What does Tribe teach about hearing god?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on hearing God starts with the conviction that every believer has been designed for it. Guest speaker Jason, in his message on prayer, grounded that in Ecclesiastes 3:11 and the idea that eternity has been set in the human heart. The practical problem he named is that the constant noise of devices and competing voices trains us to tune in to the wrong signal, and by habit many people pick up what he called the hotline that leads to condemnation, shame, and fear rather than the one that leads to a Father's voice. His remedy was simple and concrete: stop first, because hurry is the enemy. He quoted Walter Adams, who was the spiritual director of C.S. Lewis, saying that "hurry is the death of prayer and only impedes and spoils our work. It never advances it."
The teaching goes further by connecting hearing God's voice to the daily practice of obedience and Scripture. Brian Hunter has returned to this thread across several messages. In the series on walking in the Spirit, he argued that the Holy Spirit needs something to work with, and that something is the word already stored inside a person. Obeying in small, seemingly trivial moments is what makes the voice recognizable when something important comes. A member of the congregation put it well in that same conversation: practicing obedience in small things is an expression of God's grace, because he lets you practice before the stakes are high. Amanda Lack, walking through 1 Samuel 3 on Mother's Day, made a similar point from Samuel's story: God did not give Samuel the message until Samuel's posture was right, and she drew a clear line between merely hearing a sound and the deeper posture she described as listening, when the heart is actually attuned and available.
What holds all of this together at Tribe is the belief that hearing God is less about a dramatic moment and more about a sustained orientation. Philip in Acts 8, as Lissa Hunter showed, did not know where the desert road was leading. He simply went. Brian, in the quiet week between Christmas and New Year's, pressed on the same idea from Psalm 27, asking the congregation whether they were still listening for the invitation to come and talk with God or had drifted into what he called the doldrums, present in form but no longer actually attending to the Lord's voice.
Taught from Psalm 27:8 · 1 Samuel 3:1-21 · Isaiah 30:21 · Psalm 46:10 · Ecclesiastes 3:11
The passage taught · Acts 6:1-7
1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily service.
2 The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables.
3 Therefore select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
4 But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.”
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- June 14, 2026 God's Calling A look at Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8, and what simple, step-by-step obedience to God's voice looks like in everyday life.
- May 10, 2026 "Here I Am" A preteen boy, a sleeping prophet, and a God who kept calling. This Mother's Day sermon from 1 Samuel 3 explores what it means to say "Here I am, Lord, your servant is listening."
- December 22, 2024 Come and Talk with Me A sermon on Psalm 27 about staying spiritually alert during the lull between Christmas and New Year's, with four simple practices to quiet yourself and hear God speak.
- June 3, 2024 A Step by Step Guide to Walking in the Spirit Brian Hunter walks through four practical steps to walking in the Spirit, covering Scripture, obedience in small things, disciplining the flesh, and praying in the Spirit.
- July 17, 2023 Your Hotline to Heaven A guest pastor explores what it means to hear God's voice through prayer, calling the church to stop, wait, and draw near with a sincere and trusting heart.
Mentioned along the way
- December 30, 2024 Come and Talk with Me Pastor Brian Hunter walks Tribe through Psalm 27, calling the congregation out of holiday spiritual drift and into quiet, attentive time with God before the new year.
- December 8, 2024 Warnings About New Wine Jesus warns that clinging to old mindsets blocks what God is doing now. This sermon explores what it costs to receive something new from him.
- June 2, 2024 Throw Your Line Over A Jackson Hole pastor walks through four practical steps to walking in the Spirit, covering Scripture, obedience in small things, fasting, and prayer language.
- January 29, 2024 Clarity Comes With Simple Obedience When life feels impossibly complex, clarity comes through simple obedience. Pastor Brian Hunter walks through Exodus to show how faith releases God's grace.