week one, John Harding gave us an overview of the book. He showed us how in the book of Luke, we see what Jesus did and taught before he was taken into heaven.

  And in the Book of Acts, we see what Jesus did through his followers, by the power of the Holy Spirit after he was taken into heaven. The first 11 verses of Acts are a recap as to what happened at the end of Luke. They're a bridge between the two books, if you like. Last week Matt spoke about these, uh, first three verses of this recap, and today I'm gonna talk about the rest of the recap.

  In the first three verses, Jesus talked about the kingdom of God and proved to his followers that he had been raised from the dead. That involved a lot of barbecues and eating with people. And today's passage starts with one of those occasions. On one occasion while he, Jesus was eating with them, he gave them this command.

  Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my father has promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water. But in a few days you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Here, Jesus is talking about a gift that's been promised. I dunno about you, but in our house we give gifts for birthdays and Christmas.

  It's only a few weeks since Christmas, but it seems as though it was ages ago. Now when it comes to presents for me, from Matt, my husband, I usually buy my own gift and then hand it to him saying, this is what you bought me. And he then hands it to our daughter to wrap. I do this because past experience has taught me if I leave him to his own devices, it doesn't always go that well.

  Having said that, he did get me this very nice jumper for Christmas this year as a present, as well as the present that I handed him to wrap for me. Now, maybe you are someone who likes to choose your own gifts or maybe you prefer surprises. In today's passage, Jesus tells his followers not to leave Jerusalem, but instead to wait for a gift that Father God has promised them.

  They knew that their present was gonna be the Holy Spirit because Jesus had talked to them about it in the past and he was telling them again now. So it wasn't a surprise as such, but they still had questions about what that actually meant. They asked Jesus, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?

  why did they ask this question? What an odd question to ask. Well, actually, it wasn't odd. They asked this question because Jesus had been talking to them about the kingdom of God. A kingdom where God is the one who rules. And they knew from their scriptures their holy Book, that at some point God was gonna properly be in charge of Israel in an amazing way through a savior, a Messiah.

  But before that happened, the Holy Spirit was gonna be poured out onto the whole nation. So as a people group, they've been waiting for the Holy Spirit for a really long time. So the disciples want to know, is this outpouring of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is talking about now, is that the one that's gonna lead to the restoration of Israel?

  But this isn't the national outpouring of the Spirit, which is still to come, but one which makes people part of God's family as shown in these verses. For we were all baptized by one spirit, so as to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free. And we were all given the one spirit to drink.

  Even so the body is not made up of one part, but of many, Jesus answered their question about Israel being restored by saying this. It's not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority, but you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

  In other words, you don't need to know when all that's gonna happen. But what you do need to know is that you have a job to do, a divine purpose, and you can't do it on your own. You need help. The sphere of their work was to start in Jerusalem and to gradually spread outwards until they covered every group of people on Earth.

  And that mission is still going on today. So they were to start in Jerusalem, which was where Judaism was strongest. Then to go to Judea, where Judaism was not as strong. Then to Samaria, which had a kind of hybrid religion that was hostile to Jews and then to the utmost part of the earth where there were people of all sorts of religions.

  Jesus tells them they would receive power because their own resources were not enough to do what God had called them to do. I think this contrasts with a couple of our modern mindsets. Firstly, it contrasts with the thinking that we're enough on our own. We may be enough for some things, but we are not enough to either be in a relationship with a holy God because we are naturally rebellious and dirty on the inside, or to carry out the plans he has for us.

  And rather than that being a depressing thought, I think it's an encouraging one. It can be a bit exhausting feeling like we have to be enough on our own, especially when reality hits and we find out that we are not. And this knowledge can be really helpful when we are scrolling through social media, looking at the apparently amazing lives of other people and the amazing things that they're doing.

  The Bible allows us to face up to our limitations and relax into not having to be enough. It allows us to admit the rebellion and darkness in our hearts because we don't have to be good enough on our own. When we come close to God, we see ourselves as we really are. And it's not always that pretty on the inside.

  but Jesus died to make us new and clean on the inside and to allow us to have a relationship with the creator of the universe. And Father God sends the Holy Spirit so that we can have power to live a life of freedom and purpose that He's planned for us. Now, we can tend to think of freedom as being able to do anything we want to do whenever we want to do it, but real freedom is living as God intends us to live.

  And that has its boundaries as well as its possibilities. For example, if a fish decided that it didn't want to live within the confines of water anymore, but wanted to be free to live anywhere free to live on land, it will quickly find out that life lived on land was not a life of freedom at all, but of death.

  And it's the same for us. We find our freedom and purpose when we live within the, um, the boundaries and possibilities that God set for us, we have the excitement of being something, a part of something far bigger than us. Secondly, it contrasts with the view that we can be whatever we want and do whatever we want.

  There is a sense that this also is kind of true in that God gives us free will. He doesn't force us to follow him, but the Bible shows us we are created for a purpose and God gives us the ability to fulfill that purpose. And part of our purpose is to be God's witnesses, to show people what it's like to live under the rule of King Jesus.

  And again, rather than that being a negative, I love the fact that God has a plan for me, that I have a part to play in the world, that I'm not here by accident. And Jesus doesn't rule as a dictator, though he has every right to, he said this about leadership. You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them.

  Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. And whoever wants to be first must be your slave, just as the son of man. That's Jesus did not come to, uh, to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So going back to Acts, what or who is this Holy Spirit Jesus was talking about?

  So as Christians, we believe there's only one God, but that he's made up of three persons mentioned in today's passage. The Father, the Son who's Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He's one in being, and three in persons. And that can be hard to get our heads around because we don't have anything that quite compares in the physical world.

  Why would we? God is one of a kind. He's far greater than every, created thing. As humans, for example, each one of us is one in being a human being and one in person. So I'm, I'm one human being. I'm one person. The book of Deuteronomy says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is one. The word for one here is echad. In the original Hebrew, excuse my pronunciation, anyone who speaks Hebrew, uh, this word can be translated to mean one in the sense of unity and wholeness from different parts coming together.

  And if we go back to the very beginning of the Bible, the first line in the first book of the Bible, it says this, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The word for God here is Elohim, and it's a masculine, plural word. The verb created on the other hand is masculine, single. Uh, singular.

  People have interpreted this in different ways, but it opens up the possibility of God being a plurality, one God made up of different persons. In the verse that follows in the creation story, we see God's Holy Spirit mentioned. Now the Earth was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

  We call this concept of one God made up of three persons. The Trinity. Though the word trinity isn't found in the Bible, it's just a kind of shorthand word to communicate a complex concept. The Bible shows that the three persons of the one God live in love and unity, but they have different roles.

  There's unity in diversity. There are many other verses in the Bible that talk about the three persons of the one God as well. So why is Jesus wanting to send the Holy Spirit? Well, one of the characteristics of Jesus taking on a physical body is that he could only be in one place at one time, so he could be in Israel talking to his mates over there, but he couldn't come for dinner with us here in England at the same time.

  The Holy Spirit, however, isn't constrained by a physical body, so he can be here with me and with you wherever you are at the same time. The Holy Spirit has many roles and we are here, some of them as we go through the Book of Acts, but this small passage we've read today tells us two of them, or one, depending on how you want to classify them, that's to give us power and to help us be his witnesses, or to give us the power to witness. A witness, tells people what they've seen, heard, and experienced, and the Holy Spirit can give us the boldness and opportunities and insights to tell other people about Jesus and what he's done in our lives.

  but what does that mean exactly? What does that look like today? So an example from my own life, um, well, I own up to the fact that I can often stray into thinking that God's plans are more important than mine and be distracted. But recently I've been asking him more to show me his plans and to ask him to speak to me about the people I meet.

  So one lady I know had been on my mind and I started to pray for her just asking God to give me opportunities to share his love with her. And the next time I saw her, which was a few days later, she told me she'd had a dream about me. And in that dream I was giving out bread to people. When she told me that dream, I realized it totally fitted with a talk that I'd heard in church a few days before about Jesus being the bread of life and having a brain like lightning like I do.

  It took me several days to realize that I could have actually mentioned that to her. So I texted her to say that her dream had reminded me of some stuff from the Bible, um, and could I share it with her? And, uh, so I sent her a few of these verses and she texted back to say that she loved the verses and would like to know more.

  So I gave her the gospels, which are the four books in the Bible, which talk about Jesus' time on Earth. And I believe that as I prayed, God opened up this opportunity to share with her about Jesus in a really natural way and in a way that she could relate to. I've also asked a couple of friends to share one of their stories about how the Holy Spirit uh, help them share Jesus with other people.

  So let's have a listen to those now.

  Sherlon Atkins: Hi, my name's Sherlon. In the Bible, it talks about how God's Holy Spirit guides and leads us and speak to us. I wanna tell you a story. When I was at university, I was at a student in a prayer meeting and we all praying. And as I prayed, God's Holy Spirit gave me a picture. It was like, like, like a dream, like a vision.

  And it in, in this, in this picture or vision, I was knocking on someone's door, a student's door in the hall's residence, and a student opened the door and on his forehead was the name, Andreas. The next day I was knocking on some doors in the halls of residents inviting students to, uh, Prayer meetings into Christian events, and this student opened the door.

  It was the same lad I saw in the picture and I sang to, I said to him, your name's Andreas. He said, how did you know my name? I said, God's Holy Spirit told me your name. And I invited him to some of our events and he came.

  Dave Connolly: Hi, good to be with you. Um, Sharon asked me to pop on and, um, share a brief story with you.

  And here's one, um, right up the, um, press just happened within the last two and a half hours. Um, I was in McDonald's with a friend having coffee today when a member of staff came over to me and asked me if I remembered them. Um, apparently, um, I'd prayed with him, um, during Covid and, um, one of, one of my many visits there.

  And, um, I didn't actually, I remembered his face, but I didn't remember him. And, um, I asked him, did he get healed? Did God answer the Prayer that we prayed for his health. And he said yes, he had been healed.

  And um, I asked him how he was doing and he asked me to pray for his auntie. Um, she'd been diagnosed with cancer and she was very poorly. So I said it would be our, um, pleasure and our privilege to pray with him for his auntie. So we prayed there and then we invited him to sit down and we, we prayed a prayer of faith, asking God to demonstrate his power and his love towards this man's auntie, and that she would know God's presence and would know his presence with her in a real and living way.

  Um, after we prayed, he asked me if I'd write the Prayer down. And as I was doing so, I shared with this young man, I said to him, you know, since God healed you, have you tried to find out more? About the God who healed you, you know, because I wanted him to know it's one thing to be healed. And it's one thing to know God's love, but it's also another to encounter the Lord Jesus as your own personal savior, to know the freedom and the life that only Jesus can bring.

  And this just took, this took place just two and a half hours ago. Um, totally unplanned. And this is, um, an opportunity and we just need to make room in our lives so we're able to take the opportunities to engage with people as they inquire about the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

  God bless you.

  Sharon Edmundson: I love hearing stories about what the Holy Spirit's doing today. It's so encouraging. But going back to today's, today's passage, after Jesus had reminded his followers of their mission and the promise of the Holy Spirit, the Bible says this. After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight.

  They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them, men of Galilee, they said, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who was taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you've seen him go into heaven.

  So this passage is finished with Jesus being taken up into heaven in a miraculous way, and the promise that he'll one day return the same way. Now this and all the other miracles recorded in the Bible can sound like fairy stories, stuff that people, um, make up. People who don't understand science and don't know any better.

  But really if God does in fact exist and created the physical world from nothing in all its complexity, taking Jesus into heaven or doing any of the other miracles described in the Bible is really no big deal. So this really comes down to the question of God's existence, and there are many things that point to the existence of God.

  For example, science agrees with the Bible that the universe had a beginning. There was nothing physical, and now there is. Nothing cannot create something. I think deep down we know that. Therefore something or someone must have created the physical realm, and that something can't be physical if the physical realm is created, and it must be outside time and space.

  That sounds a lot like God. There are many more reasons to believe in the existence of God, but I don't have time to go into them today. So Jesus being taken into heaven marked the completion of his earthly bodily ministry. But as John said in his introduction to the Book of Acts a couple of weeks ago, Jesus' work didn't stop there.

  He now works through his body on earth by the power of the Holy Spirit, his body now being all those who are his followers. So if you are already a follower of Jesus, I'd encourage you to keep an ear out for what God wants to say to you as we continue in the Book of Acts over the next weeks and months.

  If you haven't yet decided to follow Jesus, then know that he invites you to be part of his family, his body, and that he has a plan for your life too. But it's up to you whether or not you accept the invitation. Let's pray. Father, I thank you that you have created us and that you've got a plan for us, and I pray for myself and everyone listening to this talk that, uh, you would open our eyes to see more of the spirit realm that we would, um, hear your voice not necessarily as an audible voice, but we would know you speaking to us through your Holy Spirit, uh, and that you would help us. Amen.

  Matt Edmundson: Coming up, we have Conversation street. But before we get into that, here's a clip from our podcast what's the story which you can subscribe to on all your favorite podcast apps.

  Malcolm Morgan: And I think it's, it's like Paul, he wanted to go one area and the Holy Spirit stopped him. Yeah. And then the next day he got called into Greece. Mm-hmm. And sometimes you, you could say, okay, this is what's opening. I'll go through this door and see what's on there. Yeah. And it makes life an adventure. And that's what we've always done, isn't it?

  Trish Morgan: Yeah. It doesn't always go the way we want it to. No, no. you know? Yeah. Sometimes we've gone about it in a very convoluted way, but we get there like, life isn't linear, is it? It's not a straight, no, it's not. Here we go. It's a Ziggy zaggy. And that's how life is for us as well. We are not any different to anybody else. We have our loans, we have our difficulties, um, but we pull God into all of that and say, help us.

  Matt Edmundson: So there you go. What about that? Now, before we get into Conversation Street Anna, before we start talking about, you know, the Holy Spirit and the talk and all that sort of stuff, Did you notice in that clip from the What's the Story podcast that, um, Trish Morgan used the phrase Ziggy Zaggy?

  Anna Kettle: I did notice, yes. What a great expression.

  Matt Edmundson: Life is a bit Ziggy Zaggy. Uh, I think

  Anna Kettle: very right it is.

  Matt Edmundson: And you know what? Trish is just one of the most beautiful people on God's planet. And, um, the fact that she uses that expression does not surprise me in one, uh, minor way, uh, with, uh, with Trish. But I think I, I'm almost tempted to get a Ziggy Zaggy t-shirt printed off for her.

  Uh, I just wouldn't know how to spell it, but, um, I thought that was great. Life's a bit Ziggy Zaggy.

  Right. Uh, before we, before we go down too much of a rabbit hole there, uh, this is Conversation Street. Welcome back to Crowd Church. Uh, if you joined us during, uh, the talk, my name is Matt, beside me is the beautiful Anna. Um, and this is the part of the service where we go through any questions, comments, stories that you had, that you shared in the, uh, during the, during the, the talk section there.

  Uh, people are writing Ziggy Zaggy in the comments. That's how,

  Anna Kettle: oh, there you go. That's how you spell it. Matt.

  Matt Edmundson: That's awesome. Um, so yeah, so this is Conversation Street. So this is the chatty bit between myself and Anna. Do feel free to join in, join in with the comments, join in with your stories, uh, of what's been going on.

  Uh, I know when sherlon was sharing the story. Uh, Miriam shared in the comments here. She said, I remember a person coming up to me saying, you are Miriam. Uh, I said, yes. He said, God told me that you've got special needs. Can I pray for you? And I was like, wow. Yes. So I don't, I I'm, I'm kind of curious, does this ever happen to you, uh, Mrs. Kettle, where someone has come up to you and gone, your name's Anna and God has told me this.

  Anna Kettle: No, it's not happened to me personally, Matt, to be honest. Um, but I do have friends that's happened to, right? Um, when I was, um, when I was a student, um, my, um, one of my, uh, flat mates, um, in our first year was Harriet Ray.

  Um, and I, she wasn't a Christian at the time, but she was kind of exploring faith and thinking about, is God real. And asking some of these big questions that I think a lot of us get to that point in life where we ask mm-hmm And, um, she went away between first and second year of the university.

  She went away to, um, do like a summer job in Greece. And um, there was a Christian family that turned up, um, while she was working. She was like working in a chalet or something. It was 20 years ago, you know, so it's while back. But I remember very clearly cuz she's told me this story a number of times and it sort of blows my mind.

  And basically, um, this, uh, lad who was about her age came over to her and said, my mom's been praying for you this week because God really put you on her heart. And she says that God wants you to know that you are on the edge of the kingdom. Being the kingdom of God. So you are on the edge of the kingdom and he wants you to know, you don't need to be worried.

  You can just step in. And, um, she was just blown away by that because she was like, how, how do these people who are total strangers know all this stuff about me? And like yeah, basically saying God's speaking to you. And yeah, that was one of the things that, I don't think it was the only thing, but it was one of several sort of signs and things that happened that made her really think, yeah, God is real.

  And he really showed himself to her. And you know, she's still a Christian. 20 odd years on. So Yeah, I've, I've seen it happen. That's just one example, but I've certainly seen it happen with friends and other people I know enough times that I think stuff like that definitely happens. Like yeah, people, people do have, um, yeah, pictures and words of knowledge about others. And Holy Spirit does speak in that way. I've, I've seen it happen. What about you, Matt?

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, no one's come up to me and said, hi, your name's Matt and God's told me to say this. Mm-hmm. , I have had people say to me, um, like, I'll have been somewhere. And they would've come to me and said, uh, I just want you to know that I feel God is saying such and such.

  And they would've, yeah. Um, they've been, you know, quite accurate. I remember sitting in one prayer meeting and this really impacted me actually when I was, um, when I was quite young in my faith, and this is going back to the days when, uh, what is now called Frontline church, which Crowd has come out of as part of sort of Frontline Church. Frontline is Crowd's sending church for want of a better expression.

  Um, when it was called Bethany, we met in a building the size of a shoebox. Um, if anyone can remember those days. And I remember sitting in a, in a meeting and there's a guy in there. He was, he was praying, he was from another country and he just came over to me and he said, I just, I just need to talk to you.

  I feel like God's put something on my heart about you. And this was when I was just fresh at uni and I wasn't, I. I was working for the church, had no real idea of what it was I was supposed to do or where it was I was going. Um, but I thought God had placed business on my heart. You know, maybe setting up a business or not a business.

  I didn't know what I didn't know really, and I don't really talk to many people about it, but this complete stranger came up to me and it was just like, I believe God's called you into business and he wants to make you. Um, if you're new to church, it might sound strange, but he wants to make you an apostle in the business arena, which just translated means he's just sending you into the business arena.

  Um, and to do a bit of pioneering stuff. And I was like, oh my goodness. Um, and the Holy Spirit used this phrase, um, that he was gonna make me a missionary to the wealthy, uh, to rich people, uh, which sounded very convoluted to me and I didn't quite understand what it meant, um, until a few years later when actually.

  Quite a lot of very wealthy people in the uk. I was doing projects with them at the time with my business. And it's just, it's really bizarre and, and really fascinating how God sort of wove all these things together. And uh, yeah, it all started in that Prayer meeting. So really, really fascinating. Uh, and one of the things which intrigues me about all of this, of course, is as Christians, um, we believe obviously that Christ is alive.

  He has risen, and therefore God created, God is still communicating, is still talking to his people. And we would say that's through the Holy Spirit, that's part of the work of the Holy Spirit, right? And so it's really interesting when you start to have some of these conversations and it's gonna be really cool actually if you stick around for the Acts series because as we are gonna read, we're gonna read some hair raising spine tingling stories in the book of Acts that if they're true.

  uh, man, does that change everything that you kind of think and know and hold dear, isn't it really, um, about how the Holy Spirit works through us and guides us and so on and so forth. So yeah. Excellent stuff coming through. So, so let's start, let's start the conversation. Uh, Anna, let's start the conversation about this.

  Anna Kettle: Have we not started it yet?

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, well, that's true. Yeah. Yeah. I suppose we have. I've still got zigzag in my head. Uh, I'm still zigging and zagging Um, one of the things that Sharon talked about in her talk was, uh, this idea of freedom that I just wanted to circle back on cause I thought this was a really excellent analogy that I'd not really heard before.

  Um, this analogy of a fish who swims around in water thinking that actually, um, I, I don't wanna be in the water anymore because that's my choice and that's my, you know, I'm making this choice of freedom. Actually, it's not really freedom because what. it's gonna end up killing the fish. Right. And there's boundaries put in place.

  Yeah. And I just thought it was a really interesting analogy, and I was kind of curious, have you heard this analogy before? Have you got anything you want to throw in onto this conversation about freedom?

  Anna Kettle: No, I hadn't, to be honest. I hadn't heard that analogy before, but I think it's a really good one. Um, it really makes sense, doesn't it?

  Like any kind of, yeah. Nature has lots of boundaries like that where certain living creatures can't exist outside of certain environments. And I think there's loads of other similar ones you could draw from nature, but I think it's, it is a really good picture, isn't it? I guess It's not so different to how we are with our own children either.

  You know, we give them boundaries and rules to keep them safe and, and protected and, yeah. Yeah. I, I really liked it. I think it really makes sense.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah. Yeah. I've always. uh, say I've always, I've recently, I've been sort of toying around with this idea that a, a free man, um, is a man that knows what binds him, um, in other words, knows what, what his boundaries are and is accepting.

  And, and a man who's not free, um, doesn't get to choose what binds him for want of a better expression. Uh, those choices are made for him. Mm-hmm.. And when you're a free person, you get to choose your boundaries. You get to choose what binds you. Uh, and there's some whenever you read the letters in the New Testament, there's a, there's chap, there's a chap called Paul who we're gonna read a lot about in the book of Acts, um, about, you know, sort of start of his life.

  He writes a lot of letters to a lot of churches, and he writes, um, he writes at the start of each epistle, quite often he says, I am Paul, a bond servant of Christ. In other words, I am bound to Christ, right? This is, I am a free member, but I am choosing to be bound by the rules and laws of. Christ. And I think that actually the, that analogy of the fish was beautiful because it ties in with that.

  It's like, actually no, I'm, this is what, this is the environment that God has made and this is where I'm gonna sort of sit and, and be and act and, and live. Mm-hmm.. Right?

  Anna Kettle: And everybody's, everybody's kind of bound to something, aren't they? You are ruled by something. Like if, if you say like, oh, even if it's not God, you are ruled by what then your own whims or your own choices.

  Like, you know, everybody's, everyone's kind of a slave to something, aren't they? Mm-hmm. . Um, and I, yeah, so like, it's kind of like, like what is it to be truly free? It's, it's like, as a human being, it's like almost kind of like, what do you want to choose to be ruled by? Like God's rules, your rules, somebody else's rules, who controls you?

  Or you know, like we're all. controlled by something to a certain point, aren't we? And I don't, I think this whole idea that we have of like, I want to be free to, you know, do whatever I wanna do or be who, whoever I wanna be, you know, is anyone truly free? Like, in that respect, um, you know, we're all arguably bound to something, aren't I?

  So for me, better God than my own whims.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, I'm with you. I'm not gonna work that well. Um, no, I think, I think it's totally true. Uh, I think it's free to be whoever I want to be. I, I'd turn that around and say, actually I'm free to be who God's made me to be. Uh, and that's a much better way to come at it, because he makes much better life choices than I do.

  He's got a much better idea of, uh, of what's good and right for me, and this actually comes back to something that Sharon said, you know, talking about the promise of the Holy Spirit and why the Holy Spirit came was because actually, um, you are not resourced necessarily for life. And so the Holy Spirit comes and empowers you to live.

  Right? That's part of what the Holy Spirit does, is the Holy Spirit gives you power and empowers you, therefore, to live, to live life. Mm-hmm. , um, which I think is a really interesting statement. It's quite countercultural. It's kind of like, um, yes, we are saying that as human beings on our own, we are not good enough really to do it.

  We need help. We need him. We need that grace. We need the Holy Spirit. Um, and I, I thought that was a really good point that she brought up. Mm.

  Anna Kettle: I think it ties back to, sorry to bring this up again, everyone, but the Ziggy Zaggy thing that Trish said , because, but, but that was her point, wasn't it? Yeah. That life's Ziggy Zaggy.

  And, um, you know, it doesn't get, it's not a linear straight line always. You know, we have ups and downs in life. We all do. And actually having the Holy Spirit is about being able to say, this is difficult. Life is difficult right now, and I, I don't have all the resources to figure this out on my own or to make everything right again on its own.

  Like come and help me Lord. And actually that, that's the only difference really, isn't it? It's, that's what being a Christian's about. It's about having the Holy Spirit in your corner to be able to draw on and say, come guide me or come help me with this. Or yeah, come tell me what to do about this or give me the resources I don't have in myself to overcome something that's difficult or, yeah,

  Matt Edmundson: yeah, yeah. It's super true. Super true. Uh, Jess Pickford this morning in Frontline was talking about, um, Acts and she said, acts is a really interesting book cuz there's this tension, which sort of is threaded through the book of acts where you see the glorious, which you do, and we're gonna read about a whole bunch of miracles that take place.

  And you see the glorious, but you also see the suffering. And there's this tension where you, where you have to walk with both. , um, you know, both the glorious and the suffering. And if it's all suffering, something's not right. And if you, it's all glorious that something's not right because there just seems to be this sort of tension between both.

  Uh, and so, yeah. So I question for you then. Mm-hmm. , if the holy spirit is, uh, you know, here to empower us to live, how does he do that for you? What happens in your life that is, um, holy Spirit derived for want of a better expression?

  Anna Kettle: Um, are you, are you sort of asking how the Holy Spirit speaks to me? Really?

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah just helps you live, you know, if, if helps you get through life. And I appreciate, that's quite a broad question, so maybe we'll,

  Anna Kettle: yeah. It is a broad question, but it's a good one. Um, I think quite often I tend to pray and ask for guidance when I'm not sure what I'm meant to be doing or I feel a bit outta my depth and I think when I've got different options in front of me or I'm not sure what's the right thing to be doing or how to move forwards, I think often, um, the Holy Spirit guides me or you know, I trust that as I pray that the Holy Spirit is the one that's guiding me as different doors open and close in life and different things come in and out of focus, it's like, oh, you know, perhaps God is leading me this way rather than that's way.

  And I think, um, quite often it's just a sense of peace as well. Yeah. you know, when I dunno what to do or I'm not sure what the right thing is, or like, life's just hard. I can get quite anxious and like stressed out in inside of myself. And I think often I know the Holy Spirit's lead because there's a sense of peace in it that I know isn't me, and it doesn't come from me just figuring something out on my own.

  Quite often when I pray or I push a certain door that I feel like God's saying maybe go this way or go that way. Quite often there's a sense of peace that comes that is sort of supernatural. Um, that yeah, I know kind of comes from beyond myself and Yeah. And that I feel is quite often how the Holy Spirit leads or guides me and, um, and helps me, I think quite often that that's something I've learned to recognize more and more as the years have gone on.

  Yeah. Um, that actually when I'm not in tune or in step with God. Like quite often that sense of peace is gone and I'm quite stressed and wound up and on edge and you know, not, it's not always recognizable to other people, but you can feel it inside of yourself. Can't you quite often?

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, you can. Yeah, you can.

  I think you're totally right. It's one of those things, isn't it? I, and it's interesting the language you use this sort of guiding peace because it's the Holy Spirit being involved in your life and empowering you to live is not all sunshine and rainbows. But in that, like we talked about this tension between suffering and and glory.

  Um, in that suffering, there can be peace, can't there? And there can, I mean there can be torment, there can be grief, there can be anguish, but there can also be peace, um, uh, despite the circumstances surrounding us. And that's the bit which intrigues me of one of the bits, intrigues me actually about the work of the Holy Spirit.

  Yeah. Um, time and time again, you don't see the Holy Spirit transform external circumstance. You see him transforming internal heart, you know, and it's that, that peace and that rock assurance, that faith that comes, um, which I think is, is, is, is insanely empowering. You know, that actually it doesn't matter what I face, I'm facing it with the God who lives inside me.

  Hello? Do you know what I mean? That's, um, that's kind of game-changing thought processes, right?

  Anna Kettle: It is, it is. Because nobody's got control over everything that happens to 'em in life. Let's be honest. No one gets to choose themselves everything that life throws at them, you know? Mm-hmm. Best will in the world. We, we can't.

  always control our own lives and all of the circumstances that happen around us. You know, I've got friends who've, you know, recently lost loved ones to cancer, you know? Mm-hmm. Have, you know, pregnancy losses, all kinds of stuff that you would never plan or choose and, you know, uh, well with outside of your own control really, but like, that's it, isn't it like although you can't control everything, you can control kind of how, um, how you deal with it.

  Like yeah, you can control whether you walk through it with God or kind of Yeah. It's like you can't control what happens to your life, but you can control, control how you deal with it and how you feel about it, and you know, whether you become stronger through it and all of those sort of things. It's kind of that whole point of view of the world, isn't it?

  Like being a Christian, it's like you can't prevent suffering, but you can. Yeah. It, it totally equips you to deal with it in a different way, I think.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, it does. And it's a really interesting point. And as you're talking, uh, I, I'm, I'm picturing in my head, you know, the sort of the infamous fight with David and Goliath and, you know, everyone in the Army, if you dunno the story is petrified of this guy called Goliath who is basically saying, listen, rather than everybody go to war, you send out your best soldier, I'll fight them.

  And whoever wins wins the battle, right? Save lots of lives. And he would come out and he would taunt the Israelite army for, for days, um, and no one would be willing to fight him. And yet there's this young shepherd boy that comes along. So they call David and they put armor on him and give him a sword. And he realizes that's not him, that's not right.

  And he can't fight according to those rules. He has to fight according to his experiences in God. Right? And so he, he beats Goliath with a stone and a sling, and no one saw that coming, especially Goliath. Or maybe you did and it was too late. I don't know. uh, saw that stone a little bit too late. And there's something about that isn't there, that actually the, the, when the Holy Spirit empowers you to live, it's often in a way that doesn't necessarily make sense to everybody else.

  Mm-hmm. And it's not always in the way that you would expect or think it should be. Mm-hmm. So the, um, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit is not always to give you a house in suburbia, you know, with, with 2.4 children and a Volvo and all that sort of stuff. There are other things going on, and um, and I quite like that.

  I really, really like that because it keeps it unique and interesting. Right?

  Anna Kettle: Yeah. Yeah. Life would be boring if we all just had a Volvo and a house in the suburbs, wouldn't it? I mean, some people have that, but,

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, it's not a criticism that was

  Anna Kettle: the only, the only way to do life.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah. It would be,

  Anna Kettle: and I think you're right, it's the adventure, isn't it, of chasing God and mm-hmm.

  I feel like someone said to me the other day that like life is more about, um, was talking about this with a friend and she was sort of saying how she'd been through some difficult stuff and their life had got a bit easier for a season. Um, and then some life's just recently thrown up a couple more twists and turns to their family and, um, and she was saying, you know, it's, yeah, it is hard, but like life isn't sort of about getting to a destination.

  It's more about journeying with God. It's like, you know, it's, it's kind of a constant journey and the kind of where all those twists and turns take you. It's not kind of like, how fast can I get to the end? You know? There's not like one end point, but yeah, it's about continual journeying on with God throughout your life.

  Um, yeah, I don't think we kind of arrive, do we, like not, not this side of heaven. Anyway,

  Matt Edmundson: I don't think, I don't think we do. I don't ever think you get and go, oh, well I've, I've, I've now got, I've now got that. Paul said it didn't, he said, the one thing I've not done is I've not attained. Yeah. Uh, and you're kind of like, well, okay,

  Yeah. It's, it is an interesting one. And, um, you, you are right, uh, about that whole thing, and the comments here, other cars are available. We are not a product placement advertising platform. We confirm we have not been paid by Volvo to promote their car company. Yeah. Thanks Matt. Appreciate thanks.

  Anna Kettle: Definitely not. Sorry if anyone else drives a Volvo.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, well, you know, some people that's, that's, that is actually the right thing to do, you know? Um, but I think you've gotta go with wherever God's leading you and wherever God leads you tends to be, um, I think uncomfortable. Um, Simon Gillebaud, who was on the What's the Story podcast a few weeks ago, made this really interesting comment.

  He said, you know what, most people aim in life to arrive at death safely. And he is like, surely there has to be more to it than that. Uh, and I thought it was a very interesting comment. You know, a very fascinating comment. I I, I, I want to arrive at death safely without really ruffling any feathers. And, um, I just, I dunno.

  I like, like Simon. I think there's more to it than that. I, I do think there is more to it than that. Anyway, believe it or not, we've run outta time. Uh, on the old Conversation Street, it flies by at a million miles now. Yeah. Yeah. It, uh, especially when you're talking about things like the Holy Spirit. And by the way, just so you know, doesn't it, so , um, he's, he's pretty awesome.

  The Holy Spirit, uh, as you would expect, you know, being part of the Godhead of part of the Trinity, uh, as it were. So I'm just looking down the list now, next week, um, we have got John Sloan talking about the Book of Acts. Uh, just so you know what's coming up, uh, in Crowd Church, uh, Matt, again, in the comments, Matt's written, uh, Edmo divulges talk, bring out passage details for next week's live streams.

  It's like, it's like my PA.

  Anna Kettle: Yes. It's great.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah. So we've got John Sloan talking about habitual Prayer. The week after that as we carry on through the book of Acts, we've got Dave Connolly speaking about how to find God's will. massive topic right there. Mm-hmm. And then, uh, in three weeks' time, we've got Chris Holcombe speaking about God sending the Holy Spirit.

  So we're gonna, there's a section coming in the Book of Acts where the Holy Spirit just, you know, Jesus has promised the Holy Spirit. We've started our conversation, and then in a couple of weeks, the Holy Spirit does come in quite a, quite an impressive way. It has to be said. Uh, and so Chris Holcombe is gonna be talking about that.

  We've got Peter's Pentecost sermon the week after. Um, and so yeah, we've got a whole bunch of stuff coming up on the Holy Spirit. You do not wanna miss any of it, so make sure you stay connected with what's going on. Some great speakers, some great topics.

  Anna Kettle: Um, yeah, for sure.

  Matt Edmundson: Are you hosting any? And next week I'm hosting with Claire Glare. That'll be fun. Claire's just crazy. Yeah, she's gonna have some great stories, uh, no doubt about it. Then Sharon and Rachel are hosting. so.

  Anna Kettle: Oh, wow. Yeah, I get a couple of weeks off after this, but, um, I've done two weeks on, on the, uh, on the row, so, yeah.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, yeah. Totally. And your speak, what, when I'm just looking down the, the, the diary here.

  You're speaking in May. Mm-hmm. Count it all Joy, uh, is the title of Anna's talk. So that's, um, so yeah, you've gotta, and you're hosting quite a few. Okay. So yeah, you're gonna see a lot of Anna. So some good stuff coming up. The bottom line is stay connected, uh, with us. Yeah. Um, it'll be great to see you. We, promote the Zoom.

  He really is my PA. So yes, on a Wednesday evening, if you would like to connect with us on Zoom and come and join in our online community where we just catch up, we chat, um, on Zoom, we pray. Um, and, you know, just talk about life. Really encourage one another, um, its about as complex as it gets really. Um, and, uh, if you would like to do that, come join us on a Wednesday evening.

  It'd be great to see you. It'd be great to meet you in there. Um, if you'd like more information about that, do reach out to us at crowd church via the website, which I think I can put on the screen there. If you go to www.crowd.church, uh, or connect with us on social media, we'll send you those Zoom details and you can come join in the conversation.

  Like I say, just reach out to us and we'll quite happily send those to you. Uh, Anna, anything else from you?

  Anna Kettle: I don't think so, but it's been a pleasure joining you guys tonight. Um, yeah, I really enjoyed that. It's inspiring to talk about the Holy spirit, isn't it?

  Matt Edmundson: It is, it is. And it's gonna get better. Let me tell you some of the stuff coming up.

  Oh, yes. Mm-hmm. I've been planning my, I've got a talk coming up, uh, in a couple months time. Uh, when's the talk? I'm doing, uh, March, mid-March. So yeah, a couple of months. Mm-hmm. very excited about that talk. Been loving it. Uh, talking to it is the story where the, um, if you know the book of Acts, there's a story where there's a guy who is lame from birth begging at the temple gates.

  Uh, and, um, he gets instantly healed, uh, and everything goes a bit crazy. So, um, yeah, it's all good stuff. Loving, honestly loving this series of acts. Should have done it sooner. Yeah, it's, it's all good stuff. It's all good stuff, right. That's it from me. That's it from the beautiful Anna. Thank you so much, uh, for joining us.

  It's been an absolute treat and pleasure as always, to, uh, just to talk about the things of God with you all. Uh, and if you'd like to say, if you would like to know more about us, do reach out to us at Crowd Church. Um, that's it from me. That's it from Anna. God bless you. Have a fantastic week.

  Anna Kettle: Have a great week everyone.

  Matt Edmundson: Bye for now.

  Thank you so much for joining us here on Crowd Church. Now if you are watching on YouTube, make sure you hit the subscribe button as well as that little tiny bell notification to get notified the next time we are live. And of course, If you are listening to the podcast, uh, the Livestream podcast, make sure you also hit the follow button. Now by smashing the like button on YouTube or writing a review on your podcast platform.

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  It has been awesome to connect with you, and you are awesome. It's just a burden you have to bear. And hopefully we'll see you next time. That's it from us. God bless you. Bye for now.