*Title:* Learning to Listen — Pastor Kyle Baldwin, August 22, 2026

It was back-to-school Sabbath, so Pastor Kyle Baldwin began with teachers — the ones from his own years of formal education that he resonated with: some for the way they communicated, some for their character, and one, a scholar who rock climbed in his spare time, because the young Kyle thought he had the whole package. But having teachers, he says, is not the same as learning from them; we also have to be ready to listen. And standing above every earthly teacher is one Teacher we must listen to before and above everyone else: the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised that when the Spirit of truth came, He would guide us into all truth (John 16:13), and that it was expedient — necessary — for Jesus to go away so the Comforter could come (John 16:7). Jesus, forever identified with our race, could not be everywhere at once; through the Spirit, He can teach each of us personally, bringing His words to our remembrance (John 14:26). That is why Revelation repeats its refrain to every church: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”

The sobering half of the sermon is that this Teacher can be refused — and that refusal has a direction. We can grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), making Him sorrowful the way God’s heart was grieved before the Flood, and we can quench Him (1 Thessalonians 5:19): quench, as a lamp’s flame is snuffed out, or as a blacksmith plunges red-hot steel into water and hardens its very structure. Blasphemy against the Spirit, Pastor Baldwin explains, is not a single dramatic act but a continuum — each ignored prompting makes the heart a little harder and the voice a little quieter, until it no longer speaks as loudly as it once did. And our moment in history is almost designed for not hearing: citing research on the modern brain, he describes a “polycrisis” of nonstop crisis and an internet that never sleeps, whose stress and distraction drown out the Spirit in the collective cacophony of the modern world. If you feel overstimulated by a world that never quiets down, you are in good company.

Elijah was. Faithful through drought and famine, through Carmel’s fire and the answering rain, he let down his guard — and Jezebel’s threat sent him fleeing hundreds of miles to a cave at Horeb, tired, depressed, and feeling forsaken. But God had not forsaken him, and when the Lord passed by, He was not in the great wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in the still small voice (1 Kings 19:11–12). That voice is still speaking, and the way to hear it is disarmingly practical: guard the avenues of the soul. Shut off the television. Step away from the computer. Put down the phone. Carve out time, and listen to the Teacher. The sermon closes with the students who filled the sanctuary that morning: listen to your earthly teachers, learn your lessons — but most of all, in the quiet moments and in the valley of decision, listen to the Spirit of God. “It is time for you and I to be taught by the great teacher.”

*Key texts:* John 16:12–13; John 16:7; John 14:26; Revelation 2:7; Romans 8:14; Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19–21; 1 Kings 19:9–12; 2 Peter 1:21 · *Also referenced:* Ellen G. White, on the Comforter (“You are never alone… listen to the voice that now speaks to you”); Joseph Bates, on being sealed with the Spirit of promise

*Watch:* https://youtu.be/ZrkVf1Q7zNo · *Listen:* https://cloud-1de12d.becdn.net/media/original/4a04246f30a5e7629ba930ee3727463a.mp3