A voice greater than your own

Guest speaker Dan Watson, visiting with his wife and honoring Pastors Max and Juliet, opens with the story of Darren Harrison, a passenger on a small plane in Florida in May 2022 whose pilot suddenly fell unconscious. Darren grabbed the radio, and air traffic controller Robert Morgan calmly talked him down; he surrendered to a voice that knew more than he did because his life depended on it. Dan says the same is true for every believer: we are called to listen to the Holy Spirit rather than pretend we have it all together, because our lives depend on it.

The Spirit is essential, not optional

The Holy Spirit is not an add-on on the menu. Dan traces the Spirit from Genesis 1:2, hovering over the waters, through Jesus' promise in John that He must go so the Helper can come, to the gift promised in Acts 1 and poured out in Acts 2, all the way to Revelation 22:17, where it is the Spirit who gives the invitation to come. At the beginning the Spirit is there, at the end the Spirit is there, and in the middle we are called to live by the Spirit. Romans 8:14 says those led by the Spirit of God are the children of God, and Romans 8:9 warns that anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. We are to walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), not be experience-led, knowledge-led, or paycheck-led.

1. Recognize your need

Dan calls this the power of dependency in a world that treats independence as a badge of honor. His four-year-old son River has picked up the phrase I got it, Daddy, even when he clearly does not have it, and Dan admits that we say the same thing to our heavenly Father. Every season of life is the first time we have been there, and none of us has it. Like a car with no fuel, a life without the Spirit is just a nice body on some feet going nowhere. As 2 Corinthians 3 puts it, our competence comes from God. The Holy Spirit is not just for a meeting or a moment; He is a gift for life, at home with the kids and at work.

2. Respond to His call

When we are led by the Spirit, something shifts: we align ourselves with God's heart and begin to see people the way He sees them, not as dictated by other people's opinions or political parties. Like an artist's final dash of color, the Spirit is the touch that completes the picture. Responding to the Spirit will shake things up, as it did in Acts 4:31. He tells of Evan Roberts and the Welsh revival of 1904 to 1905, when prayer meetings grew until pubs closed, criminals turned themselves in, and Roberts had to crowd surf to reach the pulpit. The church saw what human wisdom could never have planned. "The spirit of God is responsible for power. You're responsible for your obedience."

3. Rely on His voice

We often want the results of the Spirit's power without the obedience that unlocks it. In Acts 8, the Spirit tells Philip to go stand by the Ethiopian official's moving chariot. Philip could have asked why, how long, or what he would say; instead he simply said yes, and at every step the Spirit told him what to do next. Dan urges Elan to be people who say yes to the Lord even without the road map, trusting that God's ways are higher than ours. Obedience is not just a step we take; it is the place where God meets us and shows His power.

Children of God

Scripture calls Spirit-led people children of God, not adults of God. Pointing to the children dedicated earlier in the gathering, Dan names what children have: simple trust (Proverbs 3:5), humble dependence, receptiveness (Matthew 11:25, Mark 10:15), and joy and wonder. God wants to restore that wonder to our faith. Instead of walking into church assuming we know the order of service, we can ask, "Spirit of God, how are you going to move today?" at church, at home, and at work.

The challenge

Dan wonders what Elan's worship, outreach, workplaces, and relationships would look like if the whole body were led by the Spirit. The call is to lay down our own plans and strategies, look to God, and decide how much we want Him now.