Partnership in the Gospel

Part of the text for yesterday’s worship service was Philippians 1:4-6: “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus,” (NIV).Being a Christian necessarily means that we are part of a Christian community. A part of our calling is to be partners in the gospel. That means we work together in order to accomplish God’s purpose for us. As this Scripture teaches us, working together in this way is a source of joy.

We partner in the gospel in a number of ways. First, we partner with various missions organizations. We share a part of the finances which God has blessed us with so that they can minister in areas that we may never even set foot. In this way we are able to partner in the gospel far beyond the immediate reach of our community.

Second, we also partner by using God’s blessings to us to work together in our community. God has blessed us with unique talents, with finances, with relationships, and with time and strength. When we all pool what we have and work together we can accomplish far more than we ever could on our own.

Thirdly, I gave a specific challenge yesterday that we all look for ways to partner with others who are not a part of our congregation—especially those who are younger than we are. This kind of partnership allows us to use our experience to help others on their faith journey. We can encourage and teach. We can advise and challenge. I believe these kinds of intentional partnership are crucial for NDMC to accomplish the purpose which God has for us. I hope you’ll spend some time to intentionally think of those in your family or community who you could build a relationship with in this way.

I hope to see you at our worship service next week. Remember that we are now on our summer schedule of meeting at 9am.

God bless, Brian

Scripture readings for next Sunday

Philippians 1:12-30—How can we experience joy even in difficult times?

Psalm 132—What does this describe about the source of David’s joy? James 1:2-18—How does James suggest that we should respond to trials?

Acts 21:27-36—What do you notice about Paul’s arrest here?