The Value of Gospel Mission in the States

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, as anybody watching can see, I am reporting once again from a clandestine location as they move me around the country. <laugh>.

Mark Prater:

Yeah. I'm glad you're safe in your witness protection program. <laugh>. Yeah. You've not been home for a couple weeks, right?

Ben Kreps:

Not much, but now we're heading home today. I'm in the Pocono Mountains. Someone graciously let us use their home for three days. But you are back, amazingly, you are actually in the country back from your recent travels. As guys or gals that follow along on this podcast know, you're often giving updates about all manner of wonderful things that are developing globally as we grow in partnerships with many different parts of the world, which may beg the question, "Is there anything going on in the States?"

Mark Prater:

Yeah, that's a fair question, Ben. I could see why a Sovereign Grace pastor here in the United States, or maybe even a member of one of our churches, would think, "Hey, we're grateful for everything that's happening globally, but do we care about what's happening in the States anymore? Are we too focused globally? And are we giving enough attention to our mission here in the States?" And I think those are fair questions and I just want to devote this podcast, to speak into. First of all, we believe, when we say very clearly, we believe that our mission here in the States and the health of our churches here in the United States is vital to our mission overall and vital to what we're doing outside of the United States. In fact, I think our ability to participate in mission outside of the United States really does hinge on the health of our churches and the mission of our churches here in the United States.

To say it another way, as the United States goes is the way that we're gonna be able to go globally for a number of different reasons. And so, I just want guys to hear clearly that our mission here in the States is vital to us. I also think that we gotta be careful not to separate those two things; what we're doing outside the states and inside the states, because I think God has worked in such a way that those work synergistically together. Not just functionally, but also in heart mission. It gives us a chance to see the Great Commission lived out; that we are to go to all the nations and disciple men and women, and baptize them in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit.

So, wherever we are living in the states or wherever we're living throughout the world, we're actually doing that together as a family of churches. So what we do in the States does strengthen what we do outside the States. But I also think what we're doing outside the states can inspire and strengthen what we're doing in the states and provide pastors and members of our churches opportunities to travel outside the states and to serve. So, it's just a synergistic mission that we have because God saves people from all nations; every tribe, tongue, and nation need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. So that's important, but it's also important because we got our start here as a family of churches in the States and have had more ministry experience here in the States and have resources that can be used to serve our brothers.

And I'm not thinking money, first off, I'm thinking more theological training, for example. I'm thinking about the model of church that's being built here, and how do you replicate that in other nations given cultural considerations. And I just think most of our guys, or all of our guys actually, are very eager to participate in that way. And of course there is financial support, but there's also just the heart of a Sovereign Grace pastor who wants to build locally and keep his eye on and serve extra locally as well that I think strengthens us in Sovereign Grace. So that's a little bit of just how we're thinking about it.

We actually had a recent leadership team discussion about our growth here in the United States. It is a bit slower than outside the United States, and why is that? And what can we do about it? And we had a very fruitful conversation that maybe I'll devote another podcast to. But I just want guys in the States to know that what we're doing in the States is very important. And I think it's vital to what we're doing outside the states. And yeah, we're thinking about and praying about our mission here and wanting to make sure that we don't drop the ball here; that we continue to move the gospel forward, advance it together, within the borders of the United States.

Ben Kreps:

That's excellent. It is helpful to be reminded that we are not, as we changed our language a number of years ago, we're not just a North American denomination with global partners, but we are an interconnected family of churches across the globe, which is wonderful to see. But there are many things happening actually in the States through the efforts of faithful local pastors and others in Sovereign Grace. You have several examples of mission that's advancing in the States. Tell us about that.

Mark Prater:

Yes, as I mentioned a moment ago, we want to make sure we continue to strengthen and maintain the health of our churches here in the States and to advance our mission in the States. So these illustrations are examples are really related to church planting and some recent developments that maybe guys aren't aware of, which is one of the frustrations I can feel at times is making sure I communicate all of this information effectively. So hopefully this podcast helps inform guys. And people that follow this podcast know that your church, Living Hope Church in Middletown, Pennsylvania, in just a couple of months, will send out a hundred people or more to plant a church, on the west side of Harrisburg. So we're excited about that. Jeremy Hetrick is leading that church plant. And then Perry Wong, we talked about this in a previous podcast, is planting a Chinese speaking, Mandarin speaking church in Charleston, South Carolina, being sent from Risen Hope Church led by Mike Seaver to plant in Charleston.

We're also excited about some recent developments that came out of the Church Planting National Assessment that the Church Planting Group does, and that's led by Greg Dirnberger. A couple of just stories from that. First of all, there was a family that live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and really want to see a Sovereign Grace church planted in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They went through assessment. The recommendation is that they become a part of a Sovereign Grace church for a period of time. So they've made the sacrificial decision to move to Austin to be with the Redemption Hill Church for a period of time, with the hopes of returning back to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to plant a Sovereign Grace church there. Also out of that assessment, there is a Spanish speaking brother who wants to plant a Spanish-speaking church in the Houston area, planted from the church in Pearl, Texas, led by Darrel Schiel. His recommendation was that he needs to go to the Pastors College and then come back and do an internship and then plant a church. And that's exactly what he's gonna do. He's slated to attend the Pastors College in the fall with the hope of planting a Spanish-speaking Sovereign Grace church on the south side of Houston sometime in the next couple of years.

Also, we just had a PC graduate, a guy that's in your region currently, Ben; Adam from Winona Lake, Indiana from Christ's Covenant Church. He graduated from the PC, he's back doing, I believe, a two year residency and he wants to plant a church, last I heard, in Manchester, Indiana. So that's very, very exciting. And we've mentioned before; Gabe McGill is doing really a startup gathering of people, a group of people for Bible study in Warren, Pennsylvania, with the hopes of planting a Sovereign Grace Church in that city as well. I also know that Cornerstone Church in Knoxville, Tennessee wants to plant a church in the next year or two. They are a church that thinks about church planting and have planted two other churches. So this would be their third. And we just had a recent conversation at Covenant Fellowship as a pastoral team about our next church plant, hopefully two or three years away, after just sending a church plant out last year. Nick Kidwell planted Valley Creek Church.

So those are just some of the plants I'm aware of, and I think it's very exciting and hopefully it encourages guys in a couple of ways. First of all, that if you haven't planted a church, consider becoming a part of the Antioch Project. We've got guys going through a second year of the Antioch Project; their desire is to plant a church and get help as to how to do that. So that's the first thing: pray about church planting; as you have done and modeled so well, Ben, and consider being part of the Antioch Project.

And then secondly, I hope these stories and illustrations really do represent just our heart for our mission overall, and our heart for our mission here in the States. Because again, I think the health of our churches and the health of our mission in the United States very much is connected to and dependent upon what we're able to do globally. So, I hope those stories encourage you.

And, just one other thought. The reason that we do all of this is not to grow Sovereign Grace. I know I say this and I'm gonna say it again and again. We do this to reach people who don't know Christ as their savior, who are at this point headed to hell like we were at one point. And we wanna participate in God's rescue of them, that he would rescue them from wrath through the preaching of the gospel, and they would be born again through the work of the spirit, placing their saving faith in Christ and repenting of their sins and following him for the rest of their lives, discipled in some local church and maybe some of those in Sovereign Grace churches. That's why we plant local churches, and that's why we care about mission.

Ben Kreps:

Amen. What an encouraging update. And it is wonderful to hear about how God is advancing his kingdom through our efforts as a little family of churches yet we get to participate in what God's doing in the States as well as globally. It's also wonderful to hear about how the global nature of our partnership is even mingled in with how we're planting in the States; a Mandarin speaking church, a Spanish speaking church. So all of that is very encouraging. Thank you, Mark, for the update. Thank you all for watching or reading, and we'll see you here next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.