VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Benjamin Kreps:

Hey everyone. And welcome to the Mark Prater podcast, where our aim is to connect our global family of churches with our Executive Director. Mark, among many other things in your role leading the Leadership Team, you guys have been discussing fundamentals, you know, just getting down to definitions that are helpful, that we don't want to take for granted. One of those things is that you've been talking about what do we mean when we use the word missionary in Sovereign Grace Churches? So could you fill us in on your thoughts there?

Mark Prater:

We had a great discussion on that term "missionary", how we define it and do we want to be using it in Sovereign Grace? We had a great discussion just a few weeks ago at the Leadership Team retreat. And that was a very clarifying conversation. Dave Taylor in particular was bringing that to our agenda and to the table. So we scheduled it so he could participate in the conversation via Zoom from Sydney since he couldn't travel over. And it's really helpful for him to have clarity from the Leadership Team "are we on the same page regarding that term?" Because it's one that I think we all desire for it to be used. So in terms of how we define missionary, obviously missionary means one who is sent, and our definition of missionary is very similar to, what it's been historically, and it has a robust ecclesiology component to it.

So we want a person to be sent from a local church, receiving care and accountability from that church, and looking when they are sent, to be connected to a local church in whatever country they're going to, or look to the planting of local churches, or establishing a local church through church planting. And the heart of the American, so to speak, is to raise up indigenous leaders. Or if someone is being sent from Australia to Hong Kong to plant a church. Eventually, potentially, indigenous leaders are leading that church. So those are some illustrations of what we mean by having a robust ecclesiology when we use the term missionary. So that's basically the definition that Rich Richardson gave when he taught on this issue at our Pastors Conference several years ago. So I'm really repeating what Rich said. And if you haven't heard that sermon and you're listening to this podcast, that would be a good sermon to find online on our website and listen to how he unpacks it a little bit more than I.

So after agreeing to that definition, we also agreed that this is a term we do want to use in Sovereign Grace, and we want to use it functionally and broadly. So what we mean by that is a missionary is sent to Thailand, like in the case of (name removed for security), who is sent from Mercy Hill Community Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia, that's the sending church. They continue to care and follow up with (him) and there was the Mid South Region that was a part of sending him as well, because they ordained him as an Elder before they sent him. And he's doing mission work and hopes to see churches planted and indigenous leaders raised. So you could call him a missionary or missionary church planter.

But we could also see someone like, let's say you have a college student in your church and they just finished their nursing degree and they have a heart to move to Italy for six months, or to Liberia for six months, and provide medical care as a means to advance the gospel. I think you could call that person a missionary as well. So that's what we mean, functionally and broadly, we want to just use the term and keep defining it over and over again so that the repetition helps it to be a part of our language, our culture, in Sovereign Grace.

Benjamin Kreps:

Yeah. Excellent. And may God raise up many missionaries in our local churches. You also have a couple of updates while we're on the topic of international work, global ministry, you have a couple of fascinating updates for us about things that are happening.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, which I'll tell you about, the first I've mentioned on a previous podcast, but this is really the initiative and leadership of Dave Taylor to pull together a group of Sovereign Grace pastors who formed an “unreached people group” task force. And what that group is doing is looking to define how we think about unreached people groups, and how can Sovereign Grace be involved in reaching the unreached with the gospel. So that's some exciting work that those men are working on and moving forward and that our pastors and members of our churches will be hearing more about soon. Because we don't just want to plant churches where the gospel is already being preached. We want to plant churches in areas where there is no gospel presence at all. So pray for Dave as he leads that group.

The second update, which is really very exciting, is that we have a number of Chinese pastors, men who have come over along with their wives to the states to be trained. And the ones that we've gotten to know primarily are in Louisville because they're attending or have attended or graduated from Southern Seminary, and they find their way to Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. And they really fall in love with Sovereign Grace. They want to be a pastor in a Sovereign Grace Church, or they want to plant a Sovereign Grace Church. And some of those men want to return to China and plant. Many of those men also want to stay in the states and plant Chinese speaking churches in cities where there is significant Chinese population. And actually that can be a strategy to plant churches back into China. So we've just been relating to these men. We don't really have avenues for them into Sovereign Grace. So one of the exciting developments, just in the last several weeks, is that we have about I think somewhere between seven and nine Chinese pastors who are coming to the pastors conference. All of them are in the states at this point. And Mike Seaver and Brian Chesemore and I are going to have a lunch with them while we're there to think through what steps can we take to make avenues of ministry for them in Sovereign Grace; whether that's being a part of a Sovereign Grace Church, or most importantly and this is the heart really of the conversation, to plant Chinese speaking churches here in the states and in China. So I'm really looking forward to that lunch and that discussion at the Pastors Conference, and what the Lord might do for that. So if you're listening to this podcast or reading the transcript, pray for that meeting, please.

Benjamin Kreps:

Well, it is thrilling to hear about how God is connecting us with these brothers from China who are coming to the Pastors Conference. That's great. I look forward to meeting these men. So thank you, Mark. Thanks Dave. I was just on an Emerging Nation's call with Dave Taylor last night where a number of us on the team were talking about the new global partnership plan that's going to be unveiled. And that is thrilling as well as we steward what God is doing in our family of churches globally. So thanks to all involved and thank you for watching. We'll see you here soon. Bye for now.