GRINDIT podcast

We finish the study of there Book of Romans in this podcast breaking down the final chapter, Romans 16. In his greetings, Paul mentions 29 people, 10 of which are women. We take a close look at these women, who they are, and what role they had in the local church at Rome. There are many in the church today that claim women should keep silent since the very person who wrote Romans said that to the church in Corinth. Do we have a contradiction by the author of these two letters? Absolutely not. Women are pertinent to the church back then as well as today! Women, know your role and do it well!

What is your ambition? What motivates you? Paul talks to the church in Rome about being filled with the Holy Spirit and allowing his joy and peace to bring confidence. The closer we are to God, the more confident we become in Him and He uses us for his glory. But we must be willing to allow Him to use us! Paul was consistently being used by God and yet he would be careful to give God all the glory and boast about how Jesus was working through him. This should be our aim, for Jesus to use us and that our lives would reflect him on a daily basis. Lord, give us the confidence we need in You!

Paul has taken on the difficult task of trying to unify the church in Rome which is made up of Gentiles and Jews, two sets of people who didn't like each other for hundreds of years who are now worshiping together. It seems they had asked him some opinions about some certain matters and he replied back pointing them toward Jesus and he mentions something specific toward the middle of the chapter...he prays that God, the source of hope, will fill them completely with joy and peace, then they will flow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. As we grow closer to Christ, may we have this confidence!

Paul tells the believers in Rome to be careful how they treat one another, especially when it comes to food they eat and what they drink. He says the stronger believers need to show some grace to the weaker believers and vice versa...Do not argue he says because the goal is unity, to be in harmony, and to honor the Lord in everything we eat, drink, or do. We have to be careful to not be a stumbling block!

Romans 13 is about obeying the authorities as a believer and if we don't we are rebelling against God because He established them. In Part 2, swe discuss paying taxes. Who likes payig taxes? Nobody! Buit Pail tells bel;ievers to pay their taxes so those in authority can get a paycheck. Then he switches gears to discuss Jesus' return.

Paul was telling the Christians at the church in Rome to love their enemies and bless them. In the very next breath he tells them to obey the governing authorities. He is speaking about the Roman government, the ones who were responsible for killing Jesus and persecuting Christians! What?!?! I have to be obedient to them?!?!? Yes, because God has established their authority and to be disobedient to them, is being disobedient to God.

At the end of Romans 12, Paul discusses the hard truth that we are to love our enemies and we are to bless them. This idea is not original with Paul because Jesus told his disciples to do the very same thing in Matthew 5:43-44. This is a great discussion in today's podcast that you will not only enjoy, but be challenged by as well!

Pride. The Bible says a lot about pride and it's not good. What is good on their other hand is humility which is the opposite of pride. We are told to be people of humility and Jesus was our model to follow. Paul discusses humility here in chapter 12 and he also talks about unity. There is power in unity and we see this idea all through scripture from the Tower of Babel in Genesis to the united church in Acts. Humility and unity are two things we as Christ followers need to practice and that is what Paul urges the church in Rome to do.

Paul encourages both Gentiles and Jews alike to give their bodies to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. What does it mean to be a "living sacrifice"? What is worship?What does it mean to be "transformed" by the renewing of your mind? We need to know the answers to these questions because Paul says it how we can be pleasing to God! So, in this podcast, we tackle the answers to these questions in a new format: a group discussion with myself, Shelby Rose, who plays on the worship team at Authentic Church, and Mary Gamboa, the worship leader at Authentic Church.

Here is a link to Mary's album she just released called "Jealous":

Jesus told his disciples that he had sheep that were “not of this fold” referring to the Gentiles. When he first come on the scene, he, and his disciples, ministered to the Jews only, with a few Gentiles sprinkled in here and there. Up until Acts 10, the church consisted of only Jews and was located in Jerusalem. When persecution came in Acts 8, the church scattered and went beyond Jerusalem but was still geared toward the Jews. Then Peter has a vision, Cornelius, a Gentile, has a visitation from an angel, and Peter goes to visit. When he does, he tells the Gentiles that had gathered at Cornelius’ house about Jesus and the Holy Spirit falls on them and Peter baptizes them. The Gentiles are now able to hear and accept the gospel. The church in Rome was made up of both Jews and Gentiles but for the first 10 chapters, Paul has been talking to the Jews. In chapter 11, he begins to address the Gentiles and how their salvation came about.