Higher Aim with Dr. Curt Dodd

When it comes to “Simple Church,” we have to ask a very important question: Why do we actually believe the Bible? In many churches, their pulpits are filled with men who just tell stories, give pop psychology lessons, or create applications out of some story that they don't believe really happened. But that’s not the way we are. We believe the Bible from Genesis all the way through the book of Revelation. We believe the Bible is important because it is the manual for our lives. What we believe about the Bible is critical to our maturation and discipleship as believers. Therefore, we need to read the Bible (and not wait for the movie to come out). The Bible is really essential for joy, comfort, hope, direction, and clarity. With this in mind, I want to give you four reasons why we believe the Bible in hopes of encouraging you to read the Bible more and believe what it says.

As followers of Christ, we are commanded to live our lives like Jesus and to follow the example He set while He was here on earth. One of the ways Jesus set an example for us was by being baptized. And because Jesus was baptized, I believe it’s important that once you become a believer, you are baptized as well! Baptism matters, and today we’re going to look at what Scripture has to say about why it matters.

By diving into today’s key Scripture passage, I want to describe how to share your faith. I want to equip you and give you a tool on how to engage other people in a conversation about Jesus. As I say this, you might be thinking, “I am not that kind of person. I am not someone who can engage with someone. That's not my personality. It’s just not me. I would rather point them to a pamphlet or encourage them to go to church. I just have a hard time sharing.” If that is you, I would urge you to shift your mindset on sharing your faith because we have a direct command from the Father to do so. You became a believer because someone else shared their faith with you. And that’s how other people will become believers in Jesus, by hearing someone share their faith. Therefore, we need to take this responsibility of sharing our faith seriously.

We need to learn how to deal with giving because God wants it to make sense to us. As you read the Bible, you’ll notice that Jesus focused on giving quite a bit: 16 out of the 38 parables that Jesus spoke dealt with money. One out of every ten verses in the Gospels is about money. There are 500 verses on prayer and less than 500 verses on faith, but there are over 2,000 verses on money! So if the Lord valued how we handle our money this much, it’s clearly a topic we need to pay attention to and make sense of. For many people, they don't give because it doesn't make sense. However, today’s passage reveals why giving makes sense.

There is a war going on inside of us all the time. We need to realize that this is part of the human condition. The Bible says very clearly that God is faithful. He will not allow you to go through any temptation that you can’t avoid, or that you don’t have the strength to endure. With that in mind, I want to share five basic principles concerning how to become triumphant over temptations. Some are geared more toward the flesh, while some are aimed at the desires in our hearts and lives. You and I need to embrace these principles because Jesus did, and He has given us that model.

Every church is different, but despite their differences, every church needs to practice the same things. Some churches might emphasize one doctrine over another doctrine, but the cardinal doctrines of the faith should be embraced by every evangelical church. we do church validates what we believe. We must be rooted in the proper doctrines. In today’s key passage of Scripture, we will read how Paul gives the church in Rome the “Ten Commandments for Doing Church.” As we learn more about these, let’s think about how we can apply them in our own lives, particularly when it comes to our involvement in church.

Over the years, I have heard people use different excuses to justify why they are giving in a certain way, rather than doing what Scripture describes. This is a very personal and private thing. We give privately and yet collectively as the body of Christ. It is a personal decision and experience. We don't send bills to people; and we don't send notices that say you haven't been giving your tithe or offering. We don't send out letters like that. I know some congregations do that. I just want to teach you what the Bible says about your belongings, because this is part of the basics of living as a believer.

The word “Ekklesia” is the Koine ́ Greek word for church. It is a compound word, “ek” (the preposition, which means “out of”) and “kaleo” (to call). The word “ekklesia” literally means “called out of ones.” In other words, we, as God's children, have been called out of the world to live for Christ. This is interesting: 90% of the time that the word “ekklesia” is used in the New Testament, it refers to the local church. Only 10% of the time, it refers to the body of Christ worldwide, the spiritual body of Christ. We are going to take a look at this word more closely in today’s message as we understand the importance of fellowship and community in the local church, and we’ll answer the question “Why do we need brotherhood in the church?”

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.