Paul writes to the church in Rome as an Apostle, meaning that he has been specifically set apart and called to minister to the church of Christ. However, it is not only Paul and other ordained ministers through whom God works to establish and build His church. Paul gives thanks and greets a number of lay-leaders in these verses, giving thanks for their hard work and labor in the service of Christ. God granted these men and women gifts and they faithfully used them for the sake of the church. So too, let us recognize the gifts that God has graciously given us, and, by Christ’s help, faithfully use them to serve him and his church.