At Velocity we do not have been members but we will have partners. Why the change in language and understanding? The church has lost the understanding of what it means to be committed to a local church and to the universal church. God is looking for people who will partner with him by identifying with a local church body while also identifying with the universal body of Christ. I believe that Paul understood this idea when he wrote in Phil 1:4-6, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Partnership is a new concept in many churches and most are having to take the time necessary to explain what it means to their people. When the time is right, we at Velocity will also take the time to explain the concept of partnership to our people. I pray now that when that time comes the people that God has called to be apart of Velocity will become “partners with the Gospel” like others have done in the past and many are doing now in the future.
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Discussion: Is your church using the concept of partnership instead of membership? How is it working? How are you teaching this concept? Are you using different levels of partnership? How do you determine this?
Brian Brunke 