We close out the book of Romans with Paul's last instructions and a long list of greetings to important fellow servants of God. And we discover some important applications even to these.

In this, the second to last chapter of the book of Romans, we see that a unified Church has been God's plan from the book of Genesis, through the descendants of Abraham, and Messiah Jesus - bringing Jews and Gentiles together.

Using two examples of issues that the Roman church was working through, Paul helps us see the overarching principals of dealing with conflict in our churches today. And love for each other is central.

We see how learning to love well is the way to avoid both the pitfalls of self-righteous faith and self-defined faith. Our God asks us to walk out our faith in love, as Jesus did.

This week Curt Anliker, one of our elders, brings our teaching from Romans 13 concerning our proper response to governing authorities in our lives, showing us how to honor God by respecting human authority.

In today's passage, Paul gives a number of instructions that show us tangible ways to be a living sacrifice in order to honor God.

What does it look like to walk in the new life we have in the Spirit like Paul talked about in Romans 8? We offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God, choosing to be transformed by him rather than conformed to the world, as we use the gifts he has given us to build up his body and reach the world.

Using the profound metaphor of pruning a tree, Romans 11 helps us understand how God is working for both Jews and Gentiles to bring about His Kingdom.

We continue in our exploration of Paul's writing to the church in Rome, dealing with salvation for both Jews and Gentiles. And we see God's love and His plan for each.

This week we explore the importance of the sometimes difficult Biblical teaching of God's sovereignty over our salvation - and that of Abraham's descendants- focusing on the context of these verses and other passages that help us understand these verses better.