Gospel Patrons
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Ben Kreps:
Hey everyone and welcome to the Mark Prater podcast, where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace Churches with our Executive Director. Mark, still feeling the wonderful effects of last week's conference even a week later. Thank you for leading that conference. What a great time we had. One of the things that was so enjoyable about being together was hearing the many updates about what God is doing both in the states and globally when it comes to expanding our family of churches. So God's doing that, so we rejoice in his goodness and faithfulness in all of that. But that being said, we all know that maybe we don't all like to talk about it all the time, that ministry needs funding, ministry needs money. And you wanted to talk about that on this podcast.
Mark Prater:
I did, because we really did get to hear last week just some of the stories of what God is doing in giving our small family of churches opportunities to partner with and to plant churches throughout the world. I mentioned this in the Council of Elders meeting. So for those that weren’t in that meeting; over the next couple of years, we most likely will adopt about 60 churches outside the United States in different parts of the world. And in the next couple of years, we plan to plant 20 churches in different parts of the world, four of those in the States. And it is just wonderful to see the opportunities God has given us. And obviously with that as you mentioned, Ben, we need funding to support those church planting efforts and to strengthen churches that we adopt, which is why I still marvel at God's activity. While he is giving us these global opportunities, at the same time he helped us to establish these development funds: the Europe Development Fund, the Asia Pacific Development Fund, the African Development Fund, and the Latin America Development Fund that we have people giving to that is really funding the work and the opportunities God has given us to, again, partner and plant churches throughout the world.
And what I'm finding with these development funds; what is emerging is what I would call members of our churches who are really gospel patrons. And that word patron, it comes from Roman 16 verse 2, where Paul is commending Phoebe. And in verse two, he describes her as a patron of many, including Paul himself. In other words, she used her resources and her money to support gospel ministry as a patron. And so gospel patron is, I think, a biblical way to think about people who really have the gift of giving, and they give generously to see the work of the gospel continue through the planting of churches and through the strengthening of churches. And it's a term I wanna recapture for Sovereign Grace, and it's one that I'm just very grateful for not because God is giving them. You see them throughout church history. So obviously Phoebe's mentioned in Roman 16, but many people have heard of the name John Newton first because he wrote Amazing Grace.
But he was just a wonderful gospel centered pastor. Who many people don't know, is John Thornton. So John Thornton lived in London about the same time as John Newton. He really had a heart to see gospel centered churches established throughout London and throughout England. And he heard about John Newton. So he traveled to Olney, and he heard Newton preach, and he saw what he was building, and he said, this is what we need to plant. This is what we need to build these kind of gospel centered churches. And so John Thornton being a successful businessman, gave generously and gave over a 15 year period of $750,000 in today's dollars to John Newton that he didn't take and keep personally that Newton used as resources to fund all that he was doing in planting of churches and establishing and creating gospel centered resources. So we see gospel patrons in the Bible, we see them throughout church history. And it seems that God is giving gospel patrons to our small family of churches as well.
Ben Kreps:
Yeah, and you had firsthand experience at the conference, where you had the opportunity to gather with a number of what we're just describing as gospel patrons in Sovereign Grace. Talk to us about that.
Mark Prater:
I had a lunch during the conference with six members of our churches that I would describe as our modern day gospel patrons. The six of them have given very generously to our development funds. And because of their generosity, we've been able to just further our mission throughout the world, planting churches, strengthening churches, providing for the war relief efforts in Ukraine; just a number of things that we've been doing with these development funds. And so I met with them primarily just to thank them which I think I accomplished. But what they really wanted to talk about is, how do we stir more generosity within Sovereign Grace? Here's why: there is a joy in being generous that we experience that we want other people to experience. And that was their motivation; this joy of giving. And so we talked about that. The whole lunch conversation turned really on that, and we spent the majority of time with them just giving me ideas of how to do that.
It was a wonderful lunch. The discussion went in a direction I didn't quite anticipate, and I just walked away marveling at God's activity. I just thought, Okay, God, you're yet again ahead of me, ahead of us, stirring these people to be generous and really wanting to spread the generosity throughout Sovereign Grace. So it was a wonderful lunch, and I hope to be talking more about that.
And by the way I'm gonna be getting an email out about this next week. And so when this podcast drops into your inbox, you may have received this email or will shortly after. If you're hearing this and you're stirred to give, please consider giving to the Europe Development Fund because of the war relief efforts in Ukraine. It looks like we've got enough funding to cover what we've been been giving to them on a weekly basis through the end of the year. But we're going to run out of money designated for Ukraine by the end of the year. So we're trying to raise money for 2023. And let me just give you a number to work with. We send about $4,000 a week to Michael in Dnipro, Ukraine. We'd like to continue at that level, which means we would need to raise about $208,000. And I just think that we have generous people, and I think that's possible. So I'm in faith praying big prayers, asking God to give that specific amount of money so that we can serve all that our brother is doing in Ukraine, in helping people who have lost homes because of bombing. And these people now coming on a Sunday are hearing the gospel, many of them for the first time. I think it was just a couple Sundays ago, he had 600 people in his church in a church that before the war was like 150 people. So it's really amazing what God is doing in the Ukraine. So please consider giving to the Europe Development Fund, if you would.
Ben Kreps:
Yeah. Wonderful. And it's so enjoyable to be a part of a family churches where we have gospel patrons who I can't help but be reminded of 1 Timothy 6: "people who do not set their hope on riches", that are doing good, that are rich in good works and generous, and therefore taking hold of that which is truly life and only makes sense in a gospel centered family of churches, that it would produce generous people as we even talk about in our shaping virtues, as well. The gospel creates a generous family of churches. So thank you to all who give generously, sacrificially, joyfully. Thank you, Mark for the update, and we'll see you here next week. Lord willing, bye for now.