Practical Points for Partnering

I saw the church, and Philippi is arguably the best model we have of a church that effectively partnered with Ephesians 4 gifts. We read in Philippians 1:4-5 how Paul tells us that he always prays with joy when he thinks of them, because of the partnership in the gospel that he has with them.

Financial Partnership in the Gospel

One of the areas that they partnered with Paul is with financial support, personal financial support. In Philippians 4:10, Paul rejoices because the Philippians have again renewed their concern for him and are sending finances to help him on his mission. They were obviously very concerned about Paul and what he was doing, and so they wanted to partner with him financially.

In our 4:12 partnership of churches, we ask the churches to give 5% of their tithes as local churches to help us in the mission of what God's called us to do together. This money goes to help with church plants, administration, developing resources for churches, and it also helps to carry some of our full-time Ephesians 4 gifts as they work permanently into the churches around the world.

Obviously, we see this being commanded by the Lord in 1 Corinthians 9, where Paul tells us that Jesus actually commanded that those that preach the gospel should get their living from the gospel. So this fund helps us to serve the poorer churches as well, which we obviously work in, in so many nations. Many don't have the resources, and we can take this amount and use it to effectively help the leaders and the churches in the poorer areas.

And again, I think this illustrates what Paul speaks about when he speaks about giving equality in the churches. They partnered financially also with Paul, and with the churches within the field. Paul asked the Philippians specifically to help the church in Jerusalem as it was struggling financially, and he tells us in Romans 15:26 that they did this even though they were at a time of severe affliction themselves. They begged and earnestly pleaded for the favor of taking part in this relief of the saints.

Churches Helping Churches Carry Ministry Costs

And so we see this partnership into the wider field as churches help churches. Another way they partnered is that they blessed ministries which came to them from within the field. And we saw this, and see this, within the New Testament. Whenever somebody travels from one local church to another to serve, it costs money. Someone's got to pay. So obviously, no one should try and use the gospel to peddle money, but there are practical realities to serving churches.

In 2 Corinthians 11:7-8, Paul tells the Corinthians that he had preached the gospel to them free of charge, but then he actually says it wasn't free, that he robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve them. He probably used the money from the Philippian churches to help the Corinthian church.

Now, obviously, I hope is that all the churches would willingly want to give to help others rather than receive, and that their leaders would travel at their own expense if needed for the health of the churches. But it does seem that Paul really wanted the churches to help those who minister to them where possible. We shouldn't be a burden, and helping others is really central to being part of Paul's theme as he builds the churches.

So, as each receiving church trusts to help carry the costs of the individuals that come to serve, we can this way ensure that we don't rob certain churches just to help other churches, but that, where possible, every church can try and help carry the financial burden of the cost into the nations.

Obviously, if the church doesn't have the money, the sending team or the sending church will happily fund themselves and pay the expenses, because we're here to give, not to receive, at the end of the day. Now, normally that money will be put back into the local churches or into a 4:12 central fund, so that we can send others to go, so that we continually are really making opportunity for people to get out there to serve the churches and the nations.

Partnering by Sending People

Another area the Philippians partnered with Paul is of people. Paul commends the Philippians because they sent Epaphroditus to him when he was in Rome. And we really do encourage you, as partnering churches, to send your leaders. Men, send them to help us in the nations. They'll grow. Come with them as well. Come send people to travel with us. Come to—

Our conferences and serve with us as we work in churches around the world. It's probably one of the greatest and quickest ways that you yourself will grow, as you are a blessing to others. You'll find that God multiplies blessing back to you.

The Power of Partnership in Prayer

They also partnered in prayer. In Philippians 1:19, Paul says that he has joy because he knows that the Philippians' prayers are going to lead not only to his support but also to his deliverance in certain areas. And it's good for the churches to pray for us as we work in the nations. Partner with us in these areas.

The Philippian Model of Gospel Partnership

So it is wonderful to see how the Lord sees this Philippian partnership as a model, working with Paul. And we read in Philippians 4:17-19 that the Philippians gave so much to Paul, but what they gave, he said, was a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. The result of which Paul tells us is that God would actually meet all their needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

He said God loves to see the churches working together for the glory of His Son, alongside Ephesians 4 gifts. And so we really want to encourage everyone of the partner churches to learn from the Philippians, join with us, partner with us in the gospel, and let's go flat out at making disciples of the nations for the glory of our God.