First Church of the Nazarene
Pastor Henecke's Sermon Outlines

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Pastor Henecke's Sermon Outlines

The Woodland Street Pulpit

Nashville First Church of the Nazarene

Pentecost 2005 AM

The Desperate Need

Acts 1:1-8

In my first work I gave an account of all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. To these men whom he had chosen he revealed himself alive after his passion in convincing proofs. During the forty days of his appearing he taught them about the kingdom of God. While he was in their company he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem. "You must wait there for the promise of the Father," he said, "of which I have told you; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." When they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore sovereignty to Israel?" He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or dates that the Father has set within his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will bear witness to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

  1. Mount Olives

    1. Last words are significant

      1. (Made all the more so by the person)

      2. The words of a departing Jacob, Moses, David

    2. The words of Christ are well known

      1. On Olive three religions quarrel over this spot

      2. A spire rises into the sky to mark the place

      * A limestone hill east of Jerusalem – lies between the villages of Bethany and Bethpage and the Temple – borders the Judean desert and Kidron

    3. Jesus’ ministry ends as it began – discussing baptism

      1. He addresses the desperate need of his church

      2. We must note first the church who received the promise

  2. The men of Pentecost

    1. They had been with Christ for all of his ministry

      1. As stated in selecting a replacement for Judas :

        2. "One of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us- one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection." Acts 1:21

      2. They knew him in season and out

    2. They were his but had been often wrong

      1. Their comprehension of the kingdom was major

        1. This led Peter to correct him at Caesarea

        2. This led to their misunderstanding his death

      2. These days he had tried to help them

      Acts 1:3

      During the forty days of his appearing he taught them about the kingdom of God.

    3. Still – they had their old views (they were not where he was)

      4. Acts 1:4-6

      While he was in their company he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem. "You must wait there for the promise of the Father," he said, "of which I have told you; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." When they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore sovereignty to Israel?"

      1. They sought that which belonged only to God

        1. This is the issue behind the fall

        2. Man sitting in the place reserved for God

      2. They still had not grasped "The Kingdom"

    4. The issue of God’s time is not ours

      1. This is ours: You will receive my Spirit - You will be given power

        1. You will witness to me

        2. There was the meeting at the mountain

  3. The Desperate Need

    1. Not better organization

      2. Jesus named no bishops – created no flow charts

      Jesus never wrote a leadership manual

      He held no elections nor sought advice

    2. Not better personnel

      3. Not one of theses men finished university

      Not a single High Council member was there

      Not one was a ruler

    3. Not better Buildings or equipment

Jesus was a carpenter who left no monuments

          1. The church is not a ‘set’ architecture

He spoke of an all-new temple

John 2:19

"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

1 Corinthians 6:19

Surely you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own!

    1. Not better theology

      2. The Spirit was to lead them into all truth

      The Spirit was their need

      All other needs were human perceptions

    2. Not better ritual or liturgy

      3. The temple services were ordered of God

      He wrote no books – authored no codes

      He recited no creed

    3. They need what the Father promised us

Don’t leave Jerusalem

Not just yet – you will go

  1. The Promise

    1. You will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As he had foretold;

      2. John 16:7

      I tell you the truth: it is on your behalf that I go away. If I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

      1. You can be assured of this

      2. This is the promise of God

    2. They were faithful

      1. They obeyed and remained in Jerusalem

      2. They gave themselves to prayer and each other

        3. Psalm 62:5-7

        For God alone I wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. In God is my safety and my glory, the rock of my strength.

      3. They prepared for the work ahead:

        1. They were unified

        2. This is our salvation:

      Hebrews 2:3-4

      How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his own will.

    3. That which the promise brings

      1. He first transforms the believer

        1. He brings Christ into our life

          2. Romans 8:9

          You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, since God’s Spirit dwells in you. Anyone who does not have Christ’s Spirit does not belong to him.

        2. Uniting us to life

      2. He is all that is of God in us

      3. He assures us and is our hope

        4. Romans 5:5

        God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

        Ephesians 1:11-14

        In Christ we have obtained an inheritance, having been destined by his purpose who designs all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, once you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation - and had believed in him - were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance when God redeems his own, to his praise and glory.

      4. He leads us in the Way (into the depths of God)

      5. He is a God of this age

        1. He is the instrument of prevenient grace

        2. Communicating God in the world

      6. He convicts the world and speaks through the church

        1. Beware to blaspheme the Spirit

        2. He is God through the church in the world

Ephesians 4:30

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.


Pastor Henecke's PM Sermon Outline

The Woodland Street Pulpit

Nashville First Church of the Nazarene

Pentecost May 15, 2005 PM

Completion in Christ

Colossians 2:6 -23

Therefore, since you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, live in him. Be rooted in him, be framed in him and confirmed in the faith as you were taught, and overflow in thanksgiving. See to it that no one captures you through philosophy and empty speculations based on human traditions, after the elemental spirits of the universe, and not on Christ. It is in him that God in all his fullness dwells embodied, and it is in him that you have been brought to fullness of life; it is he who is the corner stone of all origin and authority. In him you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, for the stripping away of the old body of flesh as Christ’s way of circumcision of Christ; as you were buried with him in baptism, in that baptism you were raised with him to life through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. Although you were dead in sins and your uncircumcision, God brought you to life in union with Christ. He forgave your trespasses, and canceled the bond, which was outstanding against us with its legal demands; he has set them aside, nailing all to the cross. He disarmed the cosmic powers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them in his triumph. Allow no one to judge you over the observance of festival or a new moon or a Sabbath or matters of diet. These are no more than a shadow of what is to come; the reality is Christ. Let no one disqualify you, by the decision of people to self-abasement or worship of angels, or visions, exalting themselves through vain arrogance of the sensuous mind, and not holding firmly to the head from whom the whole body, with all its joints and tissues is nourished together and grows according to God’s design. If you died with Christ to the base spirits of the universe, why do you behave as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you let others dictate to you: "Do not handle this or taste that or do not touch the other" (referring to things which all perish as they are used)? These are all human precepts and doctrines! They indeed have an appearance of wisdom in piety and rigorous devotion with self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh or sensuality.

  1. The Illusion:

    1. "Wrong-way Corrigan" - Douglas Corrigan became a legendary aviator, not because of his accomplishments as a pilot but rather because of a supposed navigational error. In 1938, Corrigan "mistakenly" flew from New York to Ireland--when he was supposed to be flying from New York to California--because he seemingly misread his compass. For Americans, who were caught in the midst of the Great Depression, Corrigan's antic provided a great deal of humor and uplift and he became a national folk hero. To this day, Corrigan's nickname, "'Wrong Way' Corrigan," remains a stock colloquial phrase in popular culture. People use it to describe anyone who blunders and goes the wrong way, particularly in sporting events. Approximately 26 hours into his flight, Corrigan claimed to have finally dropped down out of the clouds and noticed that he was over a large body of water. He knew that it was too early to have reached the Pacific Ocean. Suddenly he noticed he "had been following the wrong end of the magnetic needle." Within a short time, Corrigan was over Ireland. He landed at in Dublin, after a 28-hour, 13-minute flight

      1. All the skill and training had failed

      2. He followed his senses – senselessly

        1. The famous last flight of John Kennedy

        2. All the fame and money couldn’t help

    2. This illusion of relevancies has always stalked the saints

      1. 2 Timothy 4:10 Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world,

    3. Illusions cause much in the Biblical story

      1. His cry is "Father forgive them – they do not know"

      2. The preaching of the Christ is: Luke 19:42 "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes."

        1. Yet our temporary times shape us

        2. The simplicity of Christ seems too naive

    4. We continue to be attracted by:

      1. Our momentary philosophies and theories

        1. Our debates from tradition

        2. The imagined spirituality of rigorous faith

      2. This is also the cry of Paul: Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?

  2. The Source of it all

    1. You and I are temporary parts of this Cosmos – creation

      1. We exist in time and temporarily

      2. We are products of our moment

    2. God does not just exist – he is

      1. When Moses asked his name God responded

        2. Exodus 3:14

        God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

      2. I exist! I am the one who is – was – and is to come

    3. Jesus was to respond with this same truth

      1. Before Abraham was (past tense) "I am!"

      2. This "I am!" was the theme of his teaching

      John 8:24

      "I told you that you would die in your sins unless you believe that I am."

    4. Jesus is hereby saying – you exist through me

      5. John 14:6

      Jesus said, "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through me".

      1. I am the true reality

      2. I am the source of life and the life to live

      3. I am the reason you live and I am the meaning

      John 1:3-4

      Through him all things came into being, and without him no created thing exists. What has come into being in him was life, and that life was the light of mankind.

      Colossians 1:16

      In him everything in heaven and on earth was created, not only things visible but also the unseen orders of thrones or sovereignties, authorities, and powers: the whole universe was created through him and for him.

    5. Here we see the unity of reality
      1. The perfections of Creation are in him
      2. Our very being is from him and to him
      3. He not only created us - he planned us
  3. The extent of his claim
    1. Christ claims to be the God of Israel
      1. He claims to have stood before Abraham
      2. He says he is Isaiah’s vision

      John 12:41

      Isaiah wrote these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.

      John 5:39

      "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about me; yet, you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life."

    2. Christ claims to be the subject of the old scriptures
    3. The Apostles speak of this in more detail
      1. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ
      2. The resurrection we all seek is him
      3. The life we are to live is him
      4. He is the holiness we are to have – must have

      Colossians 1:28

      Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

    4. Let’s state it as simply as it is

      1. Be reconciled to God – through Christ
      2. Live for God – putting on Christ
      3. Refuse the simplicity that is Christ
        1. He is your temple
        2. He is your holy festival - he is your truth
  4. But how? How is this appropriated?
    1. The Lord on his final evening gave us the key
      1. I am the real vine
      2. Draw life through me
      3. Live in me
    2. Separate from me – you can do nothing
      1. He is the criterion
      2. He is the completion – come to completion!







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