Bethany Community Church - Andrew Mills

Romans is about the Christian community coming together to follow Jesus faithfully in the heart of an empire that poses challenges.

We are called to follow God through faith. Faith is what makes us acceptable, through faith we are saved.

What is faith?

Faith is not just an inner mental thinking thing, it is a whole body, living & life thing.

Faith means to follow, pledge allegiance and be obedient to Jesus.

“Faith in Jesus is best described as allegiance to him as king”

This is true for Jews who follow Jesus through the law and Gentiles who follow Jesus through faith.

Abraham is a model and common ground for both Gentiles and Jews.

Believers have the same problem - Sin.
They have the same founder - Abraham
The have the same solution - Faith in Jesus.

Excerpt from Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice
by Sylvia C. Keesmaat (Author), Brian J. Walsh (Author)

Paul wants to move the focus from differences to a focus on shared faith in Jesus Christ.

The path forward is with faith in Christ, together . We need to come together and focus on Christ and not on our differences.

Today we are going to receive and share communion with others saying :
This is Christ's body broken for you, This is Jesus's blood shed for you.