Today, we begin a new worship series titled, “Finding Our Way.” In this series, we will seek to understand why we are here and what God wants us to do. We will use our church vision statement, “Grace United Methodist Church is growing into an open, welcoming, and accepting Christ-centered community, committed to sharing the transforming love of Christ, and loving all people all the time!”

We begin today in the Romans. One biblical commentator I read said that the Book of Romans stands as evidence that belief and behavior are inextricably interwoven. We are what we do. We are how we act. If one is to be faithful to Christ, one must inevitably and unavoidably clarify what it means to be faithful to Christ within the current situations of life.

The Christian church in Rome was a mess. It was on the brink of collapse. There was so much tension that word reached Paul that the church in Rome was in danger of destroying itself. Paul writes to a community of believers in transition. A community trying to figure out what it means to be a community in their current state of existence.