Sermon Tone Analysis

May 20, 2018 - candidating sermon for Hope Church

The Preeminence of Christ

The Preeminence of Christ

what it means to put Jesus first

When I was in bible college prof said today we are going to study the preeminence of Christ.

What??

Webster defines preeminence as: to be outstanding, having paramount rank, dignity or importance, supreme.

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Preeminence of Jesus def. to be given first priority.

God gave him first priority, we must give him first priority in our lives as well.

Not here today to only pass on knowledge but to help us gain wisdom.

Nothing wrong with learning theological vocabulary, but we should take the knowledge and apply it.

Nothing wrong with theology, absolutely necessary, but it is incomplete without putting what we know into practice.

Preeminence as a theological concept is found in the first chapter of Colossians.

“supremacy” to have first place in everything.

col 1 1

Today I don’t want to dwell on the theological underpinnings of this truth, this is important, and should not be overlooked, but today I am going to assume that most of you re in agreement that Jesus is firstborn, the priority, the supreme lord and master.

Instead I want to get to where this truth intersects where you and I live— the practical outworking of this truth.

So lets agree that Jesus is superior to anyone else, so now what do we do with this?

How do we live out this truth?

What is the practical outworking of this truth?

How is he firstborn in our daily lives?

As followers we all agree, but then how do we live with this truth?

How is he firstborn or highest priority in our daily lives?

The life of Jesus and the disciples as recorded in the Gospels give us an understandable illustration of what it means to live our lives for Jesus first.

The Gospels of course are historical narrative, they tell a story, recount history.

Where as Pauls writings for instance are instructive-information driven- the Gospels are character driven.

Here is a snapshot taken on a sabbath afternoon-Peter Andrew, James and John, four of his followers.

Jesus first in our hearts

Love the lord with all your heart

38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon Peter.

Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her.

39 So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.

She got up at once and began to wait on them.

In this passage, Jesus is found in Capernaum, his northern base of operations-one sabbath he is in Capernaum’s synagogue preaching.

Then...

if any is sick call elders

Jesus is first in our helping

whatever you do, work for the lord

38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon Peter.

Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her.

39 So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.

She got up at once and began to wait on them.

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Today I want to bring to you wha the lord has laid upon me -I trust it is what you need to hear and you will be built up and encouraged by this.

Those without Christ as their savior are called poor because despite their standing in society, they do not possess the riches of the Kingdom of God.

His ambassadors

His children

His servants

All these are privileges.

And by looking at this short passage in luje we se here some of these privilges displayed for us..

My parents taught me & my siblings manners-Mom a very proper Canadian—one such manner was knocking before entering-bed rooms, neighbors, relatives.

Had a friend whose parents told me I didn’t need to knock-couldt

Had a friend whose parents told me I didn’t need to knock-couldnt bring my self to do it-hybrid-kncked whil i eased the door open!

It occured to me the only door I never had to knock on was our front door.

I was privileged to come in at my desire without permission.I was welcomed, wanted loved.

Even after being away for months at college, or working or even after I was married and had my own home and our own children-I never needed to knock

Today I want to discuss with you the privilege you and I enjoy because we are His-His children.

In these two verses we see a glimpse of how we are to live as followers of Christ-a lifestyle of putting Christ first in our daily comings and goings.

As followers it is not enough that we say the right words but we must have a will and a mind dedicated to him as well.

What does it mean to recognize the preeminence of Christ, or to live putting Jesus first in our lives?

To begin with, Jesus is first in our hearts.

Jesus is first in our hearts.

He has first place there-He is more important to us than anyone or anything.

Peter brought Jesus home with him.

It is "safer" to leave Jesus at church-at home is where we truly are ourselves.

At home is where we stop pretending.

At home is where many of us are who we truly are.

It is "safer" to leave Jesus at church-at home is where we truly are ourselves.

At home is where we stop pretending.

At home is where many of us are who we truly are.

Home reveals our priorities, the quality of our love, the true picture of where our treasure is stored.

(Matt 6:19-20)

Peter was not afraid to allow Jesus see where he lived and how he lived.

Home is where the heart is--

Your heart is where every thought begins.

Your heart is where every action is designed.

Your heart is where every motivation is given birth.

"Don't leave JC at church, we must take him home with us."

A follower of Christ travels with Jesus and Jesus travels with the follower everywhere.

It is "safer" to leave Jesus at church-at home is where we truly are ourselves.

At home is where we stop pretending.

At home is where many of us are who we truly are.

We must trust Him enough to give him control of all of us in every situation, in every room of our hearts.

pretending.

At home is where many of us are who we truly are.

Ambassador for Christ everywhere-Ben

Character is who we are when no one is looking.

We must trust Him enough to give him control of all of us in every situation, in every room of our hearts.

By putting Jesus first in our hearts, we allow him access to every room of our lives, leisure activities, our closest relationships, our priorities.

The demons "knew" him but they did not trust him

The idea here is that Jesus has access to everything we think and do, not just the religious compartment in our lives, but everywhere.

Many people in the Gospels wanted Jesus in only certain areas of their lives:

They wanted His healing but not his Lordship.

They wanted Him in their religion, but not in their pocketbooks (rich young ruler).

“The life of Christianity consists in possessive pronouns.”

—Martin Luther

“The life of Christianity consists in possessive pronouns.”

—Martin Luther

It is one thing to say “Christ is a Saviour.”