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

Why You're Not Enough (And Why That's Actually Good News)

Ever feel like you're supposed to have it all together? That if you just tried harder, prayed more, or figured out the right formula, you'd finally become the person you're meant to be?

In this talk, Sharon Edmundson unpacked a passage where Jesus tells his followers to wait for a gift - the Holy Spirit. But rather than this being another item on the spiritual to-do list, it reveals something liberating about how God actually designed us to live. We're not meant to do this alone. And that's not a failure - it's the design.

The Gift We Didn't Know We Needed

In Acts chapter 1, Jesus has just risen from the dead. He's been hanging out with his followers, eating barbecues, proving he's alive. And before he leaves, he gives them a strange instruction: don't go anywhere. Wait for the gift.

Here’s what the Bible says:

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1: 4 - 5, NIV.)

The disciples had a question though. They wanted to know if this was the moment everything would finally come together for Israel - the political restoration they'd been hoping for. Jesus' answer was essentially: that's not your concern right now. What you need to know is that you've got a job to do, and you can't do it on your own.

Enough Is Overrated

Here's where Sharon said something that cuts against the grain of everything our culture tells us:

"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."

Ouch. But also... relief?

Sharon pointed out that there's something exhausting about constantly feeling like we have to be enough. Scrolling through social media, comparing ourselves to everyone else's highlight reel, trying to measure up. The Bible actually gives us permission to stop pretending.

"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."

This isn't about self-deprecation. It's about honesty that leads somewhere good. When we stop pretending we've got it all sorted, we create space for actual help to arrive.

Freedom Isn't What We Think

Sharon used an illustration that's hard to forget. Imagine a fish deciding it wants to be free from the confines of water. It wants to explore, to live on land, to break free from limitations.

The problem? That "freedom" would kill it.

"We find our freedom and purpose when we live within the boundaries and possibilities that God set for us."

This flips our understanding of freedom on its head. We tend to think freedom means no boundaries, no rules, being able to do whatever we want. But real freedom, the kind that actually leads to flourishing, happens when we live within the design we were made for.

A fish thrives in water. We thrive when we're living the way God intended - connected to him, empowered by his Spirit, part of something bigger than ourselves.

What the Holy Spirit Actually Does

So what does this empowerment look like in real life? Sharon shared her own story of praying for a woman she knew, asking God for opportunities to share his love with her.

"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."

That dream connected directly to something Sharon had heard in church about Jesus being the bread of life. She texted the woman, shared some verses, and the woman responded saying she wanted to know more. A natural, unforced conversation about faith opened up - not because Sharon manufactured it, but because she'd been praying and paying attention.

Sherlon Atkins shared how he received a picture during prayer of knocking on a student's door and seeing the name "Andreas" on the student's forehead. The next day, he was doing exactly that - knocking on doors in student halls - and the same young man from his vision answered. "Your name's Andreas," Sherlon said. The student was stunned: "How did you know my name?"

Dave Connolly told a story from just hours before the service. He was in McDonald's when a staff member approached him, asking if Dave remembered praying for him during Covid. The man had been healed. Now he wanted prayer for his auntie who had cancer. Right there in McDonald's, they prayed together.

These stories aren't about super-Christians with special powers. They're about ordinary people who've learned to pay attention to what God might be doing around them.

Conversation Street

"Does this ever happen to you - someone coming up and saying God told them something about you?"

The discussion opened with Miriam sharing in the comments that someone once approached her saying, "You are Miriam. God told me you've got special needs. Can I pray for you?" Anna shared a story about her university flatmate Harriet, who was exploring faith when a stranger in Greece told her, "My mum's been praying for you. God wants you to know you're on the edge of the kingdom - you can just step in." That encounter was one of several that led Harriet to faith, and she's still a Christian twenty years later.

Matt recalled being a young student with no clear direction when a complete stranger at a prayer meeting told him God was calling him into business - specific details Matt hadn't shared with anyone. Years later, those words proved remarkably accurate.

"How does the Holy Spirit help you live day to day?"

Anna explained that she often prays for guidance when facing decisions or feeling out of her depth. "Quite often it's just a sense of peace," she said. "When I don't know what to do or I'm not sure what the right thing is, I can get quite anxious. But often when I pray, there's a sense of peace that comes that is sort of supernatural - that I know comes from beyond myself."

She noted that when she's not in step with God, that peace disappears. "Actually when I'm not in tune or in step with God, quite often that sense of peace is gone and I'm quite stressed and wound up and on edge."

"What about the tension between suffering and the glorious?"

Matt referenced something Jess Pickford had said earlier that day: Acts contains both glorious moments and suffering, and there's a tension threaded throughout. If it's all suffering, something's not right. If it's all glorious, something's not right either. The Christian life seems to walk with both.

This led to a reflection on how the Holy Spirit's empowerment isn't about transforming external circumstances but transforming the internal heart - bringing peace and assurance even in difficulty.

"What about the fish illustration and freedom?"

The hosts explored how everyone is bound to something. As Anna put it, "Everybody's kind of a slave to something, aren't they? Even if it's not God, you are ruled by what - your own whims or your own choices?"

Matt added that "a free man is a man who knows what binds him" - someone who gets to choose their boundaries rather than having them imposed. The Apostle Paul called himself a "bond servant of Christ" - freely choosing to be bound by Christ's ways.

"Is life about arriving at a destination?"

Anna shared a conversation with a friend who'd been through difficult times, had an easier season, then faced new challenges. Her friend's insight: "Life isn't about getting to a destination. It's about journeying with God." We don't really arrive this side of heaven.

Matt quoted Simon Gillebaud: "Most people aim in life to arrive at death safely." But surely there's more to it than that.

The Adventure of Not Being Enough

There's something genuinely exciting about all this. If we had to be enough on our own, life would be limited to what we could manage. But with the Holy Spirit, we're part of something far bigger - a mission that started in Jerusalem and is still spreading to every corner of the earth.

Sharon ended with an invitation that applies whether you've followed Jesus for decades or you're just starting to wonder if any of this is real:

"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. 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."

Your Next Step This Week

Here are some practical ways to engage with what Sharon shared:

1. Admit your limitations - Instead of pretending you've got it all together, try being honest with God about where you're struggling. He already knows anyway.

2. Ask for opportunities - Like Sharon did with her friend, start praying for God to open natural conversations about faith with people in your life.

3. Pay attention to peace - Notice when you feel that supernatural peace Anna described, and when it's absent. It might be telling you something.

4. Embrace the boundaries - Instead of resisting God's guidelines, try seeing them as the water a fish swims in - the environment where you actually thrive.

5. Stay connected - The Holy Spirit works through community. Join a group, show up to church, don't try to do this alone.

The God Who Doesn't Leave Us Alone

Jesus didn't leave his followers to figure things out by themselves. He sent the Holy Spirit - not as a nice bonus, but as essential equipment for the life he's called us to.

What would change if you stopped trying to be enough on your own? What might open up if you started asking God to show you his plans for the people around you? The disciples waited for the gift. And when it came, it changed everything.

The same Spirit is available today. Not for super-Christians. For ordinary people who've realised they need help - and are ready to receive it.