What does Tribe teach about quiet time?
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 quiet time starts with a conviction that God is the one who initiates. Brian Hunter has pointed the congregation to Leviticus 9:23-24, where fire blazes out from God's presence and consumes the first offering, as a picture of what happens at conversion or at those breakthrough moments on a retreat or at camp. God sends the fire. That ignition is his work. But the instructions in Leviticus 6:8-13 are addressed to the priests, not to God, and since 1 Peter 2:9 identifies every believer as a royal priesthood, the responsibility for what comes next belongs to each person. Brian was direct: it is not the Lord's job, not the pastor's job, not your spouse's job. As he put it, "God will send the fire, but it is your job to maintain the fire."
The altar fire passage gives two practical images for how that maintenance works. Adding fresh wood every morning points to the need for daily, consistent time with God. Removing the old ashes first points to letting go of the previous day's failures and sin, because, as Brian said, "yesterday's ashes have no capacity to fuel today's fire." The mercies of God are new every morning, and yesterday's spiritual momentum cannot carry today. What that daily time looks like will differ by season. Brian has acknowledged that for someone driving to a medical treatment, it might simply be whispered thanks, while for someone in a different season it might be something more structured.
In a separate message drawn from Psalm 27, Brian pressed on the same theme from a different angle, focusing on the Lord's invitation, "come and talk with me," and asking honestly when people had last heard it. He described the spirit as the channel through which God speaks, and argued that people who feel they cannot hear the Lord may be listening through the wrong device, through the senses rather than through the spirit. He offered a simple daily practice for the congregation: set aside time each morning, put on worship music, read through Psalm 27, and then sit quietly and listen. His concern throughout was the difference between genuine rest and a drift into spiritual deadness, what he called the doldrums, where the sail is down and no one is listening for anything.
Taught from Leviticus 6:8-13 · Leviticus 9:23-24 · 1 Peter 2:9 · Psalm 27:8 · Psalm 27
“God will send the fire, but it is your job to maintain the fire.”
From The Fire That Never Goes Out
The passage taught · 1 Peter 2:9
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- April 7, 2025 The Fire That Never Goes Out Leviticus 6 holds a surprising lesson: God starts the fire, but keeping it burning is our responsibility every single day.
- 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.
Mentioned along the way
- 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.