PART 8 WHY JESUS DESERVES TO BE FIRST

Text- Hebrews 9:11-28

Introduction

Today is our priority Sunday here at Grace church and we are emphasizing our theme and goals for 1989.

The theme this year is, "Putting Jesus First" and you'll find a list of our goals in this morning's bulletin.

I want to encourage each one of our members to put forth their best effort in trying to reach these goals.

Putting Jesus first is the secret to being successful in doing what Jesus wants us to do.

This morning I will be preaching out of the book of Hebrews as I have done each first Sunday of the month.

Hebrews is a book that presents the preeminence of Jesus.

It shows us how great and superior Jesus is compared to everyone and everything else.

It is a book that shows us why Jesus deserves to be first in our lives.

As most all of you know, last Sunday my grandfather passed away and my father and I flew back to Ohio to be with our family.

Tragedy, calamity or trouble usually affect people in one of two ways.

It can either push them away from god or draw them closer to the him.

It's amazing how often people will turn to God during times of tragedy and then put Jesus first in their lives.

Sometimes tragedy can be a turning point in our lives and can become a life changing experience.

Tragedy is an opportunity to take stock of our lives and draw us closer to God and put Jesus first.

Solomon said, "In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider-."

We should consider why we are having adversity, the lessons we can learn as well as what our spiritual relationship with God is like.

When adversity enters our lives it is time to consider:

Is Jesus really first in my life?

Our text this morning is found in Hebrews 9:11-28 and the title of my message is, "Why Jesus Deserves to Be First."

We need to put Jesus first in our lives because he died for us.

As we look at theses verses I would like us to look at three reasons why Jesus died.