First Church of the Nazarene Pastor Henecke's Sermon Outlines | Sermon Outlines | Pastor Henecke's Sermon Outlines The Woodland Street Pulpit July 18, 2004 AM We believe in God Reading: Hebrews 1 Introduction We recite a creed written by the first generation of Followers of The Way as it holds I believe in God the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord In this profession we identify our faith as confessing that the god which Israel worshiped is God The Eternal – the Most High The invisible One - unknowable One Deuteronomy 4:12 Yahweh then spoke to you from the heart of the fire; you heard the sound of words but saw no shape; there was only a voice. 1 Timothy 1:17 To the eternal King, the undying, invisible and only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. We go further and say that we know him and see him through Jesus (in Jesus) of Nazareth Indeed – we hold that God is unknown outside of Jesus John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father has made him known. Colossians 1:15-16 Jesus is the likeness of the invisible God; the supreme over all creation. In him everything in heaven and on earth was created, not only things visible but also the invisible thrones, sovereignties, and powers; the whole of all that is, was created through him and for him. We know that outside of Jesus is awareness of God To truly know God you must know Christ Jesus All of this is a mystery – the god of Jesus is God – the one and only God – that in Jesus alone is found the glory of the true God. 1 Timothy 3:16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: he who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed in throughout the world, raised up in glory. Throughout the Ages This began simply Our ancestors were primitive – barbarians God began his revelation where we were at that time He called Abraham from his pagan gods The beginning of covenant was expressed in customs of Abram’s Amorite heritage Genesis 15:9 God said to Abram, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." He brought him all of these, cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. When birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. At sunset a deep sleep fell over Abram; and a dread and great darkness fell upon him. Then Yahweh said to Abram, "Know for sure that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring judgment on the nation which they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. They shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age." God, like a man, made a contract with Abraham He dealt with us in our symbols and forms It took centuries for God to cleanse Israel of the gods This is the role of the God-sent leaders Joshua 24:14-15 "Fear Yahweh, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. If you be unwilling to serve Yahweh, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh." This continues until just before the Messiah The ancients’ polytheism shows itself in the old names for God God was Elohim – literally – gods The Shema of Israel actually says: Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The Yahweh our gods is One; you must love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength." Acts 17:30 In the days of our ignorance God closed his eyes But our understanding of him came bit by bit Jephthah came home to Mizpah; and his daughter came out to meet him There were Samson’s indiscretions The killing of the one who touched the Ark God spoke to Israel – in visions, dreams, from a fiery bush, in Thunder, in a vast assortment of prophets God used other means but the insight into him grew Finally even the Law was becoming a burden Israel was being readied for a deeper insight The God of the ceremonies was preparing a deeper vision Isaiah 1:11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats. Amos 5:21 I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. The New Covenant God began to promise a new covenant The old was to become obsolete Jeremiah 31:31-33 The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke though I was patient with them. This is the covenant which I will make with Israel after those days, says the LORD: I shall put my law within them, writing it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will there be a need for anyone to teach another, saying, "Learn to know the Lord!" All of them will know me, high and low, for I shall forgive their wrongdoing and never more call their sin to memory. The new arrangement was to be of the heart It was to be centered in God himself Isaiah 40:9 Go up on a high mountain, messenger of Zion. Raise your voice and shout loud and fearlessly to Jerusalem, to the towns of Judah, 'Here is your God!' Isaiah 7:14 The Lord will give you a sign: a young woman is with child and will give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel. Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel (which means, God with us). This is the message we confess: That God was in Christ Those who saw him saw the fulness of the revealed God Those who saw the Son saw the Father Here was the one for whom all else exists Jesus is the God of Israel speaking to us God in Jesus Opening to us a new revelation For union with God Our sin is his – his holiness is ours So that where it was once said: Romans 3:23 All alike have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 All the work is of God who has reconciled us to himself in Christ. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not holding anyone's misdeeds against them, but entrusting us with the message of reconciliation. We are Christ’s ambassadors! God is appealing through us; as we implore you to be reconciled to God in Christ. For our sake he made the sinless One to be sin, so that in him we might become one with the righteousness of God. It is now said: Colossians 1:27-28 I became a minister according to the divine office, which was given to me for you, to make God’s word fully understood, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To us God chose to make known what a wealth of glory is offered to the nations in this mystery, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim. We teach everyone with all our wisdom, so that we may present everyone complete in Christ. Conclusion: Not only has God himself visited us – he has granted to us participation in his own nature through the Spirit. 2 Peter 1:4 He lavished on us great and priceless promises, that through them you should share the divine nature and escape the lust that corrupts the world. Pastor Henecke's PM Sermon Outline The Woodland Street Pulpit July 18, 2004 PM Why Suffering? Reading: John 9 Introduction In my study one day I was asked, "Is God punishing me?" At a cemetery a father spoke sadly, "Did God take my boy for his sin?" The disciples asked: John 9:1 As Jesus was passing he saw a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should have been born blind?' Another can say I asked my God to even take me if he would save my child The oldest book in the Bible is called Job It records a man losing his family – wealth and health This happened while Job seemed righteous In this setting is given the oldest human belief: Job 4:7 "Think now, who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?" Psalm 37:25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. Where is God in our circumstances? Primitive Israel believed God acted in everything He was the source of the storm The pestilence came from his hand/will The struggle is "On the other hand – if God is good, why would he allow his own to suffer?" Seeing a father punish his child – We would reason: The father is mean The child has done wrong We know that sin is the source of suffering So where is the blame? It is in this setting Jesus responds: John 9:3 "Neither of his own sin nor of his parents’ sin was he born blind – his blindness is so that the works of God might be revealed in him." From his birth (tuphlon ek genetês) tuflo.n evk geneth/j A phrase only like this in the New Testament It was a known fact he was born without eyes The issue for the disciples was if one sinned before birth Jesus does not give the source of the birth defect He simply says it was not from sin Jesus might have used the occasion to give a lecture on the causes of suffering Perhaps the man had not been spiritual enough James 4:2 KJV Ye have not, because ye ask not. James 4:2 NJB It is because you do not pray that you do not receive Jesus did not! Instead of talking about sin Jesus talked of God’s glory He could have told us how to support the man He might have talked about his life’s limitation Jesus might have lectured on human compassion Jesus turns to the opportunity of the situation 1 Peter 4:15 Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a wrongdoer, or a mischief-maker; yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God. The Opportunity for glorification Jesus met needs with great diversity of methods Another blind man he healed in stages Mark 8:22-25 In Bethsaida the people brought a blind man to him, and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then he spit on his eyes and laid his hands upon him asking him, "Do you see anything?" Looking up he said, "I see people; but they look like trees, walking." Then Jesus laid his hands upon his eyes again; and he looked intently until he saw everything clearly." To a wedding coordinator he said, "Fill the pots!" To a paralytic he said, "Pick up your bed and walk!" Sometimes he must prepare us to cooperate in his healing In this case Jesus prepared mud from clay Genesis 2:7 Yahweh shaped man from the dust of the ground, and blew the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living being. This is how he once created humanity The deficiencies of the womb were over God was making up for the man’s inabilities Our problems – lacks – are God’s opportunities We bring our needs – Needs we cannot meet They may be life-long We may even need him to give us faith Mark 9:24 Jesus said, "If you have faith! All things are possible to him who believes." At once the father of the boy cried out, "I believe; help my unbelief!" James 1:2-5 My friends, whenever you face all sorts of trials, consider it nothing but joy, in the knowledge that such testing of your faith produces strength to be steadfast. Let endurance perfect its work in you so that you may be completely mature, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom ask God who graciously and generously grants and never begrudges anyone. It will be given you! The key is how we see the situation Can you rejoice in your hurt? Are you able to see it as God’s opportunity? The man heard Jesus say – "Go wash – in Siloam"! Faith gave birth to obedience Siloam had nothing to do with it! Faith holds scientists to long tedious hours Pierre and Marie Curie had made 487 experiments to try to separate radium from pitchblende. All had failed. Finally Pierre said, "It cannot be done. Not in our lifetime will it be achieved." His wife responded, "If it takes a hundred years it will be a pity, but I will not – I dare not do less than work for it as long as I have life." The rest is history. Faith makes a mother sit all night by a bed Faith will find a cure for cancer The blind man saw for the very first time This is God’s glory That the impossible be done – less is sin Romans 3:23 All alike have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. Then Came the Religious ***Carrie Deason and the church pianist She was seeing without eyes She had too much faith to know it was impossible The humming bird can’t fly It has too much body weight for its thin wings But – being ignorant of science the bird flies God is the ingredient we must never overlook Hebrews 11:6 It is impossible to please God without faith; whoever comes to him must believe that he exists and rewards those who seek him. Yet the religious went on arguing Not aware that they were blind Never able to admit what had been done Never knowing what had been taught They must not shape us Beware of the black hole of religion Philippians 1:27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear omen to them of their destruction and of your salvation from God. Finally – For His Glory Romans 8:28-29 We know that those who love God, who are called in terms of his purpose, have his aid for their good in everything. Those whom he knew before they ever existed he ordained to be shaped to the likeness of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn of a great family. Then he calls to those he thus decreed, and those he calls he makes right; those he has justified he glorifies!

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