1063. How Do I Know and Experience God?

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The school was founded in 1927 by the evangelist Dr. Bob Jones Senior's intent was to make a school where Christ would be the center of everything, so he established daily chapel services today.

That tradition continues with fervent preaching from the University Chapel platform. Today's message will be brought by Dr. Jason Ormiston of the Bob Jones University seminary, take your Bible turn to Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews chapter 11 watching to look with me at verse six.

Hebrews Chapter 11.

This is going to be the key verse for us to consider and you I like the concept of life acts know things that make life easier. For example, I've always found it easier when I am out to eat to take salt and just sprinkle a little bit on the napkin so that my water doesn't stick to the napkin that's my pack. Have you ever heard that one or there is another like pack, which would be if your accent to go out and pick up pizza right you know him and you happen have a seat warmer in your car, turned the seat warmer and put the pizza down like makes like pack if you're having a hard time waking up in the morning, take your cell phone and that alarm and put it in a glass cup. Make sure there's no water in it And put it in the top and it will magnify the alarm to wake you up. Maybe a roommate is a do that to another one, or if you try to figure out a battery is working.you can pick it up in 6 inches from the ground and just let it drop. If it bounces once and lays down it still good to go.

If it bounces about the times might as well like it rated appropriately. Okay so those are like tax today I want to encourage you to think about something that I wish I would've known about when I was in your seat in college. How do I know and experience God how I know his will.

How I take steps towards pursuing him. Hebrews 11 six as part of that process. It says this but without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So it's faith which is in the unseen, which we know is not something that's easy to do, but we know that God requires a divorce for a true follower of his faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. What I want to do to for you today and just for the time that we have together a message from the mind. Someone said reaches the mind from the heart will reach your heart from a life hopefully reaches your life and in and changes your life and impacts you want to share more of the testimonial of God's leading and help you see some principles that God's use in my life to encourage me so we don't have a clicker appear so if I say don't be thrown off by that but I know the group it's doing.

Maybe does a great job. Some for the get it.

Here's the first start but I want to see there is a workbook that I've used many many times called experiencing God by black and I encourage you to jot that down and and I know when I bring up an audience like this or be some that says well you are you aware of some of the critics that they say about that picture I'm aware of it. It's a book it's not the Bible. The Bible is the only perfect book and authoritative book. It's a great guide though and I commend it to you in from it.

You'll see seven principles about how to know and follow God. The first one is God is at work all around you. This principle is so true from John 15 five I am the vine, you are the branches.

If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.

Apart from me you can do nothing.

Second one God pursues a continuing love relationship with you. That's real and personal. John 17 three and this is life eternal, that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent the third one. God invites you to become involved with him in his work. Whoever has my commands and obeys them. He is the one who loves me.

John 1421 he who loves me will be loved by my father. I too love him and show myself to him. Notice the next set verse first number four God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church to reveal himself, his purposes and his ways. This is a really key one because were always wondering how do I know when God wants me to do something and go somewhere, take that job date that person break up with that person.

What what how I know these things. I want you to know that God wants you to know is will and he will reveal himself to you. He uses the Holy Spirit to speak through the word. It's not an audible voice, but it's the word in this spirit within you and your praying in the circumstances that around you that are changing in the church there verses that go with all of these because of time and I can assure all those the fifth one got it. God's invitation for you to work with him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action. That's the Hebrews 11 61. If you really want to follow God it's going to require from you face and then more than just saying I believe God I minute act on it, do something about it in the last two years, six and seven. You must make major adjustments in your life to join God and what he is doing. Luke 1433 so therefore any of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple and number seven you come to know God by experience is as you as you obey him, and he accomplishes his work through you. John 1423 Jesus answered him. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with you can find these experience a God like to be all seven.

They've been really helpful for dwelling. As you've heard in July, 20, 21, our families moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota accepted an invitation to serve as the next senior pastor of family Baptist Church. The church that I had the joy of being a part of starting my dad's in the pastorate since the start of the church and when I think of Minneapolis, and I think of the city. I think of Jeremiah 29 seven, which says that we are to seek the peace of the city so seeking the peace of the city is a big deal. It's seeking the shalom of a place, whether I've caused you to be carried away captives and this is in the context of the children of Israel getting taken away into captivity and he says to all of them don't run from that stay underneath that pressure but pray for the peace and pray unto the Lord for four in the piece thereof shall ye have peace. That's a desire that I have what I think of urban ministry and our need to engage in urban ministry so I said as I told you in 1996, 97 family Baptist Church was started getting there for us was a part of the seven principles of experiencing God, working its way out. I wanted to pass her somewhere you pastor somewhere no one was knocking at my door.

Dad said want to come and help us start a church in the hood said sounds good.

I went to seminary and what was going to seminary started with what I enjoy, which is basketball so I started collecting a group of guys in the net right in the girlfriends.

And then we have a huge group of about 60 from displaying basketball on Friday nights eating pizza and preaching the gospel by God's grace we saw several come to know Jesus as Savior. It was amazing how he work because I wasn't thinking. That's how my life was supposed to roll out a college but that's exactly what God wanted for me.

I watch God do some amazing things it at a family Baptist Church fourth Baptist Church.

You started the church gave the church $300,000 to get the thing started and 100 members and with that the Lord use that the creativity that he's given my dad to purchase 10 homes in the area to revitalize the homes and sell them back to members and we had incarnational ministry which was people living where they minister okay in the city reaching people in the city on top of that we got were under the crunch of not having a place to me then because we were renting from the public school system. There is a church adjacent to the property of all public school system. It's a beautiful beautiful building. The problem was the cost of the building was $1 million in who in the church plant has $1 million. My dad begins to pray, he asked us to pray, and yes, God provided $1 million from a gentleman who heard about the need and gave that to the church to buy that property. I know God wants family Baptist Church in North Minneapolis. I have seen God do such amazing things in that church ministry. They had their ups and their downs.

Right now the church is sitting at right after coded around 50 people in attendance. Average age is around 60 to 70. It is a totally different place at the peak of the ministry. It was right around 250 but let me keep going salaam at family Baptist Church towards working on my heart as I'm working on seminary. I decided I had no idea what I'm doing with this multiethnic ministry thing and so I enrolled at Westminster theological seminary and finished a degree in urban missions, which was helping me understand really how to minister across culturally and it was such a blessing in my own life and then from there they family Baptist Church sentence off the plan all nations Baptist Church and that was in 2005 NCC from this picture, which I've shown several of you have not had you in class. I start out with this and I and demonstrate a how many ethnic groups to see there are over 13 so we started with three white families called ourselves. All nations Baptist Church claiming the promises of God and God brought in the nations because they live in every city. It is not complicated to engage in multiethnic ministry to go where all the nations happen to exist on from there. Started teaching adjunct at Northland Baptist Bible College where I graduated from and and for at Central Baptist theological seminary I taught on church planting and when I was in the classroom for one week.

I love I had a captive audience know you know that's like ready to take a block course you're there stuck with that teacher all week for about 6 to 8 hours every day I'm loving it unless I go to lunch with you and talk with you. Play basketball with you afterwards go to dinner with you afterwards is like this is awesome.

I came back and told my wife Heather. We start praying that God might you open a door for me to engage in teaching while I'm pastoring and I was thinking when I turned legwork the age I am now. I was thinking 50, only 47. So what does 50 maybe I do that right and that she said let's start praying now and said okay and she said let's fast. Is it okay so we started and utilized within three weeks three institutions.

One of them being Bob Jones University contacted me and said that God has laid on our heart a burden to call you to ask you if you consider teaching about dropped the phone. Even those connected to the wall you know with the court and I didn't pick BJ first because I wanted to say at all nations. So as I was looking couple other options in that area by God close those doors and this one remained open and I've been here since is been stated.BJ Utah 2007 enjoying the time here immensely. It is the date one of the most difficult things to leave here because I love teaching I love chlorine into view. Like many of her teachers here were not here when I'm here because we don't want to be here were here because we love you and we care want to communicate. We all do certain things better than others send some things you know what when I did that I reject that were just humans just like you were here on mission and it's been such a joy to be here.

So during that time was a part of starting, Baptist Church in 2010. I have so much to tell you about that which I'm not can it take the time now, but suffice it to say God open up doors for us to meet in a storefront free of charge open up a place for us to meet a rental property from about Bethesda United Methodist Church women meeting their 4000 a month since 2010. That's unheard of map 24 seven access to it. The open up doors for us to get into sports complex. It's a basketball court with the football field. He's helped us purchase two pieces of property.

It looks like by God's grace. The church is to break ground on the land in Pottersville area this coming summer. So God is doing such amazing things and no one just the buildings and all of that but something but what's more important is the number of people that come through the church and are on the mission field or pastoring churches.

What a joy it is been to be a part of Palmetto Baptist Church. So I'm sharing my story because I want to know this reality is on.

This is God's doing some amazing things but there's a stirring going on in my heart I came here because I want to train people to go back into the city okay to reach across cultural and ethnic barriers right and I find myself preaching in a suburban church and yet I'm trying to teach classes in the seminary about urban ministry. You know what something is not matching up right.

I know when I'm a student, to look for a professor, not that just talks about something he used to do, even as a degree in it, but he used to do. I want to go to someone who's doing it is engaged who's like in the arena and so I'm I'm thinking about that praying about that, but God's blessing in so many ways here at BJ. You and PBC Palmetto Baptist Church is so common sense would tell you, you know, Jason, just stay put and then out of this ever happens to you watch the movie images, Roxy to the core. I watch this movie free Burma Rangers servicing that you should. It is an amazing story about how God used a former soldier Army Ranger to make a difference in Burma and then over in the Middle East and it is a compelling story of someone who is totally committed to God and how God blessed and directed and led him so then it goes to stirring and then I got this phone call and 2019. That was heartbreaking and asked my brother he died. His heart stopped. You know that's not super helpful because his heart stopped.

What are you hiding I'm not hiding anything.

He actually was a guy who was a preacher boy who then ended up getting married that he got a divorce is no longer in ministry. He hid a drug addiction to heroin for 20 years now. We always knew he was weird but he would act weird and strange.

We just thought that was Karsten by God's grace I was able to see him come back to Christ graduate from Minnesota teen challenge treatment program and he was doing really well.

But those years of drug abuse impacted his heart and his heart gave out and he died and I was asking. I mean, I went back to the funeral. My dad was a complete mess, and he tell you that he could not. He could not conduct the funeral even though he's done hundreds of students he couldn't order the family together because she just couldn't think he couldn't read. He couldn't just in shock and so they say. Jason you think maybe you could do this, leave the family and lessening the funeral, and as such are separate the grief offer a little bit and I did all of what I needed to do with the funeral, but I tell you, when I was sitting there standing there conducting this funeral in the auditorium.

The family Baptist Church and there was it was packed out for them.

That's about 350 people full of people from different ethnic groups pierced and tattooed. It was urban man. It was beautiful and in they were there honoring my brother and I thought to myself this this could be family Baptist gets down to 50 people now. Not that point was not a fit because pandemic hadn't had yet God uses my heart to say, Jason maybe got to stop talking about teaching on maybe need to go back and do it. So with that God use that and then the pandemic kids don't need to spend a lot of time on that one because that's impacted all of us and I'm watching from. You know the live stream in church services and then I'm getting the word about George Floyd's death in Minneapolis and that's going on the trials going on. I hope you're aware that right on praying, but that led to Minneapolis burning in Minneapolis burned over $2 billion worth of damage took place. Go to the next slide shows the aftereffects and then another one this combination of pictures of the aftereffects and so many things happen in my parents lives that were just dramatic in life change.

I want you to quickly see a video made by the seminary. Dad came and gave an overview for lecture series, she can see firsthand from his mouth timely Ormiston.

I passed her family.

That church in North Minneapolis had several people talk about moving right away and uniting your cells. We have had in the moments in I'm not as it is some of the other side of the tremendous need tremendous opportunity and trying them out there a lot of and more receptivity and I'm never seen Morrison non-marginally that number one is around the death if I was thinking about unrushed special opportunity and tragic situation that happened this young lady run over intentionally. My voice that precipitated a group, not wanting to put the memorial together. My wife permitted that around that precipitated gatherings every single night of a very large group.

Ultimately, I was even given the opportunity. If you but it's interesting to see how God is working on one night right after the riots really devastated our neighborhood were, frankly, it was so dangerous. The police were coming in poor areas by landings and they had the rioting had destroyed all places. I groceries in medicine and then they ended the transportation so certain people are really in trouble is on the many most of them questions from the name on in what was now that he is confident Helen is on how we doing what we can do to share price are we bold enough in our witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. Are we willing to stand up and be accounted as one of his this world is getting frightening in that regard. A lot of pushback but may we not be intimidated by the evil force that are that we would shine and be the light Christ is published 70 was made by Chris Harmony here in the seminary in a very where the time to go over just follow me. Just let me have a couple minutes.

I want to see that what happened next is, we started to pray and we prayed it. Does God want us to be a part of this solution in the process of that had communication with the pastors at Palmetto Baptist Church.

They'd known about this burned in my heart for a while and I asked him specifically to pray about it in July of this past year. I let the deacons know in September and then in October I received a call from the pulpit committee, but what led up before that the public committee at family Baptist.

My dad had that 70th day and he announced his retirement and that there were to be looking for the next pastor I could sense that God was leading me to a crisis of belief that required faith in action. But then the logical side of missteps and I have that too much. Maybe due to I came up with. You know it is positive. Ben Franklin right pros and cons but breakdowns are mere pros and cons about why I should stay, or why he should go, and I had this massive list as to why should stay massive list for your why should know and well in doing that I got a phone call from a donor who said hey Jason want to introduce myself to you want to know the guys laid a burn on my heart to help you and I know you're going to a rough situation and would love to offer you some money to help you with the transition pallets $30,000 suit you phone dropped no connection with the court. This time, thank you for loving the site okay so here's the point. The point is God is made it so abundantly clear what's that $30,000 for helping us the website at family Baptist needs a ton of help. I mean, there's a summary transition type things that need out there and that's just the beginning of what God's doing, and so my son I have three sons and three daughters.

So were abundantly bless the kids is is right up your eyes. My son Elijah had the biggest struggle with this because you like you love South Carolina is a dead you are not making any sense that you're having a midlife crisis to stop know what God is doing something in and so when we were there visiting in the pulpit committee meeting with them. I turned Heather said could you check were coming back from All-American which is very touristy thing to do. Could you check any deed to schools in the area because he had several D2 offers here in the South Carolina North Carolina area. We found a school called Concordia University of St. Paul. I call them and I had to call the coach because parents calling the coaches doesn't work Tuesday that the coach from high school he attends a Canon North Carolina called on and talk to him about Elijah sent video they had assumed call on Monday morning and on that call, he offered them a full ride so is as McMahon arrived. He's going to Concordia read to watch and play ball. You know what I bring that to because God desires a relationship with you. That's real and personal, and when you follow him and impacts a lot of people it's not just about you it's about watching God do his thing through the lives of everyone around you and just calling you to consider what God wants you to do this.

He wants you to follow him for me. His family Baptist Church Summer 2021 and then for you it's reminding you God's invitation for you to work with him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action of calling you to consider that what does God want from you. Are you willing to give that to him.

Let's pray. God help us to follow you and take faith in action. In Jesus name, amen.

You been listening to a sermon preached by Dr. Jason Ormiston of the Bob Jones University religion faculty and we look forward to the next time as we study God's word together on The Daily Platform