Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
Encounter - Hearing the Voice of God for Yourself
In this enlightening message from our “Encounter” series, Pastor Tyler Lynde explores how we can discern God’s voice amidst the noise and distractions of our busy lives. Many of us long to hear God’s gentle whisper but struggle to tune into His guidance. Tyler delves into the unique ways God communicates with us—through scripture, dreams, visions, and even miraculous signs.
Drawing from the experiences of biblical figures like Elijah and Samuel, Tyler highlights the importance of developing a posture of readiness to hear God’s voice. Elijah’s encounter with God’s still, small voice and Samuel’s journey of discernment serve as powerful illustrations of divine communication. Tyler emphasizes that the Holy Spirit is an active guide, communicating God’s will and helping us navigate our spiritual journey.
He introduces practical tools to help us create dedicated space for spiritual reflection. By cultivating a habit of intentional listening using the “HEAR” approach, we can better discern the Holy Spirit’s voice amidst everyday distractions. Tyler encourages us to set aside regular moments for stillness, allowing us to lean into God’s quiet and still voice.
Tyler also addresses common hindrances that prevent us from hearing God clearly, such as unrepented sin, pride, busyness, and unresolved conflicts. He offers practical advice on overcoming these barriers, reminding us that removing obstacles and making time for God is essential for deepening our relationship with Him.
As you engage with this message, you’ll be invited to embrace intentional listening and discover the profound joy of responding to God’s call. Tyler reassures us of God’s enduring love and guidance, even when His voice seems distant. By fostering a deeper connection with the divine, we allow His unconditional love to guide us through life’s challenges and triumphs.
We invite you to watch this transformative exploration of hearing God’s voice for yourself. Join us in learning how to create space for divine communication and deepen your relationship with God.
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So we're in the middle of a sermon series called Encounter, and today we're going to be talking about hearing the voice of God for yourself.
Tyler Lynde:This Encounter series is all about understanding the person and work of the Holy Spirit. God desires for each one of us to have real encounters, real encounters with the Holy Spirit that lead to godly transformation in our lives first, and then in the lives of others around us. Last week, john did a great job reminding us about the fruit of the Spirit. Let's see Will Welcome, and we're so thankful for what he brought to us. The fruit of the Spirit should be evident in an ever-increasing way in the life of Christ followers. You agree with that. How many of you were tempted in one of those nine ways this last week? Right, patience, anybody. Yeah, that's one that you know. They always say don't pray for patience, because God will definitely send it to you in one way or another, but it is important. The fruit of the Spirit should be actively increasing in our lives. Like I said, today we're going to be looking at the fact that the Holy Spirit speaks to us. He speaks to us. We, as believers in Jesus, have the God-given ability to hear and discern the voice of God and I want your faith to increase this morning. I want you to believe, coming out of here, that you, as an individual follower of Jesus, have the ability to hear and discern the voice of God in your life. How many of you know, we're living in a day and a time when that is essential. That's not something that's just an add-on that we can have or not have. We must hear the voice of God, we must be led by him, and so my hope and my faith in our prayer that we've been praying together as an elder team, and also all of the prayer people this morning that prayed We've been praying that God would develop in all of us a greater faith in the area of being able to hear the voice of God.
Tyler Lynde:Let's look at John, chapter 10, verses 1 through 5. Jesus says truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens, the sheep listen, hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own. He goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. You notice, they hear his voice and they discern, or they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.
Tyler Lynde:Let's pray together, Father. We ask, in Jesus name, that you would cause your words of life to infiltrate our minds and our hearts and our spirits. Today, lord God, we ask that the Holy Spirit would bear witness within our spirits that we are children of God. And if we're children of God, then we have been given the great gift of being in relationship with you. And so, father, I pray that you would help us, help our faith to increase, help us to understand more clearly how you speak and how to listen and discern your voice. In Jesus' name, amen.
Tyler Lynde:I don't want to shock you too bad this morning, but I do want you to know that the Bible is really not about you and me primarily. I know that maybe you've been told, or maybe, as you read the scriptures, you think about it in terms of yourself, and there's nothing necessarily wrong with that. It is about us. Right, it should be ministering to us as individuals. But there's a bigger picture involved. It's his story, his story, it's the story of a father and a son and the spirit who desires to cause their will, their purpose, their plans to come to pass. So, god, the father looked at his son and said within himself I want to create a bride that is worthy of my son. And the son looked at his father and within himself, he said I want to create children, other children, for my father to be able to enjoy and to be in relationship with. And so the Holy Spirit, having discerned the voice and the thoughts of the father and the words of Jesus Christ, came to this planet and we all, we have all of the. And God said boom. And God said boom.
Tyler Lynde:And finally, god created human beings. Why did he create us? Just so that we would be like pets to him? Or so that we could? You know, why did he create humanity? He created us because he wanted to have a living, active relationship with us, and we see that in Genesis, chapter 1.
Tyler Lynde:Let's look at that Genesis, chapter 1, verses 26 through 28. You see, the first experience of mankind was to hear the voice of God, the first experience of human beings on this planet, when God breathed into them the breath of life, the first thing that happened is they heard God speak. Genesis 1, 26 says Then God said let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God. He created him Male and female. He created them, and God blessed them. And God what Said to them? Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. So what was, again, the first thing that God did after he created humanity was to speak to them, to speak with them, and in fact, we know that this wasn't just instructional, it wasn't just God giving a commandment to them, because we'll see other places in scripture where it says that God walked and talked with them in the cool of the day. Imagine walking and talking with God. What an amazing experience. That's the kind of relationship that God intended to have with human beings that were created. We were created to be part of his family, to be prepared to be a bride for his son.
Tyler Lynde:So what's the problem? We all know it. It's got three letters. And what is it? Say it a little louder Sin Say it a little louder Sin.
Tyler Lynde:Sin brought separation in the relationship between God and man. Look at Colossians, chapter one, verse 21, with me. This includes you, who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Who is the you here? Was it Satan? Oh yeah, it was Satan. But who else? Who was it after Satan? Who was it? Every person ever born on this planet, except for this is we're back in Sunday school. Here you can answer Jesus. That's the right answer, except for Jesus. Right? We are all. We were all enemies of God, separated from him because of sin. Sin brought a separation between God and man. It created an unnatural relationship. It created a break in relationship.
Tyler Lynde:But how many of you know that sin could not win in the end? And why is that the case? Because at the very time that God, the Father, spoke the curses over this planet and over humanity, and over Satan, he also said in Genesis 3.15 that there would be the seed of a woman who would come and that Satan would attempt to strike him in the heel, but that he would what Crush his head. So, even at the very point of the breaking of relationship, god, the Father said this is not the end of this story, aren't you glad? End of this story, aren't you glad? In Colossians 1, verse 22, it says this includes you who were once far away from God. Does that include us Absolutely? You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.
Tyler Lynde:But then let's read the next verse, verse 22,. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him, without a single fault. Do you believe this? That is a radical saying. You know what Jesus did? He repaired the breach. He created a bridge where we could be reunited in relationship with our heavenly father. What a gift of grace that is, what a blessing it is. And we just took communion as a representation, as a celebration of gratitude for what Jesus did so that we could be made right with God.
Tyler Lynde:God sent his son, jesus, to save us from sin. He gave his life so that we might have eternal life. How does all of this get accomplished? Well, jesus sent Holy Spirit. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to speak truth to us. Let's look at John, chapter 16, and this has been a verse that's been referenced several times in this series already Verse 12,. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
Tyler Lynde:Jesus is talking to his disciples just after the time at the last supper. They're on their way to the garden of Gethsemane and he's speaking these words to them. When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not what speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak. How does he guide us? He speaks to us and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. God not only created an avenue, a pathway for us to be in right relationship with him, through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, but he also sent his secret agent into the world, the Holy Spirit, to live on the inside of us, to speak to us, to direct us, to lead us, to guide us, to instruct us.
Tyler Lynde:But make no mistake about it, and some of you have said, and some of you even are thinking this this morning I've never heard the voice of God. And I'm not here to argue with you, but I am here to say you may be wrong on that. Here's what I mean. The first truth that the Holy Spirit speaks to us is our desperate need for salvation. All of us who are believers in Jesus Christ were called by the Spirit of God to respond to the gospel message and to repent and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. So the very first act of our relationship with God started with you hearing the voice of God. Now, you may not have known it was the voice of God. You may not have discerned it like that, it may not have shook the heavens, it may not have been like lightning or thunder. But I'm telling you you could not be saved. I could not be saved unless the voice of the Holy Spirit drew me to understand my need for a Savior.
Tyler Lynde:We believe that the Holy Spirit lives in the lives of all believers, all believers. He does not sit there silently. Scripture says that he testifies of the truth of God, he speaks into our lives, he guides us, he counsels us, he directs us. All of these things speak of leadership, and they speak of him communicating with us, and they speak of him communicating with us. Is your faith beginning to build, even now?
Tyler Lynde:Now Jesus is speaking in the John 10 passage to his followers. And what has just happened? The chapter before, there was a man that was blind since birth, and you remember this story and maybe we'll have a reenactment later. But Jesus stooped over and spit in the dirt and made some mud and applied it to the eyes of the man who was blind, and he told him to go wash himself in the pool of Siloam. And when he did, guess what happened, he was healed. There's only one problem when did this happen? It happened on Shabbat. It happened on Sabbath day, which was considered a holy day where there was no work to be done, and so Jesus broke the rules. It's funny how can you break the rules that were yours in the first place? That's a little arrogant of us to put on him, isn't it? But he broke the rules right. So he healed this man on the Sabbath day. And so the leaders of the law, the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day couldn't handle it. And so they bring this man in and they question him who was this man? Who did this? How is it possible that? That were you just faking it? They're, they're. They're quizzing his parents. They're wanting to find out. Why is it that this? How did this happen? And finally they pull his membership card and say you can't come here anymore. What is your sin? You got healed on the Sabbath day. You got healed on the Sabbath day.
Tyler Lynde:And then Jesus begins to talk to the crowds, to his disciples and to those very same religious leaders, about the difference between religion that comes to harm and to kill, and about relationship that has at its very core principle a good shepherd who leads us and guides us and keeps us and transforms us. All of the things that Jesus does. What beautiful imagery. I'm not going to even try to get into the whole. You know the whole shepherd thing because Mark did such a great job the first two weeks in September. So please, if you haven't heard that message yet, go back to YouTube or find us on Spotify and listen to the podcast of those two messages, because they were so impactful.
Tyler Lynde:God is speaking, is speaking, the Holy Spirit is speaking, and he wants us to hear his voice and to follow it, amen. So let's look at this a little bit closer. Some ways that the Holy Spirit speaks to us. I want to make this as practical as I can. The number one way that the Holy Spirit speaks to us is no mystery. How is it?
Tyler Lynde:The word of God, the word of God? Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 12. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Does the word of God? Do we read the of the heart? Does the word of God, do we read the word of God or does the word of God read us? Hopefully, both right. When we read the word of God, you know what we need to do Pray before you read the word. Say Father, would you open up my eyes of understanding that I could see clearly what it is that you're trying to say to me today? Holy Spirit, open my eyes, help me to see the truth, help me to walk in your ways, help me to know and discern your voice today from the scriptures that I'm reading. Give God an opportunity, right, it's really not even giving God an opportunity. It's giving us an opportunity to tune in right. Even giving God an opportunity. It's giving us an opportunity to tune in right.
Tyler Lynde:The word of God reveals his will, his desire and his plan for mankind. It provides us with the knowledge of salvation. It is the primary way that God speaks to us today, the primary way we will never grow out of a need to hear God from his word. If you get to that point, or if you're following somebody that gets to that point, please run away. Run away from yourself, run away from that thought, because it's not from God. There is a temptation. There is a popular thought process within the world today that says we need to parse and parcel out the scriptures and you can believe the words of Jesus, but not the words of Paul. You can throw away the Old Testament. Let me tell you something the word of God is powerful and we need every single word that's found in it Amen. Found in it Amen. Any other way we believe God is speaking to us should always be evaluated through the lens of scripture and utilizing the Bible as a filter for all truth.
Tyler Lynde:So, following the scriptures, the next thing is sound biblical teaching and, by the way, I'm not going to be able to give an exhaustive list, I'm giving categories or examples. Sound biblical teaching, hopefully, like what you're hearing right now, sound biblical teaching that you can put yourself under, that God may be speaking to you directly. I know that there have been so many messages in my life that God has used to that have been like lifelong messages. Other people have spoken that I've been under them, listening to them, and God has spoken to me. I know Rick was talking about the difference between being thankful in all things and being thankful for all things and the distinction between the two. I'm going to have to mull that over, because it's easy to do the one but the other oh, my goodness.
Tyler Lynde:So anyway, sound biblical teaching, how about Bible-based podcasts? There are some really good ones out there. There's one called Known the Podcast and if you haven't checked that one out yet, I encourage you on all of your devices to locate that one. Known the podcast. I even made a guest appearance on there for two weeks. I don't know how that happened and I have no idea what I said because I didn't listen back to it. So please pray that you'll be able to discern what is the voice of God and what is maybe my own voice in that. But it's an important discussion.
Tyler Lynde:Notice that it all has in common that it must be in the Bible and affirm God's truth. Do not follow a podcast just because somebody has a good communication skill. That can't be the only reason. Everything must be based and baked and cultivated and come from the riches that are mined from the word of God. How many of you have experienced God speaking through other people? God speaks through others. We're going to spend a lot of time next week looking at that. God uses whomever he chooses to build up the church for the good work we are called to do. Godly relationships are meant to disciple and grow one another to fulfill our God-given purpose and potential. God speaks through other people. He really does Pay attention. God speaks through supernatural beings. This is exciting.
Tyler Lynde:Now, first of all, let me say this you realize that the definition of supernatural is it's supernatural to us. It's not supernatural to God. This is the realm that he lives in. This is completely normal and natural for him. So don't make it something that it's not. It is supernatural to us because it's something that is out of the ordinary, that happens in our time, in our day, in a moment in time. Right, it's God intervening in a situation. So it is supernatural to us, but to God. This is his MO, this is how he operates, this is who he is. So the gifts of the spirit, one way that God speaks to people.
Tyler Lynde:We had some examples of that this morning. I remember in my own life, the first time that I ever considered being a pastor was somebody prophesied over me when I was eight years old and said that God is calling you to the ministry and he's calling you to be a pastor. And my dad was a pastor and I knew at eight years old I didn't want to do that. So why was that word important for me? So why was that word important for me? Because God was establishing something in my life that I was going to try to run from for a season, but he was going to always bring me back to it because it was what he had called me to do. That make sense.
Tyler Lynde:How about dreams and visions? God speaks through dreams and visions as well. Acts 2.17,. And in the last days it shall be. God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. Now I'm not going to ask you if you're seeing visions or having dreams okay, that's not what this morning is about, right. But I know that God speaks in these ways. If you just think about the name Joseph in the Bible Old Testament, new Testament we have beautiful examples of people who saw dreams, had dreams that God gave to them. Right, and did God fulfill those dreams? Absolutely, he fulfilled them. Right Now, not every dream is from God.
Tyler Lynde:Some dreams are because you ate pepperoni pizza. Some dreams are because you were watching a movie and your mind continues the movie on and puts you as one of the characters in the movie. So, but if there's a dream that comes to you, that sticks with you and you can't seem to get away from it, maybe you need to ask the Lord. Lord, would you show me? Is there something about that dream that I need to pay attention to? God can use dreams for warnings. He can use dreams for vision. He can use dreams in many, many different ways, and visions are just daydreams. So, like Peter when he was on the roof and the blanket came down to him with all the animals on it and the voice said rise, kill and eat. That was a vision, that was a daydream, right?
Tyler Lynde:Also, signs and wonders. Signs and wonders are ways that God can speak to us. Hello, pay attention. Here's a sign, here's a wonder. What are they supposed to do? Point to Jesus. If they point to a person, run from it. If they point to Jesus, pay attention. How about a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day? How about a donkey speaking? Can God speak through a donkey? He did. I won't go into what that could mean for the rest of us, right? How about Gideon's fleece? God spoke to Gideon through his fleece. Right On and on, examples that we could go through.
Tyler Lynde:I remember one time being in a service and a glory cloud filled the room. I was a teenager and I was old enough to recognize it wasn't just an air conditioning problem right, the air conditioning was working properly but the room literally filled with the cloud. And the thing that I recognized, the thing that made me, as a teenager, recognize that God was with us. People were not shouting. Nothing wrong with shouting. People weren't running around. Nothing wrong with running around. People weren't dancing. Nothing wrong with dancing. You know what they were doing. They were on their face in the presence of a holy God. What a powerful thing to experience.
Tyler Lynde:God in signs and wonders, angelic visitation how many of you know? Just as there are demons and in fact there are twice as many angels as there are demons I think we forget that sometimes there are twice as many angels as there are demons. The spirit world is real. If you don't believe me, go to Haiti. If you go to Haiti, you go to Africa, you go to some of these places. You will discern very quickly that there are good forces and there are evil forces. There is demonic activity and there is angelic activity. We're not supposed to pray to angels, we're not supposed to command angels, but we do know that God uses angels as messengers. Can you think what's an example of an angel giving a message in the scriptures? Who? Yeah? Gabriel speaking to Mary? Right, many, many examples throughout scripture.
Tyler Lynde:And then also the audible voice of God. The audible voice of God. And though there is no biblical reason why God can't choose to speak audibly today, the reality is that it's fairly rare. It's fairly rare, I don't know how many I don't not asking for a show of hands. I don't know how many of you have literally heard the audible voice of God, like when God was speaking to Saul. Saul, saul, why are you persecuting me? How do we know it was audible? Because those around him heard what A sound like thunder. They couldn't discern what it was that God was saying, but they knew something was happening. But Saul heard it and it began the change and the transformation that we see so beautifully poured out in the book of Acts and beyond. What a transformation, right.
Tyler Lynde:The only time that I can ever recall hearing the audible voice of God was at a very dark time in our lives. Our son, levi, was at the point of death. He had a disease called Stevens-Johnson which was attacking his entire body and especially his mouth was closed and sealed. Amy had to feed him with a straw. We took him to nine doctors, I think, and none of them could really discover or figure out what was wrong with him. And so one day I couldn't handle it anymore, so I just got in my vehicle and started driving and turned the music up as loud as I could, and then I just started screaming. Did you know, God's not bothered by us screaming. I was screaming at him. What are you doing? Take me. That was my prayer. Save his life and take mine. I pulled over and I don't know if it was audible or not, but it shook me when God said to me Levi will live. And I know not everybody has that testimony and I'm so sorry for those of you who have lost loved ones in similar scenarios. Levi was completely transformed from that day on.
Tyler Lynde:It wasn't that he was immediately healed. Something happened in him as well, and we didn't know until years later. When we were having a Bible study in our house, we were talking about hearing the voice of God and we asked have anybody in this room have an example of hearing the voice of God? And Levi raised his hand and said one day, when I was very, very sick, the Lord spoke to me and said that I was going to live and I can tie it to that same day, the day God spoke to me. God spoke that to him as well. I needed. I was in such a place of desperation and brokenness that I needed to hear from God, not only for myself. I needed to be able to go tell my wife. God spoke to me. He is going to live as if you don't know. Levi's sitting right here and he is alive and well. Thanks be to God. So God speaks to us through supernatural means.
Tyler Lynde:God also speaks to us sometimes through circumstances. You experience that God sometimes speaks to us through life circumstances, in times of difficulty, in seasons of blessing, and opened and closed doors. Yet again, we have to filter what we think we're hearing or seeing through the light of scripture. Not all open doors are from God, please hear. Hear me when I say that when God wants to bless you, he opens the right doors, but when Satan wants to curse you, he opens what seems to be the right doors, but they're the wrong doors. Right doors lead to holiness and righteousness. Wrong doors lead to sin and unrighteousness.
Tyler Lynde:Again, amy and I experienced this when we were young and newly married. I was working in the pizza and delivering pizza, and an opportunity came for us to be able to purchase a Christian bookstore. Here's the problem. We didn't have any money, and so we asked for some counsel from some people who were kind of like non-committal, like you really need to hear God on this. And then we asked God for an open door, and in the mail, we got a notification of a credit card that we could take out for the exact amount not joking the exact amount that we needed to make the purchase of this bookstore. And so we took that as God opening the door and we took the credit card out and we purchased the business, and was it two years later, a year and a half later, a year later, whenever he was born we don't equate it with Jordan's birth, but it was around that time, yes. So, anyway, what happened was it was not a sustainable business, and so we ended up having to basically to just offload that business and lose $20,000 in the process.
Tyler Lynde:Now, did God just disappear from the scene during that time? Do you know how many lives were touched because we were in that place in that time, including ours? I'm not just saying that we were the ones doing all of the. We had conversations with people. People would come into the store and talk to each other and God would speak to them. So am I upset that that happened? I'm upset that we didn't discern correctly, but I also understand that God turns all things together for his good, for those who are called according to his purpose, and so God did accomplish a lot of things through that time, but, man, that was tough. So make sure that you don't just use the open door policy. It has to be an open door that God opens, amen, and he can give you discernment on that. He will.
Tyler Lynde:And this one is probably the most important, the one I want to land on here for a minute An inner voice or impression, something that you experience or feel on the inside of yourself, and this is really hard to describe, like in English. I feel like if I could say it in my prayer language I might be able to communicate it better. I don't know, it's just strange, it's hard to say in words. It's a knowing that comes from God, that registers on the inside of who you are. Your born-again spirit bears witness with the Holy Spirit that is speaking to you and your soul somehow is in the mix and picks it up. It registers with your mind, your will and your emotions. So it's God speaking to you. The Holy Spirit is quickening your spirit, which is born again and made alive to God, and then somehow they zap your mind and your mind picks it up and discerns it and understands it.
Tyler Lynde:We need to do a Christian version of Inside Out, the movie Inside Out, where we can kind of try to personify this and make it a little bit more easy to comprehend. But in my life I would have to say that 95% no, I can't say that because majority of the time is through the word of God but the times that I have felt like the Lord spoke to me directly or distinctly, especially directionally, leading me question that I had in front of him, things like that, the majority of the time it has come through this kind of experience when I've just had the sense that God was saying something to me. Does that make sense? And again, I want you to, I want to be able to explain this in a way that you can begin to experience it, because you are, honestly, I believe you already are experiencing it. You may not recognize it all the time, but it is. It's just a knowing, it's just a feeling. Any other words to help me with this? An unction that's another Bible word. Right, it's an unction. It's a yeah, it's not weird, it's a guide. It's a yeah, it's all of those things.
Tyler Lynde:Now, even in the biblically recorded instances of God's speakings, it doesn't always say in what form he spoke, right, like, was it audible? Was it an inner voice, like I'm talking about? Was it a mental impression or realization? Was it an image that somebody saw? Sometimes people see images. Was it a what was it? How was God speaking? It doesn't define it always for us, right? And so one of the reasons that I think that is is because we tend to formulize things. Have you noticed that? And so if I hear from God in a particular way, then you must hear from God in the same way. But how many of you know God created us all with distinct what Flavors? I'm not going to mention his name because this is online, but somebody in the church said flavors, which is not horribly wrong, but I was going to say personalities, right, distinct personalities, distinct ways of thinking about things, approaching things, you know, feeling things, expressing things.
Tyler Lynde:We're all unique, right, and so God, in a relational way, just as we do, how many of you know that you communicate with different people in different ways, based on who you are and based on who they are? Yeah, my wife and my daughter sound a lot alike. Sometimes my daughter and this is hard because I only have one daughter, so you know who it is right. Sometimes my daughter intentionally tries to trick me into thinking that I'm talking to my wife. So I'll call my wife's number, but they're together. My daughter will answer the phone. Hello, and I have to pause for a minute.
Tyler Lynde:Not that I'm waiting necessarily for God to show me, but I'm trying to discern carefully because I may have a completely different conversation with my wife than I would with my daughter, and I don't need to go into any further clarification on that. Right. It's important to know. So God chooses to speak to us relationally. He's created us uniquely and so he speaks to us in unique ways. The principles are the same in unique ways. The principles are the same. What he says is all uniform in the sense that it all is in line with who he is and all of those things. But he may speak to you vastly different than he does to me, and that's exciting to me. I'm thankful that God is so creative in his approach.
Tyler Lynde:So let's get into the nuts and bolts a little more. Believers can learn how to hear Holy Spirit clearly. I'm just going to tell you right now I'm not going to be able to finish this entire message this morning, so we're going to do what we can and then we'll take a break and we'll come back tonight. We could, but we'll come back next Sunday. We'll pick it up where we left off. Okay, is that okay with you? All right, good, we'll come back next Sunday and we'll pick it up where we left off. Okay, is that okay with you? All right, good, because even if it's not, we're probably going to pass the plant. So work with me here so believers can learn how to hear, and we're going to use an acronym here. Sometimes acronyms help us to remember things, right, so we're going to use an acronym for hear on how we can hear the Holy Spirit clearly.
Tyler Lynde:So the H is make it a habit to listen to the Holy Spirit. How many of us, literally every day, take time to practice listening to the Holy Spirit? If we're not doing that, this is not condemnation hour. I'm encouraging you. Begin to do that. If you are doing it, do it even more than what you are Listen, make it a habit to listen to the Holy Spirit. Learning the unforced rhythms of grace requires practice. Now, what is the problem with this? We live in a society that appreciates and promotes and applauds what Busyness, business or busyness, either one right. So the more that you do and the more that you can say that you do, the more that you've accomplished, hopefully, and everybody else will judge you based on your accomplishments.
Tyler Lynde:And so it's very hard sometimes within our culture, within our mindset, to break free from that so that we can actually focus in on taking time to listen to the Holy Spirit. It goes like this we wake up each day, try to maximize every moment before us. We get ready as fast as we can, we eat breakfast on our way out the door. We pack every possible moment with meetings, work, chores, children, exercise, zoo driving, shopping, eating, emails, facebook, instagram, phone calls, texts, social media, errands, entertainment and ministry, just to name a few. I'm tired just reading it. Our lives are stretched to the max. Our days are full from the time we wake up to the time we drop into bed and hope that we can somehow fall asleep. And though we're living very full days, we often come to the realization that we're quite unfulfilled because there's no time to simply be. You know what the voice of the Holy Spirit gives us a chance to do? Just to be, to be with Him, just to be, to be with him.
Tyler Lynde:There are times when Amy and I, after a busy season in our lives, spend time together, but we don't talk a lot while we're spending that time together, because it's enough for us just to be together. Does that make sense? God wants to be with us. So how do we do that? How do we create a habit? Choose a time to be still before God in devotion. Choose a time, put it on your calendar. Put it on your calendar, set a reminder. Choose a time to be still before God in devotion. Psalm 46.10 says be still and know that I am God. Practice stillness, practice silence, practice solitude, practice listening. That's one way to do this.
Tyler Lynde:Another way to create a habit is to create an atmosphere that helps you to focus in on hearing God. Some of you may be able to hear God while you're listening to music at 100 decibels Is that right, very loudly? Or some of you may be able to hear God as you're you know, driving down the road at hopefully at the speed limit, right? So maybe you may be able to hear. So I'm not trying to limit that, but I am saying there are times where we need to create an atmosphere for us to practice the presence of God.
Tyler Lynde:For me, that looks like a Spotify playlist that I've made. That's all of my favorite worship songs and I'm able to play that. I don't have to sing along to every song. I don't have to stand necessarily, clap my hands, raise my hands, bow although I can do all of those things. I'm creating a space for God. I'm creating an atmosphere for Him to feel welcome and for my mind to be able to focus in on what it is I'm trying to hear. Does that make sense? So, whatever that looks like for you for some of you it's going to look like you having a journal in your hands, with a pen or a pencil. It's going to look like you turning your notifications off of your phone. The world will not end. I'm of the age that I lived before cell phones. I lived when you still had a cord attached to your phone. That's as far as you could go If you stepped out of the house. All bets are off. You may find me, you may not right. Somehow we survived, we made it. So I encourage you turn off your notifications, turn the TV off, unless you're playing your worship music through it.
Tyler Lynde:Some people create an atmosphere for themselves to be able to focus in by walking through it. Some people create an atmosphere for themselves to be able to focus in by walking, walking and talking with God. That's biblical, right. Here's one Fishing, amen. I have a saying that I believe I heard it when I was very young. God talks to little boys while they're fishing. God's always talking. Why is it the little boys hear him when they're fishing? Because they're quiet. You're supposed to be quiet in order to catch fish. That's why taking grandchildren fishing is entirely different. That's not called catching, that's called fishing. But get quiet. I guess God could talk to you while you're shopping. I mean, we could make a whole list, but create an atmosphere I love. Rick mentioned this yesterday.
Tyler Lynde:Brother Lawrence wrote a book called Practicing the Presence of God and he made a determination that, no matter what he was doing, that he was going to include God in it. He was a cook for a monastery and so he would say, when I'm chopping carrots, I'm chopping carrots with Jesus. Jesus is here with me. And he made himself aware of the constant presence of God just in the daily routines of life. And then, of course, he did have separate times where he spent with God in the quiet, in the still, where he could really focus in. But let's take God with us. You know he's already there. Let's acknowledge it. Let's welcome him.
Tyler Lynde:Next thing is make sure that your prayer time is conversational. How many of you have experienced a relationship in your life? And do not elbow your neighbor. It's not allowed today. But how many of you have experienced a relationship in your life where one person did 99.9% of the talking? How did that make you feel Valued, appreciated, loved? Not necessarily right. It's interesting how we think of prayer, as us talking to God. Prayer is communication with God. It's talking to Him and it's listening to Him. It's talking to Him and it's listening to Him. That's the rhythm of it. It's the rhythm of grace. Encourage you to practice that. And then, finally, don't end the conversation at the end of your devotional time. Don't say amen and then well off to do the rest of my stuff.
Tyler Lynde:Our family has a group chat, a family chat, and so sometime during the day I can be sure that I'm going to get a picture or video of one of my grandchildren doing something amazing. I'm going to get a joke from one of my grandchildren doing something amazing. I'm going to get a joke from one of my kids. I might even throw out something occasionally that's humorous to me in the group chat. I haven't gotten kicked out yet. I don't know. Are you allowed to remove people from a family chat or group chat? I don't know, but they haven't removed me yet. Family chat or group chat? I don't know, but they haven't removed me yet. But literally, guys, god is with us. We need to keep the conversation open.
Tyler Lynde:I believe that God can speak to me at any point in time that he wants to, and I attempt to keep my ears listening to stay tuned in Right. Stay tuned in right, stay tuned in. God wants to have an ongoing, real relationship with all of us. All right, let's move on. We're only on E. Let's hurry E expect to hear the Holy Spirit in whatever way that he chooses to speak, expect. There's something that has to do with faith here. We must believe that God loves us, that he's called us, that he saved us. And, by the way, if you're not yet a Christian, all of this that I'm talking about today is available to you If you will simply repent of your sins, turn away from your way of life that is up to this point and put your faith and hope and trust in Jesus Christ. If you'll do that today, your relationship with God will be restored and you can have this kind of intimacy with him, just like I'm talking about for believers, 1 Kings 19,.
Tyler Lynde:I love this. I love this story. The Lord said to him what are you doing here, elijah? Elijah's running. Remember hiding in a cave? Elijah replied I have zealously served the Lord, god Almighty, but the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars and killed every one of your prophets. I'm the only one left. Have you ever played the victim card with God? Oh, it's a tough one, because he comes back with some. He always comes. He talks to me pretty plainly I don't know about you, but when I complained to him, he comes back and says oh really, what about this? You know he killed everyone of your prophets. I'm the only one left, and now they're trying to kill me too.
Tyler Lynde:So God says go out and stand before on the mountain. The Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. How many of us love when God shows up in dramatic ways. It's craveable when God shows up and shows off in ways that we feel that we experience, that we're like, wow, god was there. God was here, but does he always do that? No, sometimes he's not in the noise and the loud and the dramatic, it was such a terrible blast. The rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire. Well, fire represents the Holy Spirit, this must be it, but the Lord was not in the fire. Well, fire represents the Holy Spirit, this must be it, but the Lord was not in the fire.
Tyler Lynde:And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave and a voice said what are you doing here, elijah? Still small voice, the whisper, something we just sometimes need to lean into here. It's just as powerful as the greatest earthquake or the largest fire or whatever you could talk about. The still small voice that brings comfort and peace in your time of trouble.
Tyler Lynde:The Holy Spirit can speak through anyone or anything, at any time and in any way, and sometimes for me the voice of God sounds like my wife. Sometimes the voice of God sounds like my children. God wouldn't be that cruel, would he use your yes, he's used my kids to bring correction into my life. Hasn't happened yet with my grandkids, but it's not far behind, I'm sure, and I'm thankful. I'm thankful, co-workers, strangers. Holy Spirit can speak through anyone or anything, at any time and in any way. Expect it, expect him to speak. Okay, anticipate, that's the, A Anticipate growing in your ability to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Tyler Lynde:Another great story in 1 Samuel we have Samuel, who Hannah had prayed for a child and God gave her the gift of Samuel and she said I'm going to dedicate him to the Lord. All the days of his life he will live in the house of the Lord. So Samuel's there and Eli is the priest. And in those days, messages from the Lord were very rare and visions were quite uncommon.
Tyler Lynde:One night, eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. The lamp of God had not yet gone out and Samuel was sleeping in the tabernacle near the ark of God. Suddenly, the Lord called out echo, near the ark of God. Suddenly the Lord called out Samuel. Yes, samuel replied what is it? He got up and ran to Eli. Why did he run to Eli? Here I am. Did you call me?
Tyler Lynde:Samuel didn't discern the voice of God, but God was speaking. I didn't call you. Eli replied Go back to bed. So he did, and then the Lord called out again Samuel. Again, samuel got up and went to Eli Three times. This goes on. And then finally Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. So he said to Samuel go and lie down again and if someone calls again, say speak, lord, your servant is listening. See that posture Anticipating, tuning in listening. We're going to grow in this. We're going to increase in our ability to be able to discern the voice of God. Go and lie down. If someone calls again, say speak, lord, your servant is listening. So Samuel went back to bed and the Lord came and called us, as before, samuel, samuel and Samuel replied speak, your servant is listening. Then the Lord said to Samuel I'm about to do a shocking thing in Israel and he goes on to tell him how he's going to rip apart the priesthood because of the sins that had been involved. But anticipate growth in this area If you begin to practice this, make this a part of your everyday life. You're going to hear more clearly and more clearly and more clearly. Before you know it, you're even going to be hearing God for other people. That's amazing when it gets to that point where you get to be a blessing to other people because God is speaking through you.
Tyler Lynde:And finally, the last part of the here acronym is respond, r respond. Respond in humble obedience to what the Holy Spirit is truly saying. And back to John 10,. It says when he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. It's not enough to hear the voice of God, but we must be obedient to that voice as well. Amen, all right, that's our stopping point for today.
Tyler Lynde:Next week we'll start talking about voices that are not from God that we hear. We're going to look at also look at how to know it is God who's speaking to us and the types of things that hinder us from hearing God clearly. So we'll look at those things and we'll be also looking forward to how to hear the voice of God for others. That sound good. All right, let's take just a minute as we close here. Let's just get quiet.
Tyler Lynde:I don't know if somebody could just play the keyboard for just a minute Quietly. I just had in my mind, it just popped up I can't play. Oh, when the saints go, mark, I mean God could speak, that's fine, but let's just get quiet before the Lord. We're not going to try to manufacture anything here, but I just want you. I have faith that that God is going to fine tune our hearing. So I just want you to just take a minute just to be still. Put your phone down, quiet your mind. If it helps for you to focus, you can close your eyes. I just want you to just pray, a simple prayer. Lord, would you speak to me in this moment. Holy Spirit, help me to hear your voice. Just be still for a minute and listen. Thank, you.
Tyler Lynde:It may come to you just as an impression, or an image, or a thought, a feeling. A verse of scripture is very common, even a line from scripture Just some reassurance, a sense of peace. So many ways the Holy Spirit wants to engage with us and foster the relationship between us and our Heavenly Father. Lord, we ask that, as we go through this week, that you would fine tune our hearing. Lord, we ask that, as we go through this week, that you would fine tune our hearing, lord, that we would be able to make a habit of taking time to listen to your voice, that we would expect for you to speak to us clearly so that we could discern it, that we would anticipate, that we would grow in our ability to hear and discern you and also, lord, that we would grow in our ability to hear and discern you. And also, lord, that we would respond in obedience to what it is that you're speaking to us. Lord, I thank you that you are as close as the mention of your name and we can just say the name of Jesus and the audience of heaven comes to attention. Father, we thank you that Jesus is alive and well, he sits at your right hand and that he prays for us, he intercedes on our behalf. Thank you that you haven't left us alone in this world, but you've sent the Holy Spirit not only to be with us but to dwell in us. And, father, we pray again this day that you would fill us to overflowing with your Holy Spirit, and we give you glory in Jesus name. If you just raise your hand, if you felt like that, you had an impression, a thought, something that you feel like could have been from God. You're not saying that it is Good, good, good, yeah, awesome, put this into practice. Put this into practice. Put this into practice, practice listening to the voice of God. I felt like the Lord spoke to me, that there's somebody here today that feels like you've never experienced true love, like you've never experienced true love, and I just want you to know from the bottom of my heart that God loves you with an everlasting love, and the love that he offers doesn't take advantage of you or doesn't harm you, or it isn't one-sided. It is one-sided in a way. He gives up himself freely, not expecting anything in return. So we're going to have a prayer team that's going to be up here in just a minute. I encourage you, if that's you come down here and let them pray with you I'll stay and pray with you as well that you would experience the depths and the height and the breadth and the length and the width of how great the love of God is for you. It's really indescribable, unbelievable. Thank you, lord. Thank you, lord.
Tyler Lynde:I did want to mention also I was chatting with Aaron, texting back and forth with Aaron Jones yesterday, and he and Beth are doing well. They've been a month now in Ireland and Saoirse has got them all adjusted. This is Saoirse, their young child. They're doing well and Aaron just wanted me to say again how grateful they are for all of us and all of you who have supported them, given towards them, prayed for them and sent them with such love to fulfill their mission. And I, just so I told him that I would mention that here this morning. So I'm doing that. Honor him. We love you, aaron and Beth.
Tyler Lynde:If you're watching, we miss you guys, but we're thankful that you're following God and we look forward to many times in the future where we'll be able to connect and help. So would you stand to your feet and we'll close this morning, but please don't let another week go by where you just stay dry and don't take time to appreciate the presence of God. Now, there are seasons in life where it feels like God isn't speaking, but how many of you know, it doesn't stop us from reading his word and hearing his voice there, doesn't stop us from coming to church and listening to sermons that he's, that God, is putting in the hearts of people to share. There are ways that we can do that even if we're not hearing. Don't feel like we're hearing personally. Right, I'm just going to pray a blessing over you. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace In Jesus' holy name, amen.