Episode Transcript
HEAR
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
CONSIDER
Today our Holy Spirit story comes from the Farm Team's very own, Anna Grace Legband! Anna Grace is the Associate Director of Events, New Room and many of you have heard her share on the Wake-Up Call. And this Advent, she'll be on the Wake-Up Call sharing Brought to the Light, Seedbed's 2025 Advent resource.
Anna Graces's love for Jesus and people shines in how she lives her life. In this story you'll hear an unexpected moment of encouragement the Holy Spirit orchestrated for her. Below, you can read the story in her own words, and, if you listen, you will hear it in her own voice.
As we’ve gone through our summer series, “Encourage One Another Daily,” and I started thinking about a story to share with you, I found myself asking: What’s the most encouraging thing someone has ever said to me?
I want to invite you to ask yourself the same thing. Has there ever been a word of encouragement spoken over your life that marked you? Not just something kind or polite—but a word that breathed courage into you, gave you direction, and became a bedrock you’ve returned to time and time again?
For me, a few moments came to mind. But one stood out—and as I sat down to write this, I realized it happened exactly ten years ago to the day.
I was seventeen, spending the summer interning with my local church’s youth group. Every July, our youth would participate in a local mission week—serving at various worksites across the county. As interns, we ran supply errands after hours, often making late-night Walmart runs to get whatever was needed for the next day.
One evening, after one of those runs, I found myself outside Waffle House sitting next to a dumpster, talking with a man named Mr. Bill who was experiencing homelessness at that time. He mentioned something about God in conversation, so I asked him, “Do you consider yourself a Christian?” He said, “I try my best to be.”
He went on to share that he was a street evangelist who had recently given away his last Bible to a friend who had come to Christ. Mr. Bill was completely blind and could no longer read, but missed being able to read and study scripture. I offered to read to him from my Bible out loud. We chose Romans and sat by that dumpster for over an hour, reading and talking and praying together.
As I got up to leave, Mr. Bill grabbed both my shoulders, looked me in the eyes for the first time (even though he couldn’t see), and said: “God has given you a voice that people are going to listen to. He will give you the words to say. You don’t need to be afraid.”
I was stunned. I mumbled a thank you and climbed into the backseat of a car full of other church interns. What Mr. Bill didn’t know was that those words were a direct confirmation of a calling I had been discerning for months. His exact phrasing mirrored language I had only shared with God in prayer. It’s not an exaggeration to say that without that word of encouragement, I might not be where I am today.
I love this story, because it’s one of encouragement from an unexpected, hidden, and seemingly insignificant place. A prophetic blessing spoken across boundaries that exist between generations, gender, socioeconomic class, and many others. A blind man, sitting beside a dumpster, speaking courage and calling into a seventeen-year-old girl’s life. His words of encouragement remain a gift I still carry and a place I go back to.
This is the upside-down way of the kingdom. God moves in the margins. He loves to speak through the overlooked and the unlikely. And if we’re willing to listen, we’ll hear His voice encouraging us in places and from people we least expect—carrying words of power, calling, and love.
PRAY
Lord thank you for your voice, which is still alive and active today. Thank you that you speak to us and through us. Help us to hear your voice, particularly when it comes from unlikely places and people where we least expect it. Amen.
JOURNAL
What’s the most encouraging thing someone has ever said to you? Are there any voices you have discounted—maybe even your own—when it comes to speaking or receiving words of encouragement? What would it look like to reclaim or trust that voice? Ask the Holy Spirit: If you could speak one word of courage into someone else’s life this week, who would it be—and what would you say?
SING
Today, we will sing our Saturday song: "Sanctuary." We will sing it through twice.
