If you're tired of pretending that you have it all together,

if you're weary of cookie-cutter churches where image matters more than authenticity,

then you're likely craving what God intended all along.

The church was never designed to be a spiritual factory that's processing masses of people.

Instead, God envisioned something radically different,

a messy, beautiful family where broken people find acceptance.

Today, on Insight for Living, Chatswindall takes a deep dive into Romans 16, revealing how a simple list of names unveils God's blueprint for authentic community.

He titled his message, Love and Kisses.

Chapter 16 is loaded with names, most of them meaning nothing to us.

You'll not read the names anywhere else.

Let me give you three things that these verses say, and then a couple or three things they mean. And I think you'll see the value of even a chapter like this. What are the verses say? First, there are 27 people

mentioned by name, all of whom means something to the writer, Paul. Second thing I noticed that there are

21 titles, 21 titles given in the 16 verses, added to the names. Let me show you. I commend to

you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church.

The word is deacon.

Believe that Phoebe was one of the early deaconessence.

Now the third observation I want to make is that there are 19 references to greetings

of some kind.

Greet her or greet him.

I commend to you, Phoebe.

And not just greet them, but verse 16 tells the readers to go a step further.

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

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