As a pastor, I want my people not only to hear the gospel, but to believe it, apply it, and share it. That will primarily happen in our everyday context. But there is something uniquely strengthening about seeing that same gospel at work in a completely different setting. It reminds us that the message we hold is not local, but global. As Matthew 28:19–20 reminds us, we are called to “make disciples of all nations,” and even short term efforts can serve that greater calling when rightly ordered.

Partnership is the strategy we see in the Scriptures. Believers sharing their lives with other​ believers, churches praying for, caring for and supporting one another. That’s why we plant​ churches! That’s why we send missionaries! By ourselves, we can barely take care of​ ourselves. But together? The possibilities are endless!

What we have found at Abundant Grace is that Partnership is not a modern managerial fad; but it’s the New Testament instinct of the one body of Christ expressing itself across many local churches. Partnership with other local churches converge on the same point: churches that lock arms for the gospel will out-pray, out-love, out-last, and out-multiply churches that try to go it alone.

When churches partner in the gospel — united in mission, caring for one another, equipping together — they become stronger than the sum of their parts. The health of one becomes the health of many. As we like to say, local churches are better together.