Why Partnership?
The mission of Jesus is one of partnership. God has given all Christians the great gift of partnering with the Holy Spirit and other followers of Jesus to see the world around them come to saving-faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus never meant for any Christian to love Him, serve Him, or proclaim Him in isolation from other believers. The mission of Jesus is one of partnership.
The Apostle Paul was a tremendous example of this. Paul planted churches in partnership with one another. To encourage the church at Philippi, Paul writes in Philippians 1:3-5, “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.”
Paul did not have a naïve perspective of planting churches and pursuing the proclamation of the gospel on his own. The consistent pattern of the New Testament, as well as the last 2000 years of church history, is one of like-minded believers, united in their passion for Jesus and proclamation of His Word, partnering together for greater gospel-impact.
At Redemption we deeply value partnership. This is why we encourage everyone who calls Redemption “home” to serve in some capacity: we are partners in this mission. This is also why Redemption has always sought out other churches, networks, and denominations to partner with in planting churches.
Our Partners
The Acts 29 Network
Acts 29 is a network of like-minded churches in partnership to plant more churches that plant churches. While most networks form around a common style or method of ministry, Acts 29 is formed around common theology. While we differ greatly in style, we plant churches built on a commitment to the centrality of the gospel, complementarian relationships, as well as Spirit-filled and missional lifestyles.
Converge Worldwide MidAmerica
The mission of Converge is simple: to glorify God through a catalytic movement of reproducing churches. Converge has its roots in the Baptist General Conference founded in the 1800s and has grown to be one of the most fruitful church planting networks/denominations in the world. We have partnered with them for funding church planting as well as coaching and training other church planters.
The Harvest Bible Fellowship
Founded by Pastor James MacDonald, the Harvest Bible Fellowship is a network of churches committed to the proclamation of God’s Word, the passionate worship of Jesus, a firm belief in the power of prayer, and a bold commitment to evangelism. As affiliates we are passionate about these same things. Pastor James has been a constant source of encouragement to me personally as a Christian, husband, father and pastor, and Harvest Bible Chapel continues to be a blessing to Redemption Bible Church. We count our proximity to and relationship with this generous network as a great gift from God.
Conclusion
We are thankful for each of these partners God has blessed us with and are honored to serve Jesus alongside them. If you have any further questions regarding partnership at Redemption, I want to invite you to sign up for the next Intro to Redemption class.
There’s work to be done, and we can do more together than we ever will apart. Will you partner with us in our pursuit of the glory of God through proclaiming the gospel and planting churches?
