Rome International Church sits at the cross-roads of cultures.  This means that we are a diverse group of people, welcoming anyone from anywhere to worship with us as we discover how God's Word reveals God's purpose for our lives.

When I return, I have every reason to believe that the Lord will keep you and grow you as you continue in him rooted and built up in Christ.

May each of us grow in our love and understanding of the gospel so that these characteristics may become more and more true of us.

Could I suggest that the term worthy has nothing to do with the hypothetical applications I've just given?  Instead, more than strength, money, or skill, the Scriptures would have us see examples of righteousness. 

For Christians, hospitality happens at the speed of life.  It is finding or making moments, whether full meals over long evenings or accompanying one another on walks or grocery runs.  Time together listening, sharing, and remembering what Jesus taught us. 

Paul vividly describes how the gospel sparked an overflow of joy among the Macedonian believers, leading to a generous and sacrificial act of giving. They gave not out of obligation but out of the sheer joy of contributing to the 'relief of the saints.'

Can I encourage you? You are not a tool that God picked up along the way and kept in a toolbag for that perfect moment.

That is what this weekend is about diving into the Word together and moving immediately into practice.  Most of the year, we are separated by schedules, traffic, work, school, illnesses, and general exhaustion…

I'm on a hunt to discover how Rome International Church is impacting the communities around it…have you caught glimpses of this happening?

In this, you will find a good and proper longing for a place and people that will be mingled with the hope of the greater joy of God's kingdom.

God gives us three dangers to watch out for when we fear not having enough or when we experience his blessing.

Sadly, there are a lot of people who claim to be Christians today but lack Christ as their head.  Like sports team mascots, they claim to represent and be hidden with Christ, but they never put on the big head of the costume that completes the outfit.  They think they can have all the benefits of an ambassadorial position while living by their own head as their ultimate authority. 

He says they could endure because they knew they had "a better possession and an abiding one."  This better possession is the object of our faith; Jesus…

Many people have lives that appear well put together, organized by the rhythms of education, recreation, occupation, vacation, family, retirement, etc. They do not appear to be "wandering." However, their hearts have only ever known the wilderness. They wander far from the home for which God made them.

The Spirit unites us to Christ so that we who are sinners can enjoy the love of the Father through the righteousness of Christ given us by faith. 

Although it is good to help one another with tangible needs (food, clothing, shelter). Only Christians are uniquely equipped to minister the gospel to sinful hearts. That is where the real needs are found because sin is everyone's greatest problem.

Last Wednesday, we heard that my uncle Dan had passed away suddenly from a heart attack while working on his farm. Although his family was near when it happened, nothing could be done. In the days since I have watched my family grieve deeply.

This week, RIC is fasting and praying. . .Beginning the new year is a great time to remind ourselves of our actual provider, protector, and purpose-giver. 

Ezra was not a celebrity pastor.  He didn't have millions of followers, or a megachurch built on his attractive personality, contemporary clothing, style, or feel-good sermons…God who favored him for his love of the law and king Artaxerxes who recognized in Ezra his ability to know and execute God's ways.

If you have done any Bible readings this Christmas about the coming of Jesus in the Old Testament, you must always include the short letter of Malachi.  In four short chapters, he diagnoses the sinful hearts of the priests who have led the people of God astray.  Their worship is polluted, they don't teach God's ways, they abandon God's covenant, and they refuse to give their hearts to God.