I owe a debt of gratitude to my high school soccer coach. Early in my first year of playing, I often kept my head down and tried to dribble the ball around defenders. During one practice, my coach asked me to try dribbling down the field as fast as I could to the opposite end and score. I immediately began sprinting to the other side of the field with my head down. Before I was even a quarter of the way down the field, I heard a loud “thunk” and saw another soccer ball whizzing by me to the other end of the field. My coach blew his whistle and told me to come back and start again. I returned and began dribbling down the field again - this time with even more energy. Before I was a quarter of the way down the field, I heard the same “thunk” and looked up to see another ball flying down the field. My coach called me back to the line - this time, I was panting and drained of energy. “Do you see?” he asked me. “We can do more as a team than you could ever do by yourself - pass the ball and let’s win.”

THE GRACE OF PARTNERSHIP

As a church, we are so grateful we are not alone. We are a part of a team. Sovereign Grace is a family of churches working together for the advance of the gospel throughout the world. From the beginning, Sovereign Grace has held the conviction that churches are stronger together. The website gives this brief history:

In the 1970s a group of young believers, reading the Bible with fresh eyes, were captured by the New Testament vision of interdependent congregations. They saw churches existing not in distant association but in close and vital partnership with one another. This vision spread to a handful of churches, then to new churches established across the U.S. Eventually churches outside the U.S. joined the movement and a global family of churches was born.
This family of churches grew both in size and depth. A commitment to shared theological convictions was matched to a commitment to gospel-centrality in life and ministry. Experience strengthened the union. Relationships matured. This family of churches renewed their commitment to one another and their common mission. Today Sovereign Grace Churches continues with the same fundamental conviction: churches are stronger together.

At the recent Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference, we were encouraged by a message that highlighted the riches of church partnership. If you want to learn more about what the bible teaches about interdependent congregations and why partnership matters, then we heartily recommend this message by Pastor Jared Mellinger entitled: “The Grace of Partnership.”

Below, you’ll find the video of the message. Or, you can visit this page for the audio.