Higher Aim With Dr. Curt Dodd

In today’s message, we are going to continue our discussion on the names of God and learn more about the character of the God we serve the names He is given in Scripture. Let’s dive in.

In the midst of whatever you are going through today, you need to remember who God is. I know many people are going through difficult seasons in their lives. Although you might want God to immediately remedy that situation, you need to look to Him first. The reason you need to look to Him is that He is in charge. When we are oppressed, disappointed, and brokenhearted, healing begins when we understand who God is. When things come unraveled in our lives, and when fear seems to be the entree we are supposed to eat, we can find great peace in God. So with this in mind, let’s continue in our series as we discuss the names of God and learn more about who He says He is.

As we begin this new series, we’re going to study the different names of God. God wants us to see who He is and has allowed His character to be revealed specifically in 12 different names. Names are very, very important. God reveals Himself through His names. He reveals Himself through what He calls Himself. So we’re going to get to learn a lot about God throughout this study as we break down each of His different names.

Matthew Chapter 26 reveals the unique story of the Alabaster Box. It is very important because God wants us to understand everything about Alabaster Giving. It is a different kind of giving style altogether. This event is mentioned in all four Gospels, and as Jesus said, wherever the gospel is preached, what she has done will be told in memory of her. Jesus gave and gave and gave—but this is one of the few times when someone gave to Him. So this is a story we can learn a lot from.

In Matthew 24, the disciples asked Jesus, “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (v. 3). Jesus responded by describing war, persecution, deception, and natural disasters. It sounds like front-page news! Every generation has believed they would see the return of Jesus, but no generation has seen the complete fulfillment of prophecy like ours. One of the most pressing issues of our time is terrorism. As believers, we cannot separate our faith from current realities. We must allow Scripture to speak into what we are experiencing and respond with a biblical worldview.

In recent events, our country has partnered with Israel to take a stand against the nuclear sites in Iran. President Trump ordered our B-2 bombers to drop bunker buster bombs into three nuclear sites—Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. Some of our submarines followed up with Tomahawk missiles to destroy the nuclear enrichment sites. As believers, how will we interpret what is happening in our world? The Bible tells us what will happen in the days to come and gives us a set of glasses to interpret correctly what is happening presently. It is my responsibility to equip you to interpret today’s events in light of God's overwhelming plan for the future. With that in mind, I want to explain to you why we are presently witnessing something I would call “Poking the Bear.”

I love today’s key verse from Colossians, which says, “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.“ Do you know what that verse means? It means that all who have turned from their sin and placed their faith in Christ are given a spiritual position of being holy. God declares we are holy, and yet we don’t always feel holy. Between now and when we see Jesus face to face, we will deal with this issue. God wants us to actually experience the power of holiness in our lives. In this message, we’re going to look at exactly how we can do that.

Today, I want to talk to you about “The Power of Holiness.” For some people, that is not an exciting topic. You don't hear many messages on holiness. The word “holy” means “set apart for God.” As believers and as His children, we have been set apart for Him and Him alone. Deuteronomy says, “Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you…” (Deut. 6:18). Everything we do, say, and post should be right and good. If it doesn't honor God, don't do it. That is the message. The problem is, our culture is at war with the Word of God. We've decided we can describe morality without religion. But Scripture calls us to be holy, even when it's hard.

We are in the second week of our series called “A Worshipping Church.” The first part of this series included some wonderful Scripture passages on worshiping. Today, we are going to focus on the practicality, application, and details of worshiping. Remember, worshipping is about experiencing the presence of God. We know if we have been in the presence of God because we have felt it and sensed His presence. It has nothing to do with volume or performance. It depends on whether Jesus is honored and glorified.

In this message, I want to talk to you about being a worshiping church. I want you to understand why this is so important for your life and the lives of people who God invites into His presence. Nothing is more important than engaging with the Lord. God brings people into our midst with various needs—relational, financial, spiritual, physical—and although I can't always preach a sermon that will address every need, I can invite us into the presence of God. We were created to know Him, to sense Him, and to walk with Him. God has called us to do this. The gateway to this spiritual encounter with the Lord Himself is to align ourselves in worship because that is where God lives. That is where He dwells and moves.

We do not come to worship just to go through the motions. We worship because we desperately need to have a fresh encounter with God. The world can go by, but we were made for communion with God. Unless we have that encounter, we will leave unfulfilled, empty, and hopeless. So, what keeps us from experiencing God? I believe it is shame. Shame is a silent killer of your spiritual progress. In this message, we’re going to discuss the issue of breaking free from shame so we can worship freely and encounter God.

As we look at a famous passage in Romans, we will read, "In all things, God works for the good.” Is divorce good? No. Is being laid off a good thing? No. Is disease or illness a problem? Absolutely. Not all things are good, but even with the bad, God has a plan. We need to understand that there will be times when your body will fail you. No one gets out of this life alive. It is important that we have a good theology around this subject of healing. You’re probably carrying burdens right now—maybe for yourself, maybe for someone you love. In the midst of those burdens, you need to understand what God has for you and what He plans to do, even in the middle of illness or disease.

Carrying burdens is part of the Christian life, and today I want to talk to you about being called to carry a burden. Sometimes, God places something heavy on our hearts, not to overwhelm us, but to invite us into partnership with Him through prayer. Let’s look at how we can carry out the burdens we’re called to carry in a way that glorifies God and grows our faith.

It is very important that we understand that the two women mentioned in today’s key passage, Eunice (Timothy’s mother) and Lois (Timothy’s grandmother), made an unbelievable impact on his life. The same could be said for the Christian faith. We are never more than one generation away from losing the impact of Christianity upon our culture. That is why we must learn and celebrate passing our faith along. God wants us to make an impact on the lives of our children. Mothers, whether it is a grandmother or a mother, influence their children for the Kingdom of God.

We recently had the opportunity to do something incredible as a church—together, we gave over $250,000 to help build a brand- new orphanage in Mongolia. It wasn’t about one person putting their name on the building. It was the body of Christ working together. That’s how I believe God wants giving to take place—in secret, without applause or recognition, but in a way that brings Him glory. Jesus talks about this in Matthew 6:1-4. He says when you give, don’t do it to be seen. Don’t blow trumpets. Give in secret—and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Let’s talk about what it means to give like that by looking at four things we can apply from this passage.

I have some important questions for you to consider today: How do people meet the Lord? How do they get connected to Christ? The answer to these questions is the same: through you. God has chosen to use people like you and me to be His ambassadors. He wants us to be heaven connections. In John’s gospel, we discover four types of connections that can lead people to Christ. Let’s look at those together now.

When we look at Scripture, we see that Jesus’ death and resurrection drastically impacted the disciples’ lives. But the life change didn’t stop with the disciples. The gospel of Jesus has been changing lives ever since the day Jesus rose from the dead. And as followers of Jesus, we can experience the same kind of life change that the disciples experienced all those years ago. Today, we’re going to look at six specific ways that the disciples’ lives changed because of the resurrection, and as a result, we can be encouraged and challenged by the fact that our lives can be changed in the exact same ways.

Nothing is more important for our lives than to be in the center of God’s will. The Lord wants His will to be accomplished in your life. But for this to happen, your will must be surrendered to Him. This is what it looks like to be in the zone spiritually. So if you want to make sure you’re living in the zone with God, there are a few truths you need to embrace.

As we look at Scripture, we’ll see that it gives us guidance on complete security. Specifically, in 1 John, we find seven questions that we need to ask ourselves as believers. This book of the Bible was written by John centuries ago, but even then it still speaks to us. Let’s look at these seven questions together.

If you look at the entire book of 1 John, you’ll see very clearly the characteristics of someone who is a child of God. When you have given your life to Christ and surrendered your life to Him, I believe there are seven characteristics that will be true of you. In today’s message, we’re going to discuss these seven characteristics in depth.