The Apostle Paul writes this in Philippians 1:4, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…”
We cannot underestimate the value of partnerships in the ministry. Partnerships are crucial to the success and sustainability of ministry. I praise the Lord for partnerships that he has brought in my life and in particular, into the life of The Phoenix Fellowship. Today we are sad because we’ve lost a partner, and over this past year we’ve lost many gospel driven, Christ saturated partners. To those people whom we’ve lost; people who God has chosen to remove from our congregation because he wanted them somewhere else, we miss you. You’re indispensable! I’ve copied and pasted these words from Michael W. Smith’s song, “Friends are Friends Forever”
“Packing up the dreams God planted
In the fertile soil of you
I can’t believe the hopes He’s granted
Means a chapter of your life is through
But we’ll keep you close as always
It won’t even seem you’ve gone
‘Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong
And friends are friends forever
If the Lord’s the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
‘Cause the welcome will not end
Though it’s hard to let you go
In the Father’s hands we know
That a lifetime’s not too long
To live as friends
And with the faith and love God’s given
Springing from the hope we know
We will pray the joy you live in
Is the strength that now you show
We’ll keep you close as always
It won’t even seem you’ve gone
‘Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong
And friends are friends forever
If the Lord’s the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
‘Cause the welcome will not end
Though it’s hard to let you go
In the Father’s hands we know
That a lifetime’s not too long
To live as friends
And friends are friends forever
If the Lord’s the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
‘Cause the welcome will not end
Though it’s hard to let you go
In the Father’s hands we know
That a lifetime’s not too long
To live as friends
To live as friends
Though it’s hard to let you go
In the Father’s hands we know
That a lifetime’s not too long
To live as friends
No a lifetime’s not too long
To live as friends”
My prayer is that God would continue to bless those whom we’ve lost and we pray that God will bring more partnerships into our lives and ministries.
Scott Sholar
June 25, 2012 at 11:39 pm
God bless you, Selvan.