We're All in This Together!

December 9, 2018

We're All in This Together!

Dangerous Grace: Paul's Letter to the Romans

We are already a full week into December. By now some of you have probably been to a Christmas party for work, your growth group, or Bible study group.  If you haven’t yet, I’m guessing you have at least a few of these potlucks or white elephant gift exchange parties on your calendar for the coming weeks. Our growth group will be having our Christmas dinner together this coming week. These last two months of the year are filled with opportunities to enjoy time with family and friends as we celebrate our gratitude for God’s blessings and the birth of Jesus Christ.  

In all these gatherings there is a more profound sense of community as we get together to share good food, visit, and just have some fun together. Besides the fun and games, we also come together as a community of believers to serve others. Coming together as a church to deliver food during our Thanksgiving Outreach and partnering with the UGM to serve the homeless by giving sleeping bags this month strengthens our bond as a community of Jesus followers.  

In the last two chapters of Paul’s letter to the community of believers in Rome, he covers multiple topics. Paul continues to teach about relationships. He expresses his intentions to visit them in the future. He prays for them, asks for their prayers, and spends time sending greetings to friends as he closes his letter.  All of these are expressions of a Christian community in action. Though Paul had not yet been to Rome at the time of writing his letter, he addresses them as though they are family. There are great lessons for us to learn about the blessings, challenges, and hope that come from living in genuine community of believers.