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, we talked a few weeks ago about the WorshipGod conference that was in Louisville last month. A wonderful time; room full of people, many of them not from Sovereign Grace churches, which is an illustration and the fruit of the fact that Sovereign Grace Music is having a powerful influence, not only in our small family of churches, but actually broadly. And you have a bunch of stats that you want to share with us that show us just that.

Mark Prater:

I do. I put some stats together every year for the Executive Committee retreat, which I was at last week, and I'm only going to share some of those to illustrate the influence and the impact that Sovereign Grace Music has. And these I typically hand out at the Council of Elders meeting. So I'm aware that not all of our pastors are at that meeting, and members of our churches typically aren't at that meeting. So I wanted to share them because they are really encouraging and they demonstrate how God is using Sovereign Grace Music, not only to influence Sovereign Grace Churches, but churches throughout the world.

So here are some stats regarding songs. So these numbers come from CCLI, which is the organization that tracks worship songs sung by churches on a Sunday. They track that for many reasons, but one of them being, I believe, that the songwriters for a period of time get some royalties.

So Sovereign Grace Music has 50 Sovereign Grace songs in the top 2000. And of those 50, 4 songs are in the top 1000. And of those 50, 16 songs are in the top 500. So that tells you that songs are being sung. Sovereign Grace Music songs are being sung in churches just throughout, not only Sovereign Grace, but outside of Sovereign Grace because we're a small family of churches. So those numbers reflect they're not only being sung by our churches, they're being sung by churches here in the states. And I'll give you some stats in a minute that will demonstrate throughout the world.

And I just think that's important because it does represent how Sovereign Grace Music is having this wonderful gospel centered, theologically rooted influence in churches both inside and outside of Sovereign Grace. And that's important because it also reflects that those churches want to sing theologically rich songs, which Sovereign Grace Music songs have. Their lyrics are theologically rich and they are gospel centered. And that's so important in the life of any church because as we've said, it's been said probably for hundreds of years, good theology leads to rich doxology. So ultimately all those numbers point to the exaltation and glory of Jesus Christ within the church. So those numbers were just really encouraging beyond just what's happening in a Sunday service or a corporate public gathering.

Also, 60 million Sovereign Grace songs are being streamed on Spotify in 2023/2024, over that one year period. 60 million songs by Sovereign Grace Music. If you go from Spotify to YouTube, Sovereign Grace Music has 374,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel, adding about 4,000 new subscribers every month. So it's just growing. And to give you one stat of what's being viewed: 255,000 views of the newer song of Christ Our Wisdom, which is on the new Knowing God album; 255,000 views since its release in March of this year, March of 2024. So that song's been viewed a lot.

And then just one other stat; Sovereign Grace Music has songs translated in 50 different languages. And that stat tells you that their influence and impact is not just here in the States, but obviously throughout the world. They're serving and influencing churches throughout the world. And as God has given our small family of churches opportunities to expand globally throughout the world, it's given us the opportunity to sing Sovereign Grace songs in different languages. For example, there's active translation work being done in Italian because we're planting a church in Torino, Italy. It's just wonderful to see, for me, the impact and influence Sovereign Grace Music is having and the way they serve the churches in Sovereign Grace, but churches throughout the body of Christ in the States and throughout the world.

Benjamin Kreps:

Yeah. It is wonderful that Sovereign Grace Music isn't just making music for Christian radio stations to play. They're making music for members in local churches to sing loudly these theologically rich, glorious truths of the gospel. And so it is gratifying to hear how that's happening, not just within our family of churches, but more broadly speaking as well. As you think about what's happening in Sovereign Grace Music in the days ahead, give us some thoughts about Sovereign Grace Music.

Mark Prater:

Well, one of those thoughts is what you just said, Ben, is that Sovereign Grace Music, it is our hope and prayer, will continue to write songs sung by congregations. They'll write congregational songs, not that they wouldn't be played on the radio or on Spotify or on YouTube, but that's their desire to serve local churches, including Sovereign Grace churches. So because of that, it's one of the reasons we wanted to invest into this new music studio that has been used over the past year where the Knowing God album was recorded and produced, because that's an investment into our future; is that Sovereign Grace Music would continue to write congregational songs with a music excellence that does serve churches throughout the world.

And in light of that, as we think about the future, we want to continue to invest in the songwriters. Bob leads a songwriter's retreat every year. And one of the things that's encouraging for me as an older Sovereign Grace pastor is to see that some of those songwriters are now younger members of our churches, because most of the songwriters that are writing Sovereign Grace music are members of our churches. So to see younger generations write those songs, it just gives you faith that God is at work to make the influence and impact of Sovereign Grace Music a multi-generational one, which is real encouraging. So that's a thought.

Also when I think about the future, I continue to thank God for Bob Kauflin and his music team. It's a wonderful team of folks that he works with. And just continue to pray for them, not only thank God for them, but pray for them that God would give them wisdom, that He would give them direction as they continue to write congregational songs and train worship leaders that serve churches, all of those in Sovereign Grace and obviously churches outside of Sovereign Grace. So may that all be done, obviously, for the glory of God.

Benjamin Kreps:

Amen. I know my first introduction to Sovereign Grace was through listening to the WorshipGod Live album 17 years ago, and hearing Jesus, Thank You and instantly fell in love with that song, not even knowing that there was such a thing as churches that were Sovereign Grace. And so I think many others have discovered Sovereign Grace in the same way through the gift that is Bob and the rest of Sovereign Grace Music. So Bob, Devon, Dave, we thank God for you and the whole crew. We thank God for you. Thank you for the good work that you're doing. We're just trying to figure out what songs not to do off Knowing God around here. And so we do thank God for Sovereign Grace Music. Thank you, Mark, for the update. We'll see you here next week. Lord willing. Bye for now.

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, you just recently returned from a retreat that you regularly have with the Executive Committee. You were mentioning before we started recording how our polity was ratified 11 years ago. And while some of us are more passionate about Sovereign Grace Churches polity and some of us like to eat it for breakfast and do their devotions in the Book of Church Order, it is certainly not a necessary evil. It is a gift from God as we seek to apply principles of church government and denominational governing structures according to what we read in God's word. But you were expressing your gratitude; that is appropriate when we think about our polity, is gratitude. And you wanted to talk to us about that.

Mark Prater:

I did. I mean, remember when we ratified our polity, our Book of Church Order 11 years ago in April of 2013. And I think we'd all have to admit at the time it looked good on paper, but is this really going to work? It's sort of what we were thinking. And 11 years in, it's not perfect. It still needs to be tweaked and adjusted, but it's working. And I thank God for the polity that we have and in particular this week, thanking God for a component of our polity, which is the Executive Committee. And we have listeners or readers of this podcast who really probably haven't read the Book of Church Order, but there's a place in the Book of Church Order where we have an Executive Committee that is assigned to do a number of things on behalf of the Council of Elders. So this is a standing committee that works on behalf of the Council of Elders that oversees and evaluates the Leadership Team.

They also are responsible for their fiduciary financial responsibilities and legal responsibilities. So in that sense, they do really govern as a board, what the Leadership Team does, and really they govern, in that sense, Sovereign Grace Churches. And I'm so grateful for that structure because I've benefited from it over the years, including this week. I just got back today, this is Friday, you'll get this in your inbox on Monday. Just got back from an Executive Committee retreat that was held in Louisville. And I'm so grateful for those men. And I told them that I was actually praying for them by name before the retreat and then I just saw God answer those prayers as those men gave me input and evaluation and thoughts, not only for myself as executive director, but for the Leadership Team as well.

So the men who serve on that Executive Committee, Ken Mellinger, who chairs it, did a great job of leading a retreat that keeps things moving and yet allows all the voices on the committee to share their thoughts. That's not an easy thing to do. And Ken does that very well. So Ken Melllinger, Andy Farmer, Bruce Chick, Brian Chesemore, Bill Patton, Steve Teeter, Abelardo Munoz, and Dave York. Nine men that are pastors who are busy serving their churches and yet they take a week away from their families and away from their church to serve our family of churches by exercising their governance role in Sovereign Grace.

And these men gave me a lot of good input. They evaluated me, they evaluated the Leadership Team. We spent all day yesterday or most of the day yesterday on the budget. And they do that for the Council of Elders because they approve the budget. The Council of Elders affirms it. So we do drop into detail and they ask some very pointed detail questions that you would want them to ask. And thank goodness Tommy Hill has answers for all of them or most of them. But it was just really a wonderful retreat in many, many ways and a fresh appreciation to God for our polity and for the Executive Committee in particular

Benjamin Kreps:

As you were reading off those names, wow, what a gift these men are to us. These are wise and discerning pastors with integrity who are sacrificing to serve our family of churches and what a gift they are. So what happened at the Executive Committee retreat?

Mark Prater:

Yeah, we had a full schedule. We kind of started off with some personal updates and praying and then Ken did something this year that I'm really glad he did. We were just trying something that had never been done before. He asked Executive Committee members to come with just thoughts on the things they're encouraged by that they see in Sovereign Grace, and areas where they may have questions or they're seeing vulnerabilities. And it was really good. I sat there and just took notes and it was really good to hear both where they're encouraged and where they see potential weaknesses or current weaknesses and really benefited from that discussion. So I'm glad we did that. And it's another reflection of these guys that had put thought into this and it's not just the content of what they shared. Their heart for our family of churches comes across. So this is not a dry polity where we're going through the motions. This is very much a polity that men carry on their heart and they carry the churches and our pastors on their heart. So I was really grateful for that and that input.

From there, really what we've been doing in recent years, and we sort of followed a similar pattern this year, I give a Sovereign Grace update where I just kind of share where we're at and where we're headed. And the way that I talked about it this year, and I'm not going to get in too much detail because this will probably frame my State of the Union message at the Council of Elders meeting in November, is there's a lot to be encouraged by in our family of churches about how God is providing. And as you look into the next 10 years, there's much to be encouraged about, much to have faith in God for.

At the same time I see present and potential vulnerabilities that along the path during those 10 years we must address. So I just kind of framed where I'm encouraged as well and vulnerabilities that we see and we're actively addressing or have new plans to address. I framed the update that way and then just went into topics with that framework and we had a lot of good dialogue over that that actually took several hours one afternoon and just found that really, really helpful not only in terms of just what was shared, but more of the input I got from the Executive Committee.

I wrote a five to 10 year strategic plan. They asked me to do that a few years ago. So each year I give them a progress report on the progress we made over the last year. And then I write a new one or it's not a complete new one. It's really a rewrite of the present one that is adapted to the things that we're seeing or the things we had accomplished, and we want to accomplish some different things this year. So I presented that to them as well. From there, they ask and I give a report of departments and regions, and so I just methodically walk through every department in Sovereign Grace and when I talk about departments, I mean Department of Theology, Sovereign Grace Music, Finance and Administration, Church Planting, Church Development, Publishing, West Coast Development, and I think that's most of them. And just walk through each of those. And then for the regions, I didn't drop into specifics in regions. Jon helped me write this. Jon Payne. Really it was just an overview of the regions and that was just real encouraging to go through with our Executive Committee.

And then from there, they spent time, we just spent time, walking through an evaluation of each member of the Leadership Team. I evaluate the Leadership Team and bring my evaluation to the Executive Committee and then they evaluate me. I submit a self-evaluation and then every member of the Leadership Team evaluates me and I just pass those along to the oversight committee within the Executive Committee responsible to sort of package all that and bring a proposal. And then also we get from every church where a Leadership Team member or non-Leadership Team director is based, just a local church evaluation. All that gets sent to them about six weeks before the retreat. And so they just took time to evaluate me.

And then from there we went on and as I mentioned, just took time to just methodically go through the budget, looking at financial projections in the future and also just talking through any sort of legal issues that they need to be aware of. Nothing bad. When you say legal, you think, oh man, what's wrong? Nothing at all. Like Tommy this year was able to renew the Sovereign Grace copyright for another 10 years. That's legal work that he had to do. Or recently, especially as we expand globally, he's got to do a lot more work with visas. So he was working with Josh Kruger Jr. He was in the States for a time now back in Namibia, there's visa work that has to be done there that's under the legal category. So just kind of gave some updates there as well. So that's a bit of what we covered. We also laughed a lot together and prayed with one another, and they're friends, so we just got updates and fellowshipped and it was a wonderful retreat that I thank God for.

Benjamin Kreps:

Excellent. Well thank you, Mark for your role in all of that and the sacrifices you made to go be in Louisville for a week with the Executive Committee. I too share with you in gratefulness for these wonderful men that serve us effectively. It sounds like you guys are getting work done. So thanks for working hard for our good in Sovereign Grace, and thank you all for checking out the podcast. We'll see you here next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.

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. People who check out the podcast might've noticed that there wasn't a podcast last week, and that was because I was on vacation and you were attending the Fieles conference, which you talked about on the last pod. You have some encouraging updates about your experience at the conference. But first, at the last pastor's conference, we had the joy of seeing Mexico become its own ecclesiastical nation in Sovereign Grace Churches. And recently they had their National Assembly of Elders and you were going to give us an update about that.

Mark Prater:

Yeah. In fact, that vote happened at the last Council of Elders meeting last November. The Council of Elders voted to establish Mexico as an Ecclesiological nation, and that is the first Ecclesiological nation apart from the US that we've established, which was a very historic and exciting moment for the Council of Elders, but especially for the brothers in Mexico. And the the morning of the Fieles conference, the brothers met from Mexico for their National Assembly of Elders meeting, and I wasn't there. Carlos told me about it. Carlos Contreras, who's leading the team there in Mexico, and Rich Richardson was there from our leadership team. And I heard just great reports from both of them of how pleased they just were with how that meeting went.

So a couple of highlights from the meeting. Mexico made some polity decisions regarding their Book of Church Order, just like we have been doing in the states, just trying to tweak it and fine tune it as we use it. So that happened.

They also made some financial decisions as a nation, which requires financial commitments from the churches in Mexico to give to the National Fund in Mexico. And the reason Carlos was so excited about that is because our goal overall in Sovereign Grace as we establish nations, is to establish self-sustaining nations over a period of time. And so Carlos was like, we took another step towards being a self-sustaining nation here in Mexico. And it was wonderful to see his excitement and his enthusiasm for that meeting because the thing that we voted on last November as a Council of Elders is actually happening. And one of the things that's so exciting for me is that it's not just happening on paper. It's happening in influence and impact that the brothers in Mexico are having, I think, seeing most clearly through their leadership of the Fieles conference.

Benjamin Kreps:

Excellent. Yeah, it is quite a thing to go from theoretical ideas about ecclesiological nations and what that might look like to actually seeing one established and it beginning to function. That is such a joy to hear about. But you were yes, at the Fieles conference and you wanted to talk to us about your experience there.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, let me just start with saying Carlos Contreras was responsible for planning and leading this conference. He did an effective, masterful job. Carlos is a gift to our family of churches. I thank God for him. Our leadership team here in the States thanks God for him. And he just did a really, really good job. Now, he doesn't do that alone. He's got a team that he works with, a leadership team that he's leading Mexico with. Each of those men worked very hard as well. And then he's got the members of his church. So Fieles was held in Juarez at Iglesia Gracia Soberana, where Carlos is the senior pastor and 160 of his members volunteered to serve during that entire conference. And they did so with such joy, and they did it with such a servant's heart. It communicates Sovereign Grace values just in the way that they serve. So first of all, just to commend all that served at the conference.

But it was a very effective conference. The theme of the conference was essentially the pastor pursuing a godly life. And the pastor's example is very important in building godly churches, which is something we want to do in Sovereign Grace. So this was a very significant conference for pastors and their wives. And by the way, there were somewhere between 400 and 450 pastors and their wives there, leaders from the churches and their wives there from mostly different parts of Mexico and really all parts of Mexico. There were also some pastors there from other Latin American nations, from Costa Rica for example.

But this was primarily in serving pastors and wives that are in Mexico. And the impact and influence that conference has is palpable. It's very, very clear. In fact, a lot of the pastors and wives that were there were not a part of Sovereign Grace. So for them to hear instruction, messages, for several days that will help them grow in godliness, they'll go back and they'll be stronger pastors and they'll build stronger churches as a result, regardless of whether they're ever part of Sovereign Grace or not, although several are very interested.

So Jeff Purswell was a main speaker. Mike Bullmore was a main speaker. Juan Sanchez, who's not a part of Sovereign Grace, but leads a church in Austin, Texas, he did a great job preaching. Carlos Contreras preached two messages, God bless him, in the same day; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. And then he also asked me to do a main session. And then Mike Bullmore and Juan Sanchez both led breakout sessions that were really, really, really well done. Mike was more about pursuing God through the spiritual disciplines, essentially. And Juan was teaching, his breakout session was more on building a godly home, how a pastor builds a godly home. So all of the preaching that those men did, it was just outstanding. It was very well done. It had application and impact.

There were conversations I was having with pastors as the conference was ending, they're coming up, they're in tears because of how the Lord worked during that conference and how much it impacted their life. And that's the kind of thing you want to see, at least you pray for and you hope for, is that pastors are encouraged, they're built up in Christ, and they're also challenged to grow as men of God. So it was just a wonderful time, and I just walked away thinking, boy, the influence that this conference has and the influence that the men leading in Mexico have, it's really palpable. And really, I think "nation transforming" is, I think, the word I'm looking for, the phrase I'm looking for.

And so I just thank God for not only Carlos, but all of those men that are leading in Mexico; Abelardo Munoz and Hellman Avila and Jaime Chow and Manolo Quintal, Cuautemoc is there on the team, just helping administratively as well. Those men are gifts to our family of churches. And so this is a nation, not just on paper. This is a nation that's having influence and impact within Mexico. And I just wanted everybody to hear about it and continue to pray for our friends in Mexico.

Benjamin Kreps:

Yes, excellent. So grateful for Carlos and his guys and for that church. What a compelling example, 160 church members serving men and women they don't even know, probably most of them that aren't in Sovereign Grace, but as we see so often in Sovereign Grace churches; eager, cheerful, joyful servants. And so that's impressive. So well done. So thanks, Mark for the updates. Thank you all for checking out the podcast. We'll see you here next week. Lord willing. Bye for now.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Benjamin Kreps:

Hey everyone and welcome to the Mark Prater podcast where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Graces Churches with our executive director. Mark, the WorshipGod conference that happens every two years led by Bob Kauflin concluded at the end of last week. I was there, had a wonderful time. But a question to get your thoughts on is, why do we have a WorshipGod conference every two years?

Mark Prater:

Yeah, it's a great question. In fact, I'll say this again, but let me echo what you just said. Bob is a gift to our family of churches. Bob Kauflin has been serving us for decades, I'll say it that way. And he has served us so well and led Sovereign Grace Music so well. He is a unique gift to our family of churches and he really does put a lot of time and effort and leadership into planning our WorshipGod conferences every two years. But the question is why WorshipGod? I think it's good to start with that because we've got to understand that this is not just a standalone conference. It's a conference that connects churches, and our churches in particular, because Sovereign Grace Music pulls off this conference every couple of years, and of course they're connected with Sovereign Grace Churches.

And so here's why we do it. First of all, it serves churches to honor and apply God's word. And what I mean by that is that our Bibles are filled with songs. God wants us to sing, and the content of the songs that we sing is important to him. You see that in scripture, and the way we sing and the way we conduct our worship is important to him in scripture as well. You see that in scripture. And so the Lord talks about that. God talks about that as he inspired the writing of the word of God. And that's really important because that's what we do every Sunday when we gather. We're essentially honoring God's word in a way that he wants from us by singing and conducting our services in a way that pleases him and that gives him great glory and it brings us real joy. So that's one reason, and I'm just giving a couple, there are several, but I wanted to highlight two by the way.

The other one is, I would just say zeal. And what I mean about that is our zeal for Christ. And again, it's one way. It's another way that we can continue to stir zeal for Christ, not only now, but in future generations in Sovereign Grace. I mean, one of the things about going to a WorshipGod conference is that you see different generations that are there. And that's really important to us as a family of churches; continuing to have zeal for Christ, not just collectively as a denomination, but each and every local church and each and every member in our local churches has zeal for Christ.

And so what I'm trying to say is that, again, this is not a standalone conference. The WorshipGod conference is very connected to our ecclesiology, very connected to who we are and what we do as local churches. And again, I thank God for Bob. I thank God for his music team that helps pull this off; David and Devon, Fabrizio, Grace and Becca. I'm sure they're tired after the conference, but filled with joy because of the conference as well. So that's why we do it.

Benjamin Kreps:

Well, I love the WorshipGod Conference. That's the first Sovereign Grace event I think I ever attended in 2008, not long after we came to Living Hope. And I have loved that conference ever since. I haven't been able to go except for a few times. But each time I go, I have an incredibly edifying experience. But for those who have not gone to WorshipGod before, what exactly happens at the conference?

Mark Prater:

Yeah, Bob's very thoughtful in what he plans out and very intentional in really executing his plan, leading his plan, if you can say it that way. So there's obviously, there's rich theological teaching because if you're going to honor the word of God every Sunday and how you conduct your worship service, it needs to begin with solid theological preaching. And this year, as I understand, I wasn't there this year, was no exception in terms of the quality of the preaching, which is wonderful.

Obviously there's just passionate singing as well, and that stirs you in a couple of ways. It affects you presently, but you take that home with you. So when members and pastors of our churches and of really other churches that attend, they'll go back home and that'll strengthen their local church. But it's also important because certainly within Sovereign Grace, you realize that we're a family that loves singing to Jesus together. That my church is very similar in that way to another Sovereign Grace Church because you meet people from different churches in Sovereign Grace.

And then there's breakout sessions that really are intended to equip people, members of our churches, who serve frequently almost every Sunday. That can be sound tech people, that can be musicians, vocalists, it can be worship leaders and pastors as they think through planning a service. It's really important. And plus, on top of that, there's usually a breakout session like there was this year on songwriting. And we want to continue to write congregational songs to say it that way, songs that can be sung by local congregations that bring Christ much glory. And so that's not only important now, that's important for the future generations of Sovereign Grace, that we're equipped to continue what really scripture calls us to do. And again, keep in mind that because it serves local churches, at least in churches in Sovereign Grace, then that conference and the equipping you receive there strengthens your church. It's connected to our ecclesiology.

Benjamin Kreps:

Yeah, I had an amazing week there. It's a distinct conference certainly from our pastor's conference because of the diversity of the folks that are coming and attending WorshipGod, many of them, maybe the majority aren't even in Sovereign Grace churches, but they have benefited from Sovereign Grace Music and eagerly attend.

I know I was telling you before we started recording that some folks when they go to a conference like WorshipGod, they have this incredible spiritual high, this wonderful mountaintop experience and then feel a sense of loss just going back home to ordinary life. And I informed my church coming back from WorshipGod, that I'm unfamiliar with that feeling. What happened over the course of several days at WorshipGod, is I found myself, I could not wait to be gathering with my church on Sunday. And so far from it being this experienced divorced from local church, it actually informs an eagerness to gather with the local church.

And the theme was Union with Christ. So I commend the resources, when they are live, whenever that happens, to listen to those. But it was really a focus on how our union in Christ informs our personal lives of communion with God, but also our corporate gatherings together. And so the teaching covered a whole gamut regarding that aspect, that important, wonderful, glorious reality of our union with Christ.

And the breakout sessions, were just an amazing mix of spiritual and edification, but also practical application. And even a breakout just for sound guys, like you said, our sound guy, Darryl Wenger, who's been doing sound for 40 years at Living Hope, someone came to me and was like, Darryl was amazing. He did a breakout on sound production using all kinds of terminology that I don't understand, but there was a packed room full of guys eager for that kind of instruction as well. So it is wonderful to see just how thoughtful and thorough Bob and the team is with their planning.

Before we go though, in connection to the local church, the reality that this conference is connected to our ecclesiology, you wanted to give a shout out to a Sovereign Grace Church that helped with the conference.

Mark Prater:

I do. I thank God for this church. I've already mentioned we thank God for Bob Kauflin and his team and I mentioned them by name. They are all gifts to our family of churches. But the conference was held in Louisville, and I want to commend the members of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. After the conference. Jon Payne, who was at the conference with his son actually, and Jared Mellinger, who was one of the main session speakers, they sent emails to the leadership team and they were just going on and on about how good the conference was. And Jared said this, Jared said, one thing I want to add is just to commend the members of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville who were serving at the conference and just how they served really was excellent and reflected what scripture calls us to do in that regard. And of course, the Sovereign Grace Music staff was there serving and Sovereign Grace staff, some of the Sovereign Grace staff, was there serving as well.

But it was the members of the Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville who wanted to be there to serve others. And that just commends how we build our churches. We want to build churches that build servants, create servants in that way. And so thanks to CJ Mahaney, obviously, who leads that pastoral team, Bob, who's on that team, Jeff Purswell, Brian Chesemore, Steve Whitacre, Gary Ricucci, Tyson Ziegler, and Chad as well. So you men have done a great job building your church and because of that, we've been strengthened, not just by your example, but by those who attended the conference last week. We've just benefited from your service. And again, it's another way to illustrate how a conference is connected to our ecclesiology.

Benjamin Kreps:

Excellent. Not surprising, but it is wonderful to hear about a Sovereign Grace church embodying the shaping virtue of servanthood that we hold dear and that we see present throughout Sovereign Grace churches. So thanks SGC Louisville for serving us by serving at the conference.

Thank you, Mark, for your thoughts and for everyone checking out the podcast. We'll see you here possibly not next week, we'll see, but soon. Lord willing. So bye for now.

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.

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 to our executive director. Mark, I know a memory that I, along with many others, recall with great joy and gratitude; last year at the Council of Elders. Before the Pastors Conference, we voted to make Mexico an ecclesiastical nation. That was a sweet moment of celebration as those men, those Mexican pastors, went up on the stage and it was officially announced that they were their own ecclesiastical nation. Well, those guys, as they have been for many years, are hard at work. There's continuing significant activity in Mexico, and you want to tell us about a couple events that are coming up?

Mark Prater:

I do. I remember that vote last November at the Council of Elders meeting, a unanimous vote. An enthusiastic vote, as you said, Ben. A very sweet moment in our short history as a denomination. I would say a historic moment for us as well, because since our polity was ratified, book of church order ratified in April of 2013, we have now our second ecclesiastical nation, obviously here in the States and now Mexico. And that vote reflected the labors of Carlos Contreras, who's been leading in Mexico well over 30 years, and he has been a faithful pastor and faithful leader in building that nation, and he's not done it by himself. Since that vote in November, they formed really a leadership group there in Mexico that is Carlos Contreras, Hellman Avila, who's in El Paso, Jaime Chow is in El Paso, Abelardo Munoz, who is in Juarez, Cuautemoc, who is in Juarez, the administrator there and helping administratively, and then Manolo Quintal, who's down in Silao. So that's the men who help lead.

And these are rough numbers, but as I recall in my old man memory, we have eight partner churches in Mexico and then eight to ten more that are pursuing adoption. Those men, I think about 30 men, Rich told me, are in the ordination process in Mexico right now. So to accommodate just the God-given expansion in Mexico, they're forming two regions, one, more in the south, one in the north. And it's just wonderful to see the labors of faithful pastors and leaders like Carlos over 30 plus years, maybe close to 40 now, bearing a lot of good fruit. And because of that, they've had to just find ways to serve pastors and wives. And for several years now, they've had a conference called the Fieles Conference, and that's coming up in August. I want to speak about that in just a moment and explain why that's important.

I mention the Fieles conference, that will be August 7th through 9 at Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Juarez, Mexico, the church where Carlos leads, becuause at that church right before that conference starts, they are going to have a National Assembly of Elders meeting, which is glorious to think about. That is much like the Council of Elders meeting we had last November and have had for what, over a decade now. So to see those men draw together and make decisions regarding governance decisions regarding polity is just very, very sweet. They're functioning as an ecclesiastical nation, and that's important because it helps us to build strong churches and healthy churches, but it helps us to plant churches as well.

So I wanted to mention the National Assembly of Elders meeting because if you listen to this podcast or you're a reader of this podcast, please pray for that. Please pray for Carlos as he leads to that National Assembly of Elders meeting that'll happen right before the Fieles Conference on August 7th in Juarez, Mexico.

Benjamin Kreps:

Excellent. I've had the honor of spending time with some of those guys down in Mexico and in Mexico a little bit, and it is always humbling to interact with these pastors. I mean, their example is compelling. These are gifted and godly men. Just hearing Carlos talk about how that church began as a small group of believers that met in a park leading up to where things have grown, to God be the glory, and we are certainly grateful for the grace in Carlos's life. So the Fieles Conference is coming up. You've talked about it before, but people checking on the podcast, don't necessarily know what it is and actually how strategic this conference really is in Mexico.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, this is one of the most strategic conferences we do in Sovereign Grace every year. Of course, we have our pastors and wives conference in November here in the States, but this conference is just as strategic, especially outside of the states. I mean this conference, which we'll be in Juarez, as you mentioned, it serves primarily pastors and wives in Mexico. But there are several pastors and wives that travel from different Latin American nations to attend this conference because it is a conference that is not only gospel centered, it is a conference where Carlos's leadership is very intentional to equip and care for and invest into pastors and their wives so that they leave not only equipped for what they've been called to do, they leave very encouraged and cared for, and the conference because of that, the conference has just grown. Last year they sold out.

My guess is they'll sell out again this year in terms of just not having any more space. Last year the theme was something like the pastor and his family, and the fruit that came back, the feedback from that, was just excellent. This year, the conference theme is a pastor's call to live a life of piety or to live a life of godliness, which obviously scripture calls all believers to, but the pastoral epistles call pastors to, because we lead by example in how we live godly lives and lead godly families. And so I think it's a very timely topic that will serve pastors and wives attending this conference from Mexico and Latin America.

I want to give you a little bit of a rundown of who's speaking there and topics so that you could pray for this conference. Jeff Purswell is speaking, Mike Bullmore, a wonderful friend of Sovereign Grace, will be speaking and Juan Sanchez, who leads a Baptist church here in the States in Texas, also a wonderful friend of Sovereign Grace. Carlos Contreras is doing a main session, and Carlos asked me to do a main session, so I was humbled by that and grateful to do it.

So, Jeff is going to open the conference just talking about living a life worthy of the gospel. In Carlos's leadership and planning, he wants to begin there. He wants to begin with the gospel of Jesus Christ and living a life worthy of that. Mike Bullmore is going to speak on a pastor's character, which I can't wait to hear that message. Carlos is going to speak on abiding in Christ from John 15. Juan Sanchez is going to speak on the topic of the spirit in the mortification of sin. A wonderful topic, and I'm so glad there's an element of the spirit's work built into the conference. Carlos is then going to speak on persevering in holiness, so it's not just a one-time event; we all, for the rest of our lives, are being sanctified. And by the grace of God, we are growing in Christ's likeness, in holiness.

He's asked me to do a sermon on the praying pastor, and if you study Paul's prayers, they're recorded in his epistles, one of the things he consistently prays for is for the godliness of his people. And so that's one of the ways that we care for them. And then Jeff's going to end with a pastor's zeal because it would not be a good example for a pastor to have zeal and no godliness, but it doesn't serve the church if a pastor has godliness and no zeal. I think those two are not separated. They actually go together. The more you grow in godliness, the more you grow in zeal for God. So great topic. And then Juan Sanchez is doing a breakout session on pursuing a godly home, which will help pastors and wives. So that's who's speaking.

That's a bit of the lineup, and I wanted to mention the specifics to you and the dates to you; August 7th through 9th in Juarez so that you could please pray for this conference, pray for Carlos as he leads this conference, and pray for the speakers, and then especially pray for all the pastors and wives gathering there. My heart, as I pray for the conference, is I can't wait to meet them and interact with them because these are pastors and wives who are serving faithfully, many of them in Sovereign Grace churches. And I desire, my prayer is that God would meet with them, speak to them, encourage them, and build them up in Christ. But we need God's help to do that. So please pray.

Benjamin Kreps:

Excellent. Yes, thank you. Thank you for the update. In hanging out with Carlos a couple years ago, at Gracia Soberana, he just spent unhurried time talking about this conference and described the stirring way in which the whole church is involved. The whole of Gracia Soberana; feeding people, putting people up, giving them places to stay, cleaning, supporting. I mean, this is a church that is zealous to see the gospel deposited in pastors throughout Mexico. And they're going to guys that are isolated out in the mountains who don't have partnership, who maybe are a little off theologically, to draw them in and begin teaching, instructing, building fellowship and friendship. This is a very important conference in Mexico. So grateful for Carlos and all that serve alongside him in this. So let's be praying.

Thanks, Mark, for the update. Thank you all for checking out the podcast. We'll see you here next week. Lord willing. Bye for now.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Benjamin Kreps:

Hey everyone. Welcome to the Mark Prater podcast where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace Churches with our executive director. Mark, before we started recording the podcast, you were talking about how at the recent leadership team retreat you had a discussion about church planting and why we plant churches. We definitely don't plant churches to merely spread the Sovereign Grace Church brand or anything like that. We actually have biblical convictions about church planting. You guys were talking about that. Talk to us about your discussion.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, it was a wonderful discussion that actually Jon Payne led us through, did a great job of leading us through the discussion that he had put together, just a document, really a conversation piece, about our church planting assumptions in Sovereign Grace. And the reason he did that is because he's had this conversation with the Church Planting Group. They are not this independent isolated committee or group in our family of churches. They're actually an extension of the leadership team. So we want to make sure that we're all on the same page, the leadership team and Church Planting Group when it comes to how we think about church planting and why we plant churches in Sovereign Grace. And so I know Mike Seaver has seen this. Joel Shorey, our new director of church planting has seen this. And then Jon brought this draft working document that I'm just going to mention here in just a moment. He gave 'em some input and they'll talk about it again at the Church Planting Group retreat in August. But I thought they were really, really helpful.

I will say before I give these 12 assumptions, that we're thinking of the United States in using these; there are certainly assumptions that apply in other nations, but not all of them will, and would encourage guys that are planting churches outside of the United States, and Dave Taylor will help guys think this, about how can they take these assumptions and have them for their own nation. So just some introductory comments before I walk you through these 12 assumptions that we discussed.

Benjamin Kreps:

That's excellent. Glad that you guys, you're not just kicking around thoughts, you're actually wisely highlighting things that are helpful to the pastors and members of Sovereign Grace churches. When we think about church planting and people talk about church planting all the time, so of course there are assumptions connected with that conversation. So what are some assumptions about church planting that you would like us to be aware of?

Mark Prater:

Right? As I mentioned we have in the working document anyway, 12 assumptions. Those might change. We might reduce that number, but I thought they're all good. So it was worth dedicating a podcast to it. Assumption number 1: we want to plant churches, and here's the reason why. We as a family of churches, we desire to reflect the New Testament model of advancing the gospel by sacrificing for the mission and sending people to plant new churches to reach people that haven't heard Christ or reach an area that may not have a solid gospel preaching church. So that's a biblical conviction. That's a New Testament model that we are wanting to reflect in Sovereign Grace.

Assumption number 2: we want to plant for endurance. So we want to plant churches that will be faithful to God's word, faithful to our theological convictions and endure over time. So what that means is we're not as interested in numbers and we're not going to have these goals for numbers, but what we're interested in is planting solid churches that will be faithful and endure over time.

Assumption number 3: we plant with Sovereign Grace pastors. And what that means is we plant with men who are ordained in Sovereign Grace, who share our theological convictions, our seven shared values and our seven shaping virtues and where possible they also have some degree of pastoral experience. Now that may change based on the planter and how much experience he either has or needs, but we're just learning that guys who've got some degree of pastoral experience plant more solid churches because they've learned about pastoral ministry and that helps them plant well. Basically, Eric Turbedsky, when he was our director of church planting just unashamedly said appropriately, we plant Sovereign Grace churches a Sovereign Grace way. And that's kind of a little bit of what he was getting at in that phrase, right?

Assumption number 4: we value team ministry. That's not new to the pastors and even members of our churches that are listening to this, but where possible we'd love to send a plurality of elders more than just a solo elder. Now that's not always possible, but where we can, we want to do that. Or if we can't send a man already ordained, we'd love to send somebody who certainly is called and potentially on that ordination track because it will strengthen the church plant because pastoral teams are a reflection of the church. And so that'll be a stronger church.

Assumption number 5: we plant with denominational financial support. So in other words, we together as a family of churches, we are committed to replicating this New Testament model of planting churches so much. So we want to give our financial resources; those coming from our national resources, Sovereign Grace Central, those coming from our region. It's just one way to invest into the gospel and that allows a man to really devote his time to planting the church and not needing to find ways to earn other income.

Assumption number 6, which is really the next logical one: we plant with vocational pastors. Now this is one that may not work outside the United States because of the economy in certain nations, guys may need to be bi-vocational. But here in the states, our assumption is we want to plant with vocational pastors again because they can focus on the work of planting and not have to worry about how they're going to support their families.

Assumption number 7: we prioritize preaching, which is again not new in Sovereign Grace. CJ has led us down that road so well. You lead your church from the pulpit and you build your church on God's word Sunday after Sunday in solid expository preaching. And that's going to build churches that endure and that's going to build strong gospel centered churches.

Assumption number 8: we value denominational preparation and ongoing care. It's why we have a Church Planting Group. Those guys exist to help you, a planter, prepare, assess, and prepare. It's one of the roles that our regional leaders play in providing care for the planters. So our denominational structures that we have in place are in part there to foster and strengthen our church planting efforts.

Assumption number 9: we prioritize cooperative efforts. So we just believe that we're going to be able to do more together as a family of churches. And so the sharing of resources and the sharing of prayer, meaning we pray for one another as we plant churches is really important. And when I talk about sharing resources, I'm not just talking about financial resources, I'm talking about people. First of all, people that may be in one church that can join another church's church planting team because they have a desire to be a part of a church plant or the sharing of pastors. You may have a location to plant but not a pastor. And so a church in Sovereign Grace sacrificially gives that pastor to that other church so he can plant a church and the gospel can be advanced. Those are huge sacrifices, but they reflect the resources that we share.

Assumption number 10 is we prioritize pastoral ministry. Planters are pastors. That's something that I think Eric said. It's something that Jon has emphasized. Pastors are planters we want to plant with. Men are shepherds who will shepherd the flock of God that they begin to gather as the church plant forms.

Assumption number 11, we prioritize godly character. In other words, we want to send planters who are proven in godly character, tested in godly character and we can affirm their godly character. I think that's one of the roles of our, not only of our local churches, but our regional church planting committees, as well.

And then assumption number 12, we take faith-filled risks on the right things. So I want to continue to call us to take faith-filled risks, but we've got to take risks on the right things. I won't spend a lot of time on that because I dedicated a podcast to that topic just a few weeks ago. So if you haven't heard that, listen to it. But for example, we don't want to take risks on godly character, but we do want to take risks in sending our best to further the mission of the gospel as we plant churches.

So those are the assumptions, at least right now, those may change, but I thought it'd be a good time just to introduce them to our pastors and members of our churches and as we work on this, pray that God gives us wisdom, and pray that God would give us resources, men called to plant, people wanting to be on church plant teams, and financial resources to plant churches.

Benjamin Kreps:

That's very good. And I was struck again by a couple of those assumptions that are helpful to perhaps a church that wants to be involved in church planting but doesn't see the way forward but can help financially, help with people, help with resources. The sharing together, this cooperation in Sovereign Grace, is a central piece to how we plant. And so grateful for the Church Planting Group. I know when we planted last year, Redeeming Grace Church in Mechanicsburg, they served us so well. So helpful. So I've said this before, but if anyone's just thinking, I don't even know what it looks like to get involved in planting or the way forward, the Church Planting Group will help you. They will lead you through the whole process and we were helped so much by them.

So thank you, Mark, and the leadership team, and the way that you interact with the Church Planting Group and such thoughtful ways to serve us and may God give us the privilege of planting many more churches in the days ahead. So thank you, Mark, for the update. Thank you all for checking out the podcast. We'll see you here next week. Lord willing. Bye for now.

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, before we started recording the podcast, you were talking about how you've been reflecting recently on Luke chapter nine, and it has been stirring your heart and your mind to think about the area of evangelism and you wanted to talk to us about evangelism. So go ahead and do that.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, thank you, Ben. I have been studying Luke nine and the first 17 verses in particular, but the chapter starts in verse one with Jesus giving his power and authority to the apostles, to the 12. And then it says in verse six, he sends them to preach the gospel and to heal. And so that's the first missionary journey that's recorded there in the gospel of Luke where the 12 are sent. And that's exactly what they do. They heal, they pray for healing and they share the gospel. And so the kingdom of God has come in the person of Christ and the good news of the gospel is going forward. And that is not just an historic event, that's an event for us as well because we have Christ's power. In fact, he said as much right before his ascension in Acts 1:8 where he says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

And of course he's pointing to Pentecost when the spirit falls or fills those in the upper room. And what happens right away is Peter goes out and preaches the gospel and it's recorded that 3000 people came to Christ on that day, a wonderful demonstration of the power of God through the work of the Spirit in our lives. And that's what we have. We have the power of the Spirit. We can pray for people to be healed and we can share the gospel as led by and empowered by the Holy Spirit. And so it's just a good reminder for all of us that we are on a mission, always on a mission and to kind of keep our eyes open for opportunities and pray for opportunities to reach the lost and share the gospel with those who don't know Christ.

Benjamin Kreps:

Amen. It would be a tragedy for those of us who have come to trust and follow Christ and now having been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit for this task to neglect this wonderful privilege of sharing the gospel. And in fact, there are many people doing just that in Sovereign Grace. And you have a couple of stories about some Sovereign Grace folks who are engaged in outreach and evangelism and want to encourage us to follow their example.

Mark Prater:

Yeah. The first story is a text I got in the last week from Philip Estrada. Philip planted and is the senior pastor of Mission City Fellowship in San Antonio, Texas. And Philip does a great job of reaching out to the lost with the gospel. And he actually sent me a picture of a wedding he was doing in San Antonio, I think last weekend. And he said it was 107 degrees, but I made it through an outdoor wedding that was really hot. But the reason, one of the reasons he sent me the picture is because he was saying that man there in the black jacket, he has been coming to our church, we've been reaching out to him, he's a Muslim, and we've been having conversations about Jesus. And he said, now he just had a recent conversation with him where he's saying, I'm struggling with Jesus, coming to Jesus, because of my family. He said, you have to understand people like me, we get killed for trusting in Christ. And so Philip is continuing to just love this man and share the gospel with this man. But it's a wonderful illustration, not only of why we plant churches, we plant churches to reach Muslims like that man, but it's a wonderful illustration of Philip, one of our pastors, just continuing to reach out with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The other story is from my church, Covenant Fellowship Church. It's about Sheila George who is in her mid seventies, and she is on fire for Christ. She and her husband Tom are just wonderful believers, been in the church for a number of years, but she and Tom open their home up to unbelievers regularly. They excel at hospitality and they had a person, new neighbor, move in next door a couple of summers ago, and her name is Helen.

And they invited her over for dinner and for lunch and for tea, and they got to know her. And then just last Christmas, her son came running over. Helen's son came running over to Sheila's house and said, my mom was up in the attic and she fell through the ceiling. And she's on the floor and she's injured. Can you come help? And so of course they called an ambulance, but Sheila went there, held Helen and prayed for her. Now, Helen's not a Christian, and Helen said to her after she prayed, I felt comforted and I felt peace after you prayed for me. And so they continued their conversation about the Lord. Sheila invited Helen to our Bridge course and through our Bridge course, Helen was born again and she is now a faithful Christian because of a mid 70-year-old woman's heart for Christ and her heart for reaching the lost with the gospel. It's just a wonderful illustration.

We all have these opportunities to invite people into our homes and get to know them and befriend them and share Jesus with them. So just a couple of stories to encourage us and maybe deepen our faith for all of us, members and pastors of Sovereign Grace churches to do the same.

Benjamin Kreps:

Wonderful, thanks for sharing those stories. Grateful for Philip's example. To the pastors who are checking out the podcast, it takes intentionality and thoughtfulness. So often pastors can be consumed with the many responsibilities within the church. And so Philip reminds us, his example reminds us, as pastors, to think how we can be engaged in reaching the lost. And I just love Sheila's example because we can all invite our neighbors over. That is a low hanging fruit, and through that simple act of hospitality and faithful sharing of Christ, people are going to come to know Jesus. So thanks for sharing those stories and encouraging us in this important area of evangelism and outreach. And thank you all for checking out the podcast. We'll see you here next week. Lord willing. Bye for now.