Watch Now

In this Pastor’s Choice message, Pastor Tyler Lynde opens Acts 16 and invites the church to consider what it means to answer the call of God when the path forward is not immediately clear. The scene is familiar to many believers: Paul and Silas are moving with sincere intentions, doing what seems wise and faithful, yet they are stopped again and again by the Holy Spirit. They try to speak the word in Asia, but the Spirit forbids them. They attempt to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus does not allow them. Eventually, after passing by Mysia, they arrive in Troas, up against the sea, with no obvious land route left. It is there, at an impasse, that Paul receives a vision of a man from Macedonia pleading, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Immediately, they conclude that God has called them to preach the gospel there.

Tyler frames this moment as a deeply practical picture of how God often leads His people. A plan can be good, wise, even godly, and still not be God’s plan for that specific moment. Paul and Silas were not trying to run from obedience. They were not seeking comfort or trying to avoid mission. They were already moving, already engaged in the work of God, already seeking to strengthen churches and preach the gospel. Yet God redirected them through closed doors. Tyler reminds the church that while they were going, they were given direction. That matters because many of us want perfect clarity before we take any step at all. We can become so comfortable in waiting that waiting begins to masquerade as spirituality, when in reality God may be asking us to move with the light we have and trust Him to reveal the next step as we go.

This does not mean rushing ahead of God or ignoring discernment. Tyler is careful to point out that believers must learn to hear the Spirit’s voice. He connects this message to what Pastor Kelly had recently preached, “Yes Changes Everything,” where the church was reminded that spiritual ears are developed through Scripture, quiet time with God, attentiveness to the Holy Spirit, and a willingness to say yes when He speaks. God often confirms His direction through His Word, prayer, timely conversations, wise leaders, prophetic encouragement, family, songs, sermons, or other means that help bring clarity. But at some point faith requires risk. Faith is not simply agreeing that God can lead; faith is stepping out when He does.

Acts 16 shows us that God sometimes leads by interruption. The Holy Spirit forbade one direction. The Spirit of Jesus blocked another. What must have felt confusing in the moment was not God’s absence, but God’s guidance. Tyler describes how Paul and Silas moved south, then north, then west, until they reached Troas and could go no farther by land. When they were at an impasse, God showed them where He needed them. Many believers know that feeling: reaching the edge of what we understand, facing a wall we cannot climb, realizing that going forward will cost something. We may need to leave familiar ground, get into a boat, and trust God across waters we did not expect to cross. But God does not abandon His people in those places. He meets them there.

That same posture is tied to the Great Commission. Tyler returns to Matthew 28, where Jesus commands His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all He commanded. He emphasizes that the sense of the phrase carries the idea, “while you are going, make disciples.” Discipleship is not reserved for a future moment when we feel fully trained, perfectly prepared, or dramatically commissioned. It is a daily posture. While we are going to work, while we are raising children, while we are living in neighborhoods, while we are sitting across from friends, while we are encountering people God has placed in front of us, we are called to represent Jesus. If someone is asking spiritual questions, if someone is in need, if someone is before us, that may be enough indication to begin sharing the hope of Christ.

Tyler also connects Acts 16 to a prophetic image recently brought to the church: Trinity Community Church is called to be a river, not a bog. A river receives and gives. It moves. It brings life and refreshment. A bog may contain life, but it becomes stagnant, ingrown, and unhealthy. Tyler says God has declared TCC to be a resource church, a church with open hands before the Lord, willing to give whatever He asks and receive whatever He wants to provide. That posture applies not only to the congregation as a whole, but to individuals, families, groups, ministries, and leaders. A healthy church cannot cling tightly to its best people and call that faithfulness. The church at Antioch models this beautifully. They fasted, prayed, listened to the Spirit, and sent out Paul and Barnabas. They released some of their strongest leaders because the mission of God was bigger than their local comfort.

The fruit of obedience in Acts 16 is undeniable. When Paul and his companions obeyed the Macedonian call, the gospel entered new territory. Lydia heard the message and responded. A woman oppressed by an evil spirit was set free. Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned in Philippi, yet they worshiped at midnight. God shook the prison with an earthquake, opened the doors, and loosened the chains. The jailer, prepared to take his own life, instead encountered mercy. He and his household heard the gospel and were saved. All of this flowed from willful obedience. Tyler puts it plainly: it is not enough to know the will of God. God is glorified when His people obey.

There is also an important lesson about timing. Paul and Silas eventually did revisit the churches they had originally intended to strengthen, but not first. God’s will was not only about the destination; it was about the timing. Tyler shares that one of the questions he has learned to ask when he senses God speaking directionally is not only “what,” but “when.” Many of us create unnecessary trouble by running ahead of God or lagging behind Him. Yet even then, God is gracious. He corrects, redirects, and brings us back into step with Him.

Tyler then shares how this theme has marked his own life. He and Amy had served in North Carolina for many years, then moved to Florida for a season of ministry, then returned to North Carolina where Tyler served at a large Baptist church as a life groups pastor. It was not a forever home, but it was a meaningful season where he learned about structure, teamwork, and church at a different scale. Then Pastor Neil called and said he was going to pastor Trinity and wanted Tyler and Amy to come help. It was hardly a polished sales pitch: the church had significant debt, no position available, and no promise of a job. Still, Tyler and Amy prayed, brought it to their children, and sensed God’s confirmation. Their home church sent them out as missionaries to serve Trinity, and they came for eighteen months without asking anything from the church. In time, God opened the door for Tyler to come on staff, and the rest became part of Trinity’s story. Looking back, Tyler sees how God used an impasse and an invitation to lead his family into obedience.

That personal story prepared the church for a tender and significant announcement. Derek and Megan, deeply loved leaders at Trinity, have sensed God calling them to help another church, Awaken Old City, led by Adam and Sarah Lutz. Derek shared honestly that this has been one of the hardest decisions of his life. He first walked into Trinity twenty-five years ago and knew he was home until God said otherwise. When a trusted brother asked him to pray about coming to help disciple young couples in another ministry, Derek did not want the question to be asked. He and Megan prayed during vacation, waited for a clear “no,” visited the church, and then brought the matter to the elders. Over weeks of prayer and conversation, they came to believe together that the Lord was indeed calling them to go.

The pain of that obedience is real. Derek described Trinity as family, not merely a workplace or ministry assignment. The people of the church have been aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, and sisters in Christ. He made it clear that he is not leaving because of conflict, ambition, dissatisfaction, or hidden trouble. There is no alternate story. There is only a call from God, confirmed through prayer, family, elders, and prophetic words the church had already received, including a word about “leader shift” months earlier. He spoke as a son moving out of the house, still loving the family, still near enough to come back for dinner, still connected in relationship even as his role changes.

Tyler closes by naming what everyone feels: change is hard. The call is not to pretend otherwise. The church is allowed to grieve, process, ask questions, and take time to move toward rejoicing. But Tyler also urges the congregation to protect unity. Emotional moments can become unhealthy if people begin speculating, whispering, or filling gaps with assumptions. The invitation is to ask questions directly, speak with Derek and Megan or the elders, and refuse slander in every direction. Love and respect must not change. Commitment to Christ must not change. Commitment to the body must not be shaken by confusion or fear.

The church will need to adjust. Derek and Megan will no longer be on staff or serve as pastors at Trinity, and their absence will be felt deeply. Processes will need to be simplified. Responsibilities that lived in Derek’s mind will need to be shared, documented, and carried by others. The congregation will need to step up, not in panic, but in faith. Tyler also notes that two elder candidates, who had already been in preparation for nearly three years, will soon be introduced to the church, another sign that God has been preparing Trinity before the church fully understood what He was doing.

The message ends with a simple but profound rhythm: healthy things grow, growing things change, changing things challenge us, challenging things drive us to God, going to God leads to trusting God, trust leads to obedience, obedience makes us healthy, and healthy things grow. This is not just a leadership transition; it is a discipleship moment. God is teaching Trinity to be a river church with open hands. He is teaching His people to move while listening, to obey when the next step becomes clear, to honor His timing, and to trust that closed doors are not always rejection. Sometimes they are holy redirection. And when God says, “Come over and help,” the faithful response is still immediate obedience.