It is easy to be territorial as a pastor. You love your church, and who has time to invest in other churches? But part of building a healthy church is knowing how your church should relate to others. Right relationships help your church to be holy internally, to be a good witness outwardly, and to plant a new generation of churches.
In other words, cultivating good relationships between churches helps to fulfill the Great Commission.
The first article in this 9Marks Journal is the one place we let our congregational colors shine. It is important to understand the sense in which your church is independent. But the rest of the issue focuses on cooperation, first in big-picture pieces by Bobby Jamieson and me, and then in a series of topic-specific articles by other brothers.
Toby Jenkins gives a wonderful testimony of how other local churches served his own in a time of crisis. Greg Gilbert explains why and how he prays for nearby churches on Sunday mornings…in his church service…out loud, like, into a microphone. Deepak Reju, Andy Johnson, and I talk about inter-church cooperation in pastoring, missions work, and discipline. Also, we hope you enjoy the forum on denominations from brothers representing several.
We pray God would be pleased to strengthen each of our churches as he strengthens them together.
In other words, cultivating good relationships between churches helps to fulfill the Great Commission.
The first article in this 9Marks Journal is the one place we let our congregational colors shine. It is important to understand the sense in which your church is independent. But the rest of the issue focuses on cooperation, first in big-picture pieces by Bobby Jamieson and me, and then in a series of topic-specific articles by other brothers.
Toby Jenkins gives a wonderful testimony of how other local churches served his own in a time of crisis. Greg Gilbert explains why and how he prays for nearby churches on Sunday mornings…in his church service…out loud, like, into a microphone. Deepak Reju, Andy Johnson, and I talk about inter-church cooperation in pastoring, missions work, and discipline. Also, we hope you enjoy the forum on denominations from brothers representing several.
We pray God would be pleased to strengthen each of our churches as he strengthens them together.
