“A Call To Community” (Part Three)

We are looking this week at a “Call to Community” with strong counsel on how to deal with relationships in the family of God, and to that end, Paul issues three distinct calls in Romans 15:1-7. We have already considered the calls to compassion and endurance. Today we close with a…

A Call to Relationship (v.7)

Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Key Word- “welcome” (receive) Let the strong receive the weak, and let all receive each other into full fellowship, even as “Christ has received us”. It means to welcome with a warm embrace of the heart—to grant someone access to your heart. If Christ received us, and bears with all our weaknesses, well may we receive and be compassionate one with another, and by so doing God will be glorified. We do not have the luxury of living the Christian life in isolation—we are called to and built for relationship!

The Call to Relationship: This is COMMUNAL- and portrays goodness.

This all matters because there are many people in our community and even in our churches whose lives are marked by a distinct loneliness and despair. Nowhere should this be less possible than in the church of Jesus Christ—but it happens constantly. May we respond to Paul’s call to community—and reach out to those who are alone and in need.