Speaker: Heath McCoy

As we close out our series on Romans, we consider how to “end.” Whether it’s a season or stage of life, a relationship, or a job, we should celebrate and finish strong and committed. We finish strong as we find endurance and encouragement in Scripture, prioritize prayer, get along with each other, and stay focused on Jesus.

Legacy is the impact or impression that we leave behind – but how does our personal view of legacy match up with the legacy God wants us to leave? A Christian legacy says “I did not live for myself,” “I lived for the Lord,” and “I died for the Lord.”

Paul tells us in Romans that “as far as it depends on you, be at peace with everyone.” We don’t just keep the peace, letting things slide and staying silent. We make peace by actively giving people grace instead of what we think they deserve, by being the first to reconcile relationships, and loving difficult people.

This Easter, we think about how the resurrection of Jesus changes everything. Jesus had the greatest comeback – from death to life – and offers us the same resurrection power to sustain us, change us, and give us hope.

We were created to worship God. We must respond to God’s love through worship, let worship cost us something, and learn what a lifestyle of worship looks like.

A conquerer does the work and gets the reward. Someone more than a conquerer does no work, but still gets the reward because of relationship. We have a new identity because of Jesus, and that identity is victorious and secure.

Sin is a big deal. It separates, traps, confuses, and lies to us, ultimately leading us to places we don’t want to be. But we have hope that Jesus is greater, and gives us a new identity to overcome sin.

The difficult things we face happen for a purpose. We learn how to persevere, we learn how to trust our faith instead of our feelings, and we grow our hope during seasons of suffering.