Redemption Hill Church

A Hope of Glory.

The Mystery Hidden for Ages.

A Christmas reflection for Redemption Hill Church.

This week we close our series with Romans 16:25-27. This closing benediction to the letter gives us a beautiful, gospel-rich, densely packed summary of the entire letter that precedes. It’s a chance for us to be reminded of everything we have seen and learned over the past year in our study of Romans together.

Our passage this week is a closing warning to the church in Rome about the dangerous potential of divisive people in the church. It’s an important passage for us as we walk through one of the most divisive times in many of our lifetimes. The beauty and unity of the church is itself a witness to the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a reflection of our hope that the day is coming when Satan will be crushed.

This passage lists a whole bunch of names and people that Paul sent personal greetings to in Rome. At first blush, it may be tough to see how it applies to us, but it does! Paul’s ministry is deeply interconnected with people who were fellow-workers. There is a lot we can learn about the makeup of the early church, who were key contributors, and what it looks like for us to work alongside each other even through to today. The church is a crazy mashup of men and women from different cultural backgrounds and ethnicities, different economic levels, across generations, all working together as a family on mission. This week is a much-needed encouragement to us this week.

This passage turns to the final section of the letter, as Paul talks about his own ministry and personal connections with people. There is so much to learn about our own lives and ministry opportunities! This week we get to see that following God’s calling in our own lives will never be boring. It won’t be comfortable, but it will put us squarely in the middle of what God is doing in bringing hope and healing through Christ, and there is nothing more exciting!

This week we get to hear from Pastor Rich Rivera. Rich was born and raised in the Bronx. He is an experienced church planter and pastor. He is currently beginning the work of planting Matthew’s Table Church, and Redemption Hill Church gets to be in on the action with him. We have formalized a partnership with Rich, and RHC is acting as his sending church in providing accountability and support for the work he is doing. Our church has helped plant churches in major cities across the world – from Belfast to Mexico City to Havana, and now NYC. So, we are pausing our series in Romans for one week, and you won’t want to miss the chance to get to know our newest church planter.

This passage closes out the section on how the church needs to come together in the midst of sharp disagreements. We have already seen calls to both the weak and the strong through chapter 14. This passage brings it all together with a call to live in harmony with one another. What a perfect way to think about things! That means that Christians can be singing distinct notes and melodies with their lives that are able to complement one another and come together to make a more beautiful whole. This is a timely passage for us in the uncertainty and division around us. The Church has hope to cling to and to offer to others that can’t be found by any other means.

This continues the practical application of the call to love, especially in the context of disagreements in the church. While last week we looked at the temptation of the weak to judge those whose consciences don’t align with their own, this week we turn to the strong. The strong, in this context, are those who are able to rest in the accomplished work of Christ for their justification and righteousness, freeing them, not to sin but to greater flexibility in life. The call to the strong is no less difficult than the call to the weak. We will see that the strong are called to lay down freedoms for the sake of the weaker brother or sister.