Ephesians 3:10 - “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known…”

Redeemer Fellowship celebrated our five-year anniversary on September 9 this year. God has been very good to us as a young church family in Newark, Delaware. As I think about the past five years and all that God has done, I can’t help but pause and celebrate the gift that church planting is and how powerfully God uses it for his glory. 

I don’t even mean to celebrate a particular way of church planting (though I wouldn’t want to do it with any other denomination than Sovereign Grace!). But rather, I want to celebrate the act of church planting in any form. Whether in perceived ‘strength’ or ‘weakness’; whether with 30 or 300; whether near or far; the planting of new Gospel preaching churches is a primary and powerful way that God continues to do his good work in this world and in our lives. 

Church planting multiplies the manifold wisdom of God. 

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Joel Shorey is the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Fellowship, Newark, Delaware, USA.

This post originally appeared on September 24, 2023 on the Sovereign Grace Missions blog.

Among our 7 Shared Values is the value of “ Church Planting, Outreach and Global Mission.” It states: “Our gospel-centrality entails no only treasuring the gospel personally but sharing it passionately. The risen Christ commissioned His church to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). We believe that commission falls to us and to all believers and that it is fulfilled in a primary way through church planting, whereby the gospel is proclaimed and converts are formed into communities of disciples (Acts 2:21-47; 14:23).” It’s woven into our DNA—we are always thinking about church planting because we are committed to this glorious shared mission.

In the fall of 2018, one of our local churches, Covenant Fellowship Church, planted a church about 45 min away in Newark, DE. Redeemer Fellowship started with 27 adults and has since grown. Our newest mission video tells the story of Colby who was born again because Redeemer Fellowship was faithful to warmly welcome him, and share the gospel with him. When you watch, be reminded that while this is the work of Christ alone, he used the care and labors of gospel loving people to passionately proclaim the name of Christ. I hope your heart will be stirred towards gospel mission!

We are grateful for every opportunity to reach the lost. May we all be reminded that our world needs to hear the hope of the gospel. May we be reminded that we are surrounded by Colby’s who are impacted by simple greetings and the care of patient listening. And may we be reminded that Christ has always at work around us, in us and through us. What a glorious Savior! What a glorious mission!

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Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church. He and his wife, Jill, have three married daughters and a growing number of grandchildren.