First Church of the Nazarene Pastor Henecke's Sermon Outlines | Sermon Outlines | Pastor Henecke's Sermon Outlines The Woodland Street Pulpit Nashville's First Church of the Nazarene February 11, 2001 A.M. Encounter Please open your Bibles to Acts 9 : 1- page # 1250 INTRODUCTION: We live in a world of schedules. Many of us run our lives with manager planners and most recently palm pilots to steer our days. Today we read of a great man's appointment with God. We all have one. By my life I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: "To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." Isaiah 45:23 For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God." So then, each of us will be accountable to God. Romans 14:12 I. THE PROCESSION: "Forward Ho!" The drummers and the trumpets gave out a rhythmic march - like the swinging of the pendulum of a great clock - and with each step the procession moved further from their origin and into their destiny. Life is a procession into tomorrow The scenery may change but as we daily trudge ahead, we are moving into the future In a forced march some may fall out for the daily drudge of routine is too heavy a pace. The faint of heart fall in exhaustion. Some who have started the march with you no longer are at your side In everyone's daily walk there comes the appointment with God A. Paul was on the march of life. 1. He was a very young man - healthy and athletic. 2. He had important connections with the supreme court. 3. He was the wealthy graduate of a leading university. B. He was pressing ahead, fighting God while serving God. C. Paul could say: 1. I am religious. 2. I am keeping the traditional faith. 3. What I do, I do for God. Galatians 1:13-14 You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. D. In the zeal for God we can actually be anti-Christ. E. Paul himself remembers his inner turmoil. Acts 26:14 When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the thorns.' 1. We often move ahead in zeal without inner peace. 2. Christ reads the heart. II. THE ZEAL OF INQUISITION: A. Acts 9:1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest. Paul tells this over and over again. Acts 22:4 I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison, 1 Corinthians 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles,unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them-- though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. The zeal that imitates salvation: Romans 10:1- 3 Brothers and sisters, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. For, they ignore the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Prov. 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Acts 9:2 if he found any who belonged to the Way, III. THE CONVERSION: A. Today it is different for Saul Paulus. 1. God had a plan that the apostle did not know when he was born. 2. God has a plan for all of us that we may not know. 3. God knows. B. God knew Paul's needs. Psalm 44:21 For he knows the secrets of the heart. Romans 8:27 God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 2:16 God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all. 1. The secrets of the heart are reserved to the Lord. 2. He knows our wants and he knows our dreams. "My Jesus knows just what I need." C. Suddenly there was blinding light like white magnesium. 1. A shape stood in the light. 2. Others saw only the light and heard a noise. 3. A voice crying "Saul, Saul." a. The Lord calls us by name. b. Like Zacchaeus, the sacred lips spoke his name and one day will speak all of ours. D. The Bible proclaims - Paul trembled - was astonished - and fell to the ground. E. Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus. 1. Not the Jesus of Christmas sentimentality. 2. The real person who lived in time. 3. In the experience of feelings and terror comes the One who walked the Galilean road in seamless robes. F. He knows all about us - the man Jesus - our God. 1. This is not an angel. 2. This is greater than an experience. 3. This is more than a blessing. G. " I am Jesus." 1. Christ is a real man. 2. He entered our sorrows and endured our grief. Yet he is God. John 20:28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Christ as God knows all about us. a. He knows our limitations. b. He knows the burden of temptation and taxation. c. He knows inward and outward pain. We meet him as a historic man and find our God. a. I once corresponded with Harry S. Truman. b. Had a traffic accident with John Kennedy. c. Own speeches and personally met and worked with Lyndon Johnson. Took my staff to meet Jimmy Carter. They are no more real to me than Jesus. IV. THE CONSECRATION: A. The hunter became the hunted. B. Salvation is the work of Christ in us - we respond. C. By grace we are saved through faith, and that faith is not of ourselves but a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- D. Conversion equals the realization of wrong. Paul will change his value system and his allegiance of life. From now on Christ is all and in all. His Christianity was not dependent upon Christian acceptance. The Christ of the Damascus Road was the Christ of the cross. When he joined the Christ of the cross, he became an enemy of all that once empowered him. V. THE CONSEQUENCES: Phil. 3:7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. To live is Christ (to zh|n Cristoj ). Gain (kerdoj). word for any gain or profit, interest on money. To die (to apoqanein, second aorist active infinitive, single act) is to cash in both principal and interest and so to have Christ. Life itself is seen in the person of Christ who was rejected by his own but approved by God. Pastor Henecke's PM Sermon Outline The Woodland Street Pulpit Nashville's First Church of the Nazarene February 11, 2001 P.M. Safety First Please open your Bibles to Philippians 3:1-11 page # 1367Philippians 3:2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! Let's focus our thoughts tonight with a reminder of the last hour as foretold by the Rock Christ chose. 2 Peter 2:3 And in their greed they will exploit [make merchandise of] you with false words; from of old their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction has not been asleep. The Opening: Warnings to our children for, We worry over them ... love them ...want their best. Amid all the hurt we pass on our knowledge, Giving to them a broader insight. "Look out for trucks. Stop the machine before you adjust it. No horsing around. No running - be careful and walk." Paul writes to his children. The same he says is not grievous. This is the role of the shepherd\watchman. I. BEWARE OF FALSE PHARISEES: Beware (blepete). A. Beware of dogs. 1. Everyone cannot be right if there is an ultimate right. 2. Dogs in Israel refers to those who are outside. 3. Dogs were both devouring and filthy. 4. This often refers to Pharisee-ism. B. Beware of offbeat teachers. 2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them-- bringing swift destruction on themselves. C. I suggest that false doctrine always corrupts the simplicity of the Christ of the cross. Beware of those who add to the message of the cross. Beware of those who promote self and institution with the use of the cross. Philippians 3:17-21 D. Evil workers: Those who do bad things. Those whose thoughts are on evil. Those who make filth a habit. Those corrupt in heart and mind. Romans 1:32 Though they know God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them. Those who mutilate: (False circumcision) True faith heals and enhances. Romans 2:28 He is not a real Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. Galatians 6:15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! II. BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD (pneumati qeou). Philippians 3:3 For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh-- latreuw (worshiping the Spirit of God) In the flesh (en sarki). Technical term in Paul's controversy with the Judaizers (2Co 11:18; Gal 6:13f.). External privileges beyond mere flesh. It must be of God or it is not God. Titus 3:3 We ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by men and hating one another; Titus 3:4 but when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, The goal of the kingdom is the spirit of Christ. The test of the truth is the Spirit. Christ is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. III. TO THE GLORY IS CHRIST. From 3:5 -8 Paul shows its personal ramifications in his own life. The goal is to gain life (v. 11). The course is conformity to Christ and attachment to him alone. Beware, of self or physical confidence (v. 3-4). Self reliance. Self assurance. Self talents. Self dependency. The Conclusion: John 3:21 The one who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.

Back to Top Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 First Church of the Nazarene and Jeff Sexton Last updated: February 12, 2001