For the Good of Rome

For the Good of Rome

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Dear church,

I'm on a hunt to discover how Rome International Church is impacting the communities around it. When I think about our vision to see diverse people discover their living purpose in Jesus Christ, I wonder, have you caught glimpses of this happening?

What were those days like before Jesus ascended into heaven? I think especially of Peter, who had sworn his allegiance to Jesus and denied him so thoroughly. What an awkward but touching encounter on the beach. Jesus asked him three times, "Peter, do you love me?" Then Peter responded with Petrine confidence, "Lord, you know that I do." Jesus final words to Peter are some of his first, "Follow me!" (John 21:15-19)

Later, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, preaches his first sermon. He leads the church in Jerusalem and is eventually martyred for his faith in Jesus. What a transformation!

Jesus has risen!  The Spirit has filled Peter!  The three-time denier would go to his own cross because of the radical love of Jesus that so changed him. The Roman Empire and the world have genuinely never been the same.

Is the same gospel changing us, the congregation of RIC? Is the same gospel moving us? In what ways are we being salt and light to a flavorless and dark world?

Would you pray with me that God would continue to lead us into the city, into lives, into relationships that would be so compelled by Christ's love that radical transformation comes about?

What good has God called RIC to do in this city?

Together with you for God's Kingdom,
Loren