Kingdom Partnerships

Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, NET Bible)

At the end of his time on earth, Jesus told his disciples (which includes us today) to go and make disciples of all nations (literally, all “people groups”). This is a huge responsibility. In fact, if you were one of those original disciples, it truly would have been overwhelming. Think about it. They had no Internet, printing press, TV, radio, car, plane, or even portable copies of scripture. Jesus gave them a task that was truly beyond their capabilities. And that is the way he meant it. From the beginning, the work of spreading the gospel message around the world was meant to be one based on kingdom partnerships.

First and foremost, we were meant to have a partnership with the King of Kings himself. Perhaps we are too quick to read past Jesus’ promise that he will be with us. We think of it during times of trouble—and indeed he is there when we are in need. But the context here is not just a promise that Jesus is there to comfort us. The promise here is meant to assure us of that we will have his power and authority to fulfill his commandment. It parallels God’s promise to Joshua that he would be with him as he went in to conquer the Promised Land (Joshua 1:5, 9).

Equally important, we were meant to make disciples as a team. Though there are some rare exceptions, the biblical model of ministry clearly demonstrates the importance of working together. Paul experienced this when he went on his first missionary journey with Barnabas (Acts 13-14). He experienced this when the church in Philippi financially supported his ministry (Philippians 4:10-19). He reinforced this concept when he taught us that the church is a body, and each of us has a unique role to play (1 Corinthians 12).

Kingdom Partnerships: It is not a slogan; it is God’s plan for ministry.

The Kingdom of Light

Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:12-14, NIV)

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. (Revelation 1:6, NIV)

Kingdom Partnerships is more than just a title for our Missions Weekend next Friday through Sunday. It is a description of what we are about as believers. Jesus’ last command was to go and make disciples of all people groups. Jesus told his disciples, which includes us, that we would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. As we make disciples, we are advancing the work of the Kingdom of God. We are participating in their liberation from the kingdom of darkness and rejoicing in their entrance into the Kingdom of Light.

Participation in making disciples for the Kingdom is not an option. The question is not if you should be involved, but how and where. This coming weekend will give you plenty of opportunities to consider. We have 8 out of 18 New Covenant missionary families represented at our Missions Weekend. Please take time to come to a dessert on Friday night to get to know one of them better. We have a fun time planned for our “International” Potluck Dinner next Saturday evening. Next Sunday you will have an opportunity to “adopt-a-missionary” as part of our new Barnabas Ministry. Through regular prayer and a simple phone call, card, or email, you can give our missionaries the moral and emotional support they need. Next Sunday we will also be taking an offering to help advance the ministry vision of our partner church in Trinec. So take the plunge this coming weekend and get involved in advancing the cause of the Kingdom of God!

Need for a Building

When the New Covenant leadership was first considering sending a gift to the Trinec Church, we asked Cindy Howard for her perspective based on her having lived there three months. Here is what she told us:

I used to be critical of believers who thought they had to have a building. But when apartments are small, and the winter is long and cold, where can you do ministry? I heard one church share they didn't want to build a large building, they just wanted some space to do ministry.

I believe this is what is driving the Trinec Church here to desire property. They have rented space for about 7 years. The building we had was too small and only had space for one Sunday School class (elementary kids).

We rent space for AWANA in a local school. If we could have our own space we could structure the council time, and the Word time better. If we want to have a bible study for seekers, we need to kick a family out of their apartment or rent space in a public facility. If we want to do something like Alpha that requires a meal, I'm not sure where we could do this and no one has a large kitchen either.

There is no physical church building in Teresa (the part of Trinec where this building is and where the church currently meets). They deliberately selected this area because of the need for “light” in this area. These are totally unchurched people.

There are many empty rooms in the building they hope to buy, so as the church grows the space is available. We could also use the space for women's studies, prayer meetings, etc. Right now we need to rent space for all of these, and sometimes the space is not available.

We just need space in order to reach out to others in ministry. This church is not trying to be elaborate. God has eliminated the place we were in for 7 years. Now a temporary place has been provided for 2 months (with no Sunday school rooms, and only 60 people can fit (we routinely have 70) so this will not be workable in the fall. It really seems like God is asking us the Trinec Church take this step of faith.