Higher Aim with Dr. Curt Dodd

We are getting ready to take our next step by looking at the sixth church in the Book of Revelation. These seven churches are very important. They represent different kinds of Christians, different kinds of churches, and different kinds of church ages. The one we will look at today is the church at Philadelphia. The church at Philadelphia was a church that had an open door. This is an exciting church to examine. This is an exciting age to look at, the missionary age, and there’s a lot we can learn from this specific church within this age.

As we continue our study of the book of Revelation, we are going to take a look at the Church of Sardis, the church who fell asleep at the wheel when it came to their faith. They desperately needed a spiritual wakeup call. So if you are in a similar position today, if you’re on the right path but you’ve somehow fallen asleep at the wheel and need to wakeup, this message is for you.

The big question we need to ask ourselves today is this: Why do we continue to believe lies even after they have been proven wrong? Have you ever wondered that? Why do people continue to embrace things that are false even after they have been taught and informed on the truth? We’re going to take a closer look at these questions in this message as we study the church at Thyatira and see how they struggled to hold onto the truth as well.

Many old-time Christians say, “That's the problem in our culture today, we have compromised. We have compromised our music and our dress. We even read different translations of the Bible; we compromise there.” Those are not wrong compromises. However, there are compromises that are destructive. We need to realize that God has a plan for us. He does not want us to be men and women who compromise concerning the essential truths of God's Word, that we know are true. In the early church season, there was a church that was known to be a compromising church. It was the church at Pergamum. It is one of the seven churches that Jesus wrote letters to concerning their compromise. In this message, we are going to take a closer look at this church and see what we can learn from them so we don’t compromise on what really matters.

Have you ever been persecuted? Have you ever really suffered for your faith? Have you ever been passed over for a promotion because of your personal religious values? A few of us know what it really means to be persecuted. We may have experienced the dislike of individuals or the shunning of friendships because of decisions that we have made for Christ, but few of us know what it really means to be persecuted. So in this message, we are going to see what it looks like to remain faithful in the midst of persecution.

In today’s message, we will continue our conversation about the church at Ephesus and what we can learn from John’s writing to them. The book of Revelation is a book of encouragement and hope when we’re struggling and facing tough times, so there is much to be gleaned from this book, particularly when it comes to the church at Ephesus, so let’s dig in.

I really believe the message of Revelation is hope in the midst of unbelievable trials. It offered encouragement for believers who were being persecuted, who had no idea what tomorrow held. And it gave guidance and direction on how to reclaim your lost love. In the message, we’ll take a closer look at the letter to the Church at Ephesus and see what we can learn from their journey on how come back to our first love.

If you are a father, or you hope to be a father someday, God wants you to bless your children. More important than providing for them financially and physically, He wants you as a father to learn how to bless your children. So with that in mind, I want you to think about how you can be honoring and blessing your kids. If you want to bless your children, I encourage you to do each of the things we will talk about in this message.

A good question to answer from time to time is “Where are you?” It’s a question of self-awareness and self-evaluation, which are areas we should all be growing in on a regular basis, particularly when it comes to our faith. As we dive into this message, I want us to take a look at this important question in the context of today’s key Scripture passage and see how it applies to our lives as believers.

The last picture of Jesus that we are left with that introduces this Book is that of blessing and comfort. I tell you that for a couple of reasons, because verses 17 and 18, describe that specifically. Then he placed his right hand on me. Picture this as a blessing and also as a picture of comfort. When a person wants to encourage someone, they have a tendency to put their hand on them. God wants you to live a full life now. For whatever time He gives you, He places His hand of blessing and comfort upon you. Blessing comes from whose hand is on you. So in this week’s message we are going to take a look at what you can do if you want to sense the Father’s hand of comfort and blessing in your life.