Higher Aim With Dr. Curt Dodd

God does not want you to see yourself as a failure. Instead, He wants you to learn from the failures you go through. Sometimes, the only lesson you will learn is, “Don't do that again.” In this passage, there are three basic lessons that you will learn from failure, which we will discuss over the next two weeks. I pray you will learn from these failures in your own life and that you will find encouragement and comfort even when you fall short.

As believers, we need to be mindful of where we are going. It is like we are headed down a road where there is a huge sign across the road that says, “Bridge out.” If you keep driving, you are headed for disaster. Many people are looking at the signs that are occurring today, and they are heading into disaster. This is very important for you to understand. The Bible says that in the last days, terrible times will come. Great Tribulations will come. The New Testament explains the characteristics about those End Times. The Bible says there will be terrible, despicable, periloustimes. But at the same time, God promises to pour out His Holy Spirit during those last days. That’s not a contradiction. It’s a both-and situation. Our world is falling apart, and yet we’re seeing God do amazing things for His Kingdom. With this in mind, let’s look at some of the signs of the End Times as described in Scripture.

The cross was a watershed moment for the Apostle Paul and for us. It is important that we understand the cross and the power of the cross. It is more powerful than a piece of jewelry or a symbol that others see. In the early church, the symbol was not the cross. The cross was a Roman instrument of death. As we look back 2,000 years, the cross represents the power of God. What kind of power are we talking about? That’s what we’re going to discuss in today’s message.

Many of us have the mentality that says, “God, I want to do this. I want to go there.” We find ourselves upside down when we want God to bless our plans rather than be part of His plan for our lives. Oswald Chambers once said, “It is not right for the servant to tell the master what he will do and what he will not do.” As children of God and followers of Jesus, the most important thing for us to know is the will of God for our lives. But how do you find God's will? What does it look like? In today’s key passage, Jesus gives us a glimpse of God's will. So as we look at this passage, we will discuss some key principles for God’s will.

In this week’s message, we are continuing our conversation around forgiveness, discussing the steps we can take to forgive those who have hurt us and seeing what we can learn from the life and teaching of Jesus about Christlike forgiveness.

The story in today’s key passage of Scripture is a tough one. Forgiveness is always a tough subject in this broken world of ours. But as Jesus addresses this issue, He was being tougher on the person who withheld forgiveness than the person who committed the offense. Why would Jesus do that? That’s what we’re going to look at in today’s message. As we do, we need to ask and answer three specific questions. We’ll answer the first one today and then we’ll dive into the other two next week.

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.

As we continue our conversation around what we believe as followers of Jesus, we are going to reiterate some very important truths today. We’re going to look at why we believe what we believe surrounding communion and baptism and how these are symbols in our faith walk, but not the things that actually save us. Let's dive in together.

We are in week three of our series entitled, “What We Believe.” In this series, we’re discussing just that: what we believe. We’re diving into Scripture and making sure we have a clear understanding of our beliefs and our faith so that we are prepared to give a reason regarding the hope that is in us, as Peter says in his first epistle. Today, we’re going to continue this conversation by discussing what we believe about salvation and church membership. Let’s dive in together.

Living a life fully committed to Christ requires that you know what you believe. Last week, we began a series talking about what we believe as Christians and why we believe it. Today, we’re going to continue that discussion, so let’s dive in.

If you’re going to live a life committed to Jesus, you need to know what you believe. While there is such a thing as blind faith, there is no such thing as blind belief. It is absolutely vital that you know what Scripture says and what Jesus teaches so that you can have a strongly rooted belief in your relationship with the Lord.

As we continue our discussion on the names of God, we’re going to look at two more names that reveal more of God’s goodness and character to us. Let’s dive in together.

There are many things that matter in life. Some of these are: Friendships. Family. Time. Memories. But more than anything else, the resurrection matters! In this message, I will share several reasons why the resurrection really matters so that together we can gain a better understanding of why Easter is such a powerful day for us to celebrate.

Nothing is more important for believers than understanding the power of the wonderful cross. Think about those two words, “wonderful” and “cross.” Those two words don't really fit together because the cross was an instrument of death. That is what the Romans used to crucify criminals along a major road, as a warning to those who would resist the Roman government. It was an object of death. But for us as believers, what Jesus did on the cross was very powerful. In fact, if the Gospel is really to be preached, the cross of Christ must be lifted up. You cannot have the Gospel without the cross. In today’s message, we’re going to look at why the cross is so wonderful to those of us who follow Jesus, even though that was never the Roman government’s intent.

In today’s message, we are going to continue our study of the names of God. Specifically, we’re going to talk about how God is our shepherd and how He takes care of us no matter what we’re walking through. Let’s dive in.

In this series called, “What's In a Name?” we are looking at the different names of God. We have already looked at 6 of the 12 names. Today, we will take another step and look at some more names that will help us gain a better understanding of God. If there was ever a time when we need to understand who God is, it is now. Our world is so unstable with all kinds of thoughts, ideas, and philosophies around who God is. So as His followers, we need to be rooted in the character of God and what God reveals aboutHimself through His names.

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.

In today’s message, we are going to be focusing on the words of the Great Commission. These verses are the walking orders of the church. In the last several decades, the church has embraced the community of business leaders who have bought into the need for a vision statement. We need to have a mission statement. We need to have a purpose and a direction. And while I understand the value of that, we already have a mission and a purpose, and that is the Great Commission. It was the very thing that set the first generation of believers on course, therefore it should also place the last generation on course.