Higher Aim With Dr. Curt Dodd

John wrote his three epistles so that you and I could know without a shadow of a doubt that we know Jesus, that we understand the gospel, and that we have a personal relationship with our Savior. If you read through first John, the author gives us seven questions to answer. The questions are there to challenge us but also to give us confidence that we really do belong to Christ as His followers.

There are a lot of people who have already given their life to Christ. They are suited up. Many Christians have been trained up, but there is a problem. Many believers today need to get up. I want you to feel a little uncomfortable if you are not getting up. I want to talk to you who have been benchwarmers. You know Christ and you have been following Him for some time. You know the plays, but you are sitting on the bench; and you are not completely engaged. I don't know what is happening in your life right now, but I know that God doesn't have any benchwarmers! He doesn't want us to be sitting on the bench on the sidelines, talking to each other. He wants us to be ready to go. He wants us to either be on the field, or He wants us to be ready to get onto the field the moment he sends us into the game.

Have you ever trained for something before? Maybe you trained to run a race, or to play a sport, or compete in an event. Whatever the case may be, the training most likely wasn’t easy. It was strenuous and difficult, possibly even painful. You had to push yourself further than you thought you could go for the sake of preparing your body and your mind for the upcoming challenge. As believers, we have training to do as well. We have to be prepared spiritually, mentally, and emotionally for all that we will face as we follow Christ. The Christian life is no cake walk. We will face difficulties and obstacles along the way, which is why we can’t skip out on training, learning, and becoming disciples if we want to walk out our faith well. There are several truths that apply to us as followers of Jesus when it comes to the tough times we will face in our lives, and I want us to look at a few of those today.

Some of my most vivid memories from my childhood come from when I played football. I remember being so excited when I finally got the chance to suit up in junior high to play tackle football. But before the season began, I had to make sure I had all of the right equipment. I had to get cleats, shoulder pads, a helmet, a mouth guard. Each piece of equipment was important for success and protection as I played football. In a lot of ways, suiting up to play football is similar to suiting up as believers. The Bible talks about how as followers of Jesus, we are always in the midst of a spiritual battle. We are fighting against unseen forces every day to further the Kingdom of God and push back against the enemy. If we are going to be successful in this battle, it is important that we suit up. And to suit up correctly and effectively, we have to understand where we fit on God’s team. Let’s take a look at three things that are true of us as members of God’s army.

Last week, we looked at the first of the ten b’s of godly living according to 1 Peter chapter 4. We talked about how being different can be a really good thing when you’re a Christian because other people will notice and you will be able to share Jesus with them when they wonder why you’re different. Today, we’re going to continue down the list of the ten b’s of godly living and see what else Simon Peter has to say to us about how to live a life that honors God and emulates Christ.

In 1 Peter chapter 4, Simon Peter lists what I could call the ten b’s of godly living. So over the next few weeks, we are going to be breaking down these ten b’s and looking at how we can live a godly life according to Peter’s words in his first epistle. Let’s dive in!

Today, we’re going to be answering the question, “When is it right to resist?” Because we are men and women who love the Lord and love His Word, we are to design our lives and our behavior to align with the Word of God. And sometimes that might require that we resist the world and what it says for the sake of our faith and our beliefs. In order for us to understand resistance, we need to understand what the Bible describes. Let me give you several biblical examples of civil disobedience. I am not sharing this with you to get a crowd together to resist the government or to resist some individual. I want to give you some principles that you can use to guide your life.

When it comes to the issue of submission, we have battled with that since the Garden, and we still battle with it today. It is not a topic that is easy to preach about or teach about, but it’s one worth teaching and preaching about because we are commanded to submit in God’s Word. In this message, we are going to look at several principles regarding submission in order to gain a better understanding of what is required of us when we are told to submit, and as we do, we’ll see how living a life of submission to Christ is always in our best interest.

As we are in the study of 1 Peter, we are answering the call, and that call is to Jesus and His church. We all need Jesus. And we need Him more and more every single day. Additionally, we also need the body of Christ. We need people in our lives who invest in us. We need the body of Christ to use their spiritual gifts to encourage us, help us, pray for us, and be there for us. So with this in mind, we’re going to continue our conversation from last week on the way we answer the call to Jesus and His church.

I don't know when you first felt the tug of the Spirit of God in your heart that drew you to Christ. I don't know how old you were when the light went on in your mind and in your soul that you were a sinner, and you desperately needed Jesus. If you have answered the call, and you have turned from your sin and placed your faith in Jesus, you are to continue answering that call. It is not just a one-time experience; salvation is a one-time experience that continues on. The lifestyle of continuing in the process of listening to Jesus, responding to Him, and allowing your life to be totally entwined with Him is an ongoing experience. So as we look at today’s key passage, Peter is going to give us guidelines on how we can continue to answer the call.

We need to come to an understanding as to why we are called to the Bible. As we look at today’s key passage, we are going to see that Simon Peter and God's Spirit are calling us to the Bible. Therefore, we need to know why we stand on the Bible. After all, without the Bible, we are just a social gathering. We are just here to encourage one another, rather than grow closer to the Lord. His Word is very powerful, and therefore we can confidently stand on it and root our faith in what it says.

Even though Peter might be one of the most “famous” people in the Bible, he was the furthest thing from a goody-two-shoes. In fact, he was probably considered to be a pretty unlikely choice to be one of Jesus’ disciples. Nevertheless, Jesus chose him. After Peter began to follow Christ, he learned what it meant to be a disciple. He wasn't perfect. In fact, God chose a very imperfect man to lead the first megachurch that ever existed on this planet. After all, Peter was the very man who denied Jesus three times. He even used profanity to deny him the last time! After he repented, God used him to bring thousands of people to faith in Christ. Slowly but surely, this man moved toward purity and holiness. The man who was once full of himself learned to be humble. He could take a rebuke and still keep on following Christ. Years later, this very same man is calling (through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) for us to live differently from the evil culture in which we exist. So right now, we’re going to take a look

We have been spiritually bankrupt for decades in this country. Instead of the work and movement of the Spirit of God, we have installed organizational strategies and packed our calendars to substitute for the hunger and longing for a fresh movement of God. I want to see an awakening happen. I don't want to end my ministry without seeing the Spirit of God move across our generation once more. I was fortunate to experience that in my student years. I saw just a sprinkling of the power and movement of the Spirit of God. It ignited a passion in my heart to want to be part of that. With this in mind, I want to give you some key characteristics about how great awakenings of God happen. This will help you to discern and understand how the Spirit of God moves.

Hope is the belief that circumstances will get better. It's not a wish for things to get better -- it's the actual belief, the knowledge that things will get better, no matter how big or small. Today’s key passage from 1 Peter 1 is a call to experience that kind of hope. God wants all of His children to live in hope. He does not want you to live hopelessly in this world. The poorest person is not he or she without a dollar; it is the person who is living without hope. I pray that as we go through this content together, you would get engaged with the hope that God has for you and live a rich, hope- filled life.

The book of 1 Peter was written to believers who were facing persecution. And it’s important for us to understand this particular book of the Bible because as time goes on, we as Christians will face more and more persecution and opposition for what we believe. The Scripture that we will be studying will shake your heart, and help you understand what God has for you in the days to come. As believers, we could experience more and more persecution, as the Second Coming of Jesus approaches. Therefore it is absolutely vital that we take this Scripture and use it to prepare our hearts for what could be coming down the road.

As we celebrate Easter, I want to take the time to point out the many gifts that are available to us as Jesus-followers because of Easter. There are five gifts of Easter that we’re going to look at specifically, and I pray that you’ll be able to receive each of these this Easter season.

Do you believe God answers prayer? Maybe that’s an easy question. Of course He answers them. However, the difficult part about answering that question is that, sometimes, the answer we get is not the answer we want. Sometimes, the answer is “No.” By the way, “No” is an answer. Just because God doesn't give you what you want in the time that you want, it doesn't mean that He doesn't answer prayer. He does! Sometimes, the answer is “Wait, not yet.” Either the situation is not right, you are not right, or the timing is out of line with His perfect will. Therefore, “Wait” is an answer. And then, of course, “Yes” is an answer! When everything lines up – you, the situation, God's will, and the request – and the answer is “Yes,” then go. We need to remember that God answers prayer. With this in mind, there are several principles in play to help us find the path toward powerful praying. We began looking at that concept last week. Today, we will continue this same study in James chapter five.

Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to look at the path to powerful prayer. Specifically, we’re going to hone in on one specific phrase from our key Scripture passage in James that says, “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Maybe you’re wondering what that statement means or how that applies to your own walk with Jesus. Well, that’s exactly what we’re going to look at in this mini-series.

As we read about Elijah in today’s key passage, we see a man of God who was used by God in an unbelievable manner. He did miracles, but now he is going through depression. He was a man of God who was used by God, yet he was suffering from depression. If God can use a depressed man, don’t you think He can also use you? Don't discount anyone just because they may struggle with emotional or mental problems. Those are the kinds of people God uses. In this message, we are going to learn from Elijah’s example and see exactly how we can defeat depression in our lives and fulfill the calling God has given us despite our struggles.

As believers, it is important for us to know what the Word of God says. And in addition to our knowledge, we must be very sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit inside of our hearts and lives. When we do this, we will know how to respond to Him when He speaks. As a believer, if you are just living your Christian life based on what you know, that's a good place to start, but it is not a good place to stop! God wants you to be in the flow of His Spirit. God wants to speak to you. In this message, we are going to look at several different Scripture verses that will give you a good handle on sensing the Holy Spirit. You will realize that the words speak of Him as a person. He is not an “it!” He is not a “thing!” He is the third person of the Trinity!