Gratitude for our Regional Leaders and Area Leaders
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Benjamin 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, I'm not in my normal recording location.
Mark Prater:
You're not. Ben, where are you at?
Benjamin Kreps:
I'm actually in the Pastors College Library because I needed a quiet place to record the podcast because I'm attending WorshipGod. So taking a break from in between. There's a coffee break right now, so recording over at the Pastors College and running back over to Highview Baptist for the afternoon session.
Mark Prater:
Yeah. How's it been so far?
Benjamin Kreps:
Well, great. Sadly, I wasn't able to attend the first session last night, but this morning HB Charles addressed us from Galatians 2:20 and we were all basically levitating above our seats with great joy and the singing has been fantastic. Bob's leadership is wonderful. So yeah, tons of people. I think I heard there's like 1300 people here. It's a packed house and we are being strengthened.
Mark Prater:
I think they sold out. I don't think there was room for anymore, if I remember right.
Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah. And everybody's eager, if you went decent seats, you got to get here like 45 minutes early. I learned. So I sat in the far right corner of the room. But yeah, it's fantastic.
Mark Prater:
Thanks for being there.
Benjamin Kreps:
Not here to talk about WorshipGod, I'm here to talk about what you wanted to talk about and that is something that has been, you said before the podcast, affecting your heart. Anyone who knows you, Mark, or who knows this podcast, knows that you love Sovereign Grace. You are very grateful for the pastors of Sovereign Grace. And today is just another opportunity that you want to take to express your gratitude for leaders in Sovereign Grace churches.
Mark Prater:
I do. I actually had a different topic that I had planned for us to talk about today on the podcast and I just really believe the Spirit of God was leading me in a different direction and we're recording this on a Thursday afternoon. It's lingered with me all day and I can't shake it. So I hope this is from the Lord and it has really affected my heart, thanking God for the leaders that He has given our family of churches and in particular our regional leaders here in the States and our area leaders in different parts of the world. I just thank God for them.
And I was thinking about these two verses that Paul writes in Philippians 2:19 and 20 where he says, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I too may be cheered by news of you for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. And that verse, it just affected me. We, as a family of churches, we have no one like them. No one like the regional leaders here in the States and our area leaders throughout the world; no one like them who care for the welfare of our pastors and the welfare of our churches. And we need to regularly thank God for them. I'm just very moved by it today and I'm on the leadership team. We're called to lead, but we don't do that alone. We don't do that in isolation. We lead with these men, the regional leaders and the area leaders. In fact, they're very much on the front lines caring for pastoral teams, caring for churches, helping to build their regions, helping to build in nations.
And I think what got me thinking about it as I've interacted with some of the US regional leaders recently just for different various reasons, and in those I haven't interacted with, I'm aware of just some of the things they're doing and leading in. And it just stirs gratitude in my heart for them. They are caring for Elderships that may be facing challenges or caring for churches that are walking through challenging times, bringing wisdom and encouragement and biblical perspective. They're not just doing that. They're meeting with pastors and they're encouraging them, inspiring them, correcting them if that needs to be done. Just a willingness to have hard conversations because they love them. They care for the welfare of the men that they're called to serve and their churches. And then they're just inspiring leaders. They're talking about ways to plant churches in their region or to build in nations.
So, I thank God for our nine US regional leaders. I thank God for our area leaders. I was just interacting with Ed O'Mara recently at a Global Leaders retreat. And he was just walking through what's going on in Europe and what he's involved in and we don't have much of a presence in Europe. He's caring for the church in Bristol, Grace Church, but he's interacting with several pastors who lead churches who have interest in being a part of Sovereign Grace. So he is talking with them at times, he's traveling to them as well. I thank God for Bart Lipscomb, who's our area leader in Africa. He was just in Sierra Leone caring for our brothers in West Africa, Sierra Leone and Guinea and Liberia, and just teaching and faithfully pastoring 'em. I'm aware, of course, Rich is on the leadership team. I just talked with Rich on the phone a couple of weeks ago and he's just behind the scenes in ways people don't know. Very involved in helping our brothers in Mexico build their nation now and also in helping to steward what God has given us in Latin America. So I just thank God for him and Greg Dirnberger, who's our area leader in the Asia Pacific part of the world. But I just thank God for each of those men and each of our US regional leaders as well. They are gifts from the risen Christ to our family of churches. We have no one like them.
Benjamin Kreps:
That's excellent. Our polity is structured in such a way that we need men that are gifted to be able to care for multiple churches as regional leaders. And so we need that, but we only have that because God has blessed our family of churches with men such as these. I've gotten to experience the care and counsel of a number of regional leaders over the last decade; Ken Mellinger and Jace Hudson and now Rob Flood. These are excellent pastors, excellent leaders, and I join you in thanking God for them.
Mark, could you give us a suggestion or two, for those of us who are checking out the podcast and we are joining you in our gratitude and appreciation of these men who serve us sacrificially, serve us zealously and they serve us with excellence, give us a suggestion or two about how grateful pastors and grateful members of churches can communicate appreciation to these regional leaders, to their regional leader or global leaders?
Mark Prater:
Yeah, it's a great question because here's the reason why that's important. As you look on Sovereign Grace, one of the ways that you know that God is blessing us and with us and strengthening us and pouring out his grace upon us, is by the quality of leaders he's given us. They are gifts from the risen Christ. We have no one like them. And that is only because of God and of how God is blessing us with quality leaders like that. And so to express thanks and to express encouragement really is an acknowledgement of what God is doing in our family of churches and how he has and continues to provide, right? So it's very God glorifying in its motivation and that's one of the reasons it just really affects my heart. There've been a couple of times today, I've actually just been in tears as I think about these men and what they do in caring for churches, we have no one like them that will care for the welfare of our churches.
So for our pastors, whenever you interact with one of the men who I've just mentioned, your US regional leader, outside the states; your area leader, please take time to specifically thank them for how they care and lead and just provide counsel to you. If you're not interacting with them, email them and just let them know, you're on my heart today and I just thank you for this specific thing, or I want to encourage you where I see grace in your life. And, so that's the first thing.
I think for members of our churches who may have less opportunity, when a regional leader comes and visits a church, please take time just to greet them and just thank them for what they do. If you know them, encourage them where you see grace at work in their lives. I just think we want to build a culture of encouragement, that's one of our shaping virtues in Sovereign Grace. And may that include how we encourage our leaders because of what God has called them to do. So just a couple of quick thoughts and as you do all that, let's do it in a way that gives God all the glory because these are gifts from God to us.
Benjamin Kreps:
Yes. Amen. Mark, so grateful for you as the one who's leading the leadership team and Sovereign Grace. Your gratitude for the pastors and leaders in Sovereign Grace is greatly appreciated by us. And so thank you, Mark. Thank you for checking out the podcast, everyone. Encourage your regional leader or area leader. We'll see you here next week. Lord willing. Bye for now.