Christians have a lot of reasons for leaving church. Lack of pastoral care, hypocrisy, abuse, church does not meet their needs, pastoral change. These are just a few among many. If you have been away from church, for any reason. Today I would like to give you three reasons to come back. One, you belong to God, two, you belong to a place and three, you belong to a spiritual family.
As we heard this morning the apostle Paul in his letter to the Church in Ephesus wrote “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” What Paul is reminding us today is that all of us who once opened our hearts and believed in Jesus as our Savior were sealed with the Holy Spirit.
What does this mean? What kind of seal is Paul talking about? In ancient times and today too, a seal was and is an official mark of identification placed on an official letter, contract, or document. In Paul’s times when royal businesses were conducted, the document was sealed with hot wax and imprinted with the king’s signet ring. In the Bible we fine several examples. Book of Esther mentions Xerxes’ seal. The Book of Daniel mentions King Darius seal.
This seal meant ownership, anything with a King’s seal belonged and was under the protection of the king whose name or symbol was on it. The apostle Paul is clear when he says that we have been marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession. Therefore, even when you are away from the church; even when you do not come as you used to, you belong to him. You belong to the One who bought you on the cross and God still cares for you, you are still his possession. You are His People, the Sheep of His Pasture as Psalm 100:3 reminds us.
Jesus our owner describes himself in John 15:5 as the vine. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” A branch apart from the vine does not receive the sap needed to grow, needed to give fruit. A Christian apart from God becomes a sheep lost in the wilderness subjected to all kind of dangers. Today the Good Shepherd is telling you, “Come back, look at your seal and remember who you are and whose you are.”
Second reason why you should come back to church is, there is a place in church that it is yours, and no one else can fill and you also have a mission in church that no one else can carry out. You see in the New Testament the Church is described as a body. 1 Corinthians 12 verses 12 to 14 says, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” Verse 21 says, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” You see, we are past of Jesus’ body. And as part of a body, we all have different gifts as Paul has previously described in verses 1 to 11.
When God made you His and sealed you with the Holy Spirit, he gave you a place within his body and a gift to be use in the ministry. According to Ephesians 4:12 those gifts you have received are “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
If you used to come to church, I ask you to come back and take your place in this church, we cannot fully fulfill our ministry, our call without your presence and gift, if you have not been part of this church, I ask you to come, we have a place for you in the body of Christ. When I think in what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, I imagine the church as some of the TV shows my kids used to see. One of those was Power Rangers. Each of the rangers possess superhuman or psychic abilities such as super-speed, element manipulation, extra-sensory perception, and other abilities or as Paul would say, they possess different gifts. In addition to these gifts, each individual ranger has a unique weapon as well used for ground fighting. When they faced enemies with an incredible size and strength, Rangers use what they call Zords that they combine and one can act as hand, others as feet, torso, and head and together they become a larger Megazord and together they fight better and with more possibility to win the battles.
Many important parts of the church -for different reasons- are isolated from the body they belong to making themselves and the church weak; with you Jesus’ Church can be stronger, with your gifts we can do more, go farther, reach more people, with you we can expand God’s Kingdom. Come back to church and take your place.
If the church is not the same without you, you also are not the same without the church too, because we are a spiritual family and that is the third reason why you should come back to church, you belong to a spiritual family. We need each other, as a team player needs a team; a soldier needs a platoon; a sheep needs a flock. But the most important because we are all children needing a family. That family is the church. A Christian without a church family is an orphan.
Romans 8:16-17 says, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ…”
You see, we are family and yes, as any other family we argue, we disagree, we stop talking to each other for some time… but also as family, as God’s family we love each other, John 13:34-35, we “bear one another’s burdens.” Galatians 6:2, we serve one another in love, Galatians 5:13, “we pray for one another, that we may be healed”, James 5:16, and when we have to admonish one another, we do it in wisdom,” Colossians 3:16.
When a church family faithfully lives out these principles of love and unity, God is glorified. And to end my meditation this morning, if we as church have done anything to offend you, if we have said anything to hurt you, please forgive us and let us start again as children of God. And as Paul prayed for those in Ephesus, I will ask that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,”