Today's Passage: Romans 15

When I think of Romans 15, I automatically think of verse 13 which Brett quotes every Sunday as we leave church: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Don’t you?

However, when I read through this chapter I was struck by verse 5-6: “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I think this verse so compliments the message that Brett gave to us on Sunday morning. What better thing to pray for than a spirit of unity as we seek to glorify God. Paul was praying that for his Roman friends many, many years ago and here we are in 2010 asking God the same thing for our church. I love that Paul goes on to say in verse 7 that we are to accept one another as Christ accepts in order to bring praise to God. Yes, we pray for unity, but how do we accomplish that? By accepting one another as Christ does and loving immensely. Our church has always been so welcoming, but imagine if we began accept everyone in the way Christ did. The unity of our fellowship would be unbelievable!

So today, let’s pray this: “May the God who gives you endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”