Answered Prayers … and Our Collective Call to a Partnership in the Gospel
As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ” (2 Corinthians 8:23).
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:3-5).
“I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.” (Philemon 1:6). . . .
“So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me” (Philemon 1:17).
“I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 1:9).
What does it mean to have a partnership? What especially does it mean to have a partnership in the Gospel? Throughout the New Testament this idea of being partners together for the sake of the Gospel is scattered across multiple books, authors, and situations. The New Testament constantly emphasizes the oneness of the church. It is constantly reminding us that we are not a collection of individuals, we are a community of unity in Christ. The idea of partnership comes with the idea of working together so closely and intimately that we work as “one body.”
We celebrate the wonderful news the Pastor Mark Schumm has accepted our associate pastor call. We certainly consider it God’s blessed answer to our prayers. He has raised up another individual for the work of God’s kingdom here on the southside of Indianapolis, and for that we are grateful. But we must also remember that we are partners in this work. One thing that I love about Calvary is our idea of “team” ministry. It is not simply that we have a team of called and contracted workers on our staff. It is the fact that we see our church working as a “team” at all levels in all areas. We celebrate our ministry teams and the work that they coordinate. We celebrate the staff teams that serve in our different areas of mission. But we especially celebrate that we have a team of partners in the gospel, no matter what role, position, or status we hold or don’t hold. We are partners in the gospel because that is our very identity as those who have all been baptized into Christ Jesus. In our baptism we have certainly been saved from something. We have been washed of sin and its stain. We have been clothed with the very righteousness of Christ. And yet it is also in our baptism that we have been saved for something. We have been called and equipped to be a part of the priesthood of all believers. Each partner in the gospel has his or her unique gift to contribute to the team.
And so as we celebrate having another team member who will partner with us as the people of God in Pastor Schumm, we also remember that God is calling each of us to service. He is calling each of us to live for something bigger than ourselves, and that is to live to the glory and honor of Jesus Christ, who has loved us, even when we did not love Him.
We pray for God’s mighty Spirit to continue to lead and guide His church that we may stand firm on God’s truth and reach out with God’s grace. We pray that God will continue to draw us together as partners in the Gospel, as we lift high the name of Jesus through connecting, learning, and caring, all for the sake of serving our risen and reigning Lord.
