Do you sometime wonder if you are good enough to be a member of God’s church? You do want to serve the Lord, but so often you sin. You get angry when you shouldn’t. You think about yourself more than others. You might even hate somebody else, and so you feel like you really don’t deserve to belong to God’s church.

Let’s have a look at what Paul says to the Thessalonians. Paul knew that there were sinful people in the church there. He had heard about some of their problems and sins and so wrote them a letter to talk about these things.

But Paul didn’t start the letter with a blasting. He didn’t start by telling them off. No, he started by calling them the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though they had their sins and shortcomings, they could still be called the church of Jesus Christ because of the grace of God. God loved them and forgave them even though they were sinful; he did so simply because they belonged to Jesus Christ.

You too belong to the church of God. Yes, you are sinful, but because of God’s grace and love in Jesus Christ, you too are forgiven and so can belong to God’s church. You aren’t part of God’s church because of anything good in yourself, but you are part of God’s church simply because God loves you and wants you to be his. He sent Jesus Christ also for your sins.

We see in this letter that Paul also gave thanks for them all. He thanked God for every single member of that church. He didn’t just give thanks for the church in general, but for every single member. No matter what their sins of the past were, God in his love and grace forgave them when they repented. Never can your sins be too great that God’s grace can’t save you. Never can your sins be too big to stop you being member of God’s church.

Reflection with your child:

How should it show in your life that you are part of God’s church?

Source: Sermon by Rev. H. Alkema