There is a brand new ‘SGC Missions’ website that seeks to give greater clarity about what the Lord is doing through us around the world and ways you can be involved. Head to https://www.sgcmissions.org/ to find out more!
Are you looking for…
Training in how to be a faithful pastor or church planter?
A program that is relational and transformational?
A context to learn whilst being in a healthy local church?
Finding your God-given calling?
Then our new Pastors + Planters Academy could be the next best step for you, it will be launching in March 2022 and so stay tuned for more details which are coming soon.
The annual Sovereign Grace Churches Pastors and Wives Conference was recently held in Orlando Florida. The theme of the conference was: ‘Christ Preeminent’. Although our team from Australia was unable to be there in person, we participated in much of the sessions online and were greatly encouraged.
I commend you to take time to listen to all of the sermons which can be accessed here in video or audio format: https://www.sovereigngrace.com/pastors-conference-2021
The opening sermon by Jeff Purswell, the Dean of the Pastors College, was an incredibly powerful message from Colossians 1:15-20 on the supremacy of Christ and how that fuels our labours as leaders!
Col. 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Colossians 1:15-20
We are pleased to announce that second season of the ‘Grace and the Adventure of Leadership Podcast’ has begun! In this season Dave and Riley will be looking at what it means to have a “Gospel-Centered Church”. Tune in fortnightly to get the latest episodes.
We have been encouraged by all the positive feedback we’ve had from leaders all over the world who are listening in and using it to train younger leaders! May God use this to strengthen His Church!
We have a very exciting announcement to make in the next number of weeks about a brand new training initiative that we are launching! This is very exciting and we hope that God uses this initiative to raise up and send out many many pastors and leaders for His glory!
If you are very intrigued and want a sneak peak, email Riley Spring, the Director of Church Development at rs@sovgrace.org.au to get the inside scoop.
Matthew 28.18-20, ‘And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
The great commission that we have been given as Christians is far bigger than we could have ever asked or imagined... But how wonderful, comforting and inspiring it is to know that the One who has called us, is always with us, even to the end of the age. What a mission changing reality!!
With that in mind, here are a few ways that you can be praying for our wider mission in the month ahead…
Please pray for our Pastors College in Ethiopia (Trinity College) as the students begin their studies in the brand new college. There will be 13 students attending the inaugural PC this year, from 6 different countries: Somaliland, Somalia, Kenya, Rwanda, the USA, and of course Ethiopia. Please pray for Josh Pannell, Dean of the Ethiopian Pastors College and everyone involved in this years Pastors College.
Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Nepal as they continue to deal with a new surge of Covid-19 cases. Church buildings have been closed for gathering for almost one and half years now, and yet incredibly, the Church itself continues to grow. The Nepali Christians are continually committed to serving the poor and suffering in the name of Christ, and so may we be praying for them in this. May this be their finest hour and may His grace abound to them in these times.
Please pray for Songhwan Kang and his church, Lord’s Grace Church in Seoul, South Korea. They have recently moved to a new location as a church and are keen to reach out to their new community. Please pray that God would give their members courage and grace to boldly preach the gospel in this new area, as well as reach into the next generation. Please also pray that God would help them identify and train some church planters who can plant new SG Churches in South Korea in the next 3-5 years, a happy hope and prayer that they continue to carry as church.
Please pray for our newly formed ‘Reaching The Unreached Work Group’, which I (Dave Taylor) have pulled together to help myself and the Leadership Team map a way forward for growth, in reaching the unreached in our world. Please pray for great wisdom, faith and insight for us all: Dave Taylor (Lead Pastor, Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney & Director of Emerging Nations), Brendan Willis (Pastor, Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney), Pat Tedeschi (Pastor, Greentree, NJ), Tim Kerr (Pastor, Sovereign Grace Church, Toronto), Ken Delage (Pastor, Mercy Hill Community Church, VA) and Leo Parris (Pastor, Covenant Fellowship Church, PA).
… May the One who has commissioned us, also give us faith and favour for the road ahead.
An update from Riley Spring, Lead Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta, Sydney, Australia…
Two years!
It’s been two years since we woke up on a sunny Sunday morning in September, with no idea what it would all look like. We had no idea who would come, who would stay, and how it would all look.
In these two years we’ve “gathered” 100 times on a Sunday to know, apply, and proclaim the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ in Parramatta. We’ve sought to be faithful in loving God, loving each other, and taking the gospel to our friends, families, and neighbours. Although it certainly hasn’t all looked the way we’d hoped, for example spending nearly a quarter of the life of our church in lockdown (gathering only on zoom), it has always been a joy-filled journey.
One of the great joys I have as a pastor is seeing God at work in the lives of our church in many and varied ways. Whether it is the couple battling significant health challenges who continue to fight for joy and serve with all they have or the women facing singleness and infertility who have found contentment in Christ alone amidst the heartache. There’s been countless stories of men and women, husbands and wives, and children giving their all to serve their local church. Late nights making food and decorations for our various outreach events, turning up early and staying late for every service and event, stepping out to serve in new and uncomfortable ways as Life Group leaders or in our Kids ministry, or staying behind to release others to serve in their areas of gifting.
Even in our recent lockdown, we have seen the Lord at work in unexpected ways. We decided to step out in faith to start an online ‘Alpha Course’ so that we could still seek to reach out to the lost even though we can’t physically be with them. The response of our church has been so encouraging. There have been so many stories of gutsy, faith-filled, saints stepping out to invite a friend, colleague, or family member to come along, and then somewhat unexpectedly (due to our small faith!) there have been so many more “Yes” responses than we anticipated or planned for! So now we enter our third year as a church with 20 or so new friends who are investigating Jesus with us!
In these two years, we have steadily grown from our Launch team to twice our starting size, with each new member bringing their gifts, experience, and love of the Lord to make our fellowship all the richer! And we hope that through this Alpha course and many more opportunities, we will see our numbers swell with new believers who have tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord for the first time!
In all this time, we have certainly not done it alone. We have maintained and enjoyed a very rich, personal, and joyful partnership with our sending church, Sovereign Grace Church Sydney. Their Pastoral and practical support has been invaluable! They have cared for myself, my family, and our leadership team in so many ways, demonstrating what true gospel partnership looks like.
It is our belief that we are only just getting started! C.J. once said to us at the PC that it takes 30 years to build a healthy church and that counsel has stayed with me. In an instantaneous age with the expectation of pop-up success, our hope is to lay a firm foundation, and build well for the long haul. I hope to see the Lord raise up Pastors to share the burden with me, future church planters that we can send out, more and more leaders to serve in various and sacrificial ways, and even to be a part of sending out men, women, and families to serve other SG Churches globally! Our hope is to be part of pioneering SG Churches Australia and do our bit in our city and country to magnify the name of Christ for His Glory Alone!
Please, please, please pray for us. We know that we cannot do this alone and that we cannot do it without the power of God. And so, please pray for our health, our strength, our joy, and our protection from the evil one.
In the first season of the ‘Grace and the Adventure of Leadership Podcast’ Dave Taylor and Riley Spring discussed seven traits of a gospel centered leader. They wanted to focus their time and attention on character before getting into any strategies or pragmatics.
We’ve seen that when we are fueled and formed by the glorious realities of the gospel we will become more and more: humble, godly, joyful, interdependent, generous, serving, and encouraging. Who doesn’t want to be led by someone like that?
We’ve had great feedback from leaders all around the world as to how this content has encouraged them. If you’d like to pass on how this has blessed you or if you’ve got any questions or comments please review our podcast or send an email to rs@sovgrace.org.au.
How can you best utilize this podcast? I recommend listening to it with a bible and pen in hand, taking note of the Scriptures and reflecting upon them. Perhaps, you can listen to it with a friend or with someone you’re mentoring.
Season 2 is already being recorded and in this season we are going to look practically at what it looks like to have a gospel centered church!
We’re now 5 sessions into our 12 month long ‘Leadership Bootcamp’ and what a great start it’s been. The bootcamp itself is designed to help folk who have an interest in leadership, to understand what it means to lead in a way that is biblical, fuelled and formed by the realities of the glorious gospel of Christ, and therefore be better equipped to be used by God in whatever sphere he calls them to: home, church, work, sport, neighbourhood, etc.
We have 15 folk in this cohort, 12 from Sovereign Grace Churches and 3 from outside of ourselves. Riley Spring, our Director of Church Development, recently caught up with a couple of them to see how they’re finding it…
Andrew Whitehouse
“I've really enjoyed and benefited from being involved in Sovereign Grace's Leadership Bootcamp this year. The first thing I noticed was the emphasis Sovereign Grace places on the character of leaders rather than their ability, or gifting. I'm grateful to know this is important for our church and look forward to growing in my own character, knowing of course that Christ is at work in me.
I also treasure the opportunity to gather and learn with a group of brothers and sisters in Christ. We have different backgrounds, from different generations and cultures, yet we are one in Him. Seeing how Jesus has brought us together and having the opportunity then to learn from one another really encourages me to push on with, and into, my journey with Jesus. (Which really, I see as our journey because of the unity we share in Him)”
Baree Tripodi
“In the first month, we went through a book called Humility - True Greatness by CJ Mahaney and discussed the topic of humility. I think I have always thought of myself as a humble person in that I don’t outwardly brag about my successes, if people compliment me I usually thank them and divert the conversation to something or someone else so as to not look proud. This is why this topic stood out to me so much, because I quickly realised I wasn’t humble much at all. Through reading the book and discussing true humility with the leadership bootcamp group, I quickly realised although I wasn’t outwardly “arrogant”, a lot of my lack of humility was concealed within me and my own mind.
Mahaney defined humility as “honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness”. I was quickly rebuked by this as God revealed to me many ways which I responded to my lack of holiness or sinfulness. In moments of sinfulness, I was (and still am, it’s something I will continually need work and prayer on) quick to put up a defensive barrier and blame other things, people or situations for the reason why I was acting in a certain way. I have always struggled to apologise, through my own stubbornness, and through reflecting on this topic of holiness, it taught me both the great importance of this new definition of holiness (new to me anyway), and the sense of peace that the only judgement or comparison we should be making is between ourselves and God’s holiness.
Although I don’t hold any worldly leadership positions in my life, reflecting on humility within my role as a Christian leader to my non-Christian work colleagues and friends, has highlighted and reminded me of the importance of being a light when interacting with them. For example, in moments when I am caught in a conversation of people gossiping or speaking poorly of another person, I am quicker to question whether my engagement in this conversation is in line with God’s holiness. This reflection then helps me to either refrain from engaging or speak up against the sinful conversation. Through true humility as defined by Mahaney, I can more accurately reflect on my actions in light of God’s holiness, and strive harder and more successfully in becoming more and more like Him.”
So far, so good… But please keep praying for everyone involved in this bootcamp. May His grace be with us, and may the fruit bring much praise to His name.
We are excited to share the second edition of the Sovereign Grace Journal. It’s written by Sovereign Grace pastors for the pastors and members of Sovereign Grace Churches. We hope you will enjoy reading it. You can download the entire PDF or simply read it article by article.
Head to: https://www.sovereigngrace.com/journal
One article I’d love to draw your attention to is: Gospel Centeredness Is Never Bland by Jared Mellinger. This article helps to guard us against turning ‘gospel-centered’ into merely a slogan rather than a glorious reality!
From Mark Prater. He is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church.
One of the ways that we love, care for, and serve one another as a family of churches is to pray regularly for one another. In his book, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and his Prayers, D.A. Carson says that Paul’s ministry is “designed first and foremost to serve the people of God; and to this he is passionately committed. And that passion shapes the prayers he utters on their behalf.” In like manner, may our passion to serve one another in Sovereign Grace shape the prayers we make for one another. Thanks for praying.
Third Quarter 2021 Prayer Requests
Pray that God would give the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace churches opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers in our communities and workplaces.
Pray for Christ Church in Conroe, TX, a church that was recently adopted by Sovereign Grace, asking God to provide for them, and give them opportunities to share the gospel in the Conroe area.
Pray for Bob Kauflin as he leads a regional “Life Together Conference” at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, PA September 2-4, 2021. Pray for the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace churches who will attend from the Northeast and Mid- Atlantic regions asking God to strengthen and encourage them.
Pray for our new Pastors College students and their families who will be moving to Louisville, KY before classes start at the end of August, asking God to provide for them and to give them grace to grow over the next year while at the PC.
Pray for Michael Granger and Josh Pannell as they launch the Ethiopia Pastors College at Trinity Fellowship in Addis, Ababa, Ethiopia on September 1, 2021, asking God to give them wisdom, provide for the students, and to equip the students and their families for future ministry responsibilities.
Pray for Songhwan Kang, Sr. Pastor of Lord’s Grace Church in Seoul, South Korea. They recently moved into a new location, so pray that God would give them opportunities to reach their new community with the gospel.
Pray for our churches in Australia who currently can’t meet on Sunday’s because of COVID asking God to grant them perseverance and sustaining grace.
Pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the gospel opportunities He is giving us throughout the world.
In season one of the ‘Grace and the Adventure of Leadership’ Podcast, we’re looking at seven characteristics of a gospel-centered leader. So far we’ve seen that leaders who are fueled and formed by the glorious gospel are humble and godly leaders.
In the past month two more episodes have been released: A Joyful Leader and An Interdependent Leader.
As always, you can head to https://anz.sovereigngrace.com/leadershippodcast to see all the episodes. We hope this resources encourages you and spurs you on!
If you think this would help someone you know, please like it, review it, and send it on!
If you have any questions you’d like answered or you’d like to make contact with SG Aus, please go to our contact page, we’d love to hear from you!
We are very excited about the launch of our new podcast, ‘Grace and the Adventure of Leadership’!
We will be releasing new episodes of Season 1 every two weeks, so please subscribe, review, and share it with your friends!
Season 1: The Gospel Centered Leader
The first season is going to begin where the Bible begins when talking about church leadership, character. We will look at seven key character traits of a gospel centered leader beginning with humility.
Each episode will have a transcription which you can access by going to the podcast page here, check out the Humility episode here
Please let us know what has been helpful or if you have any questions you’d like answered!
Head here to listen to it on your favorite player: https://linktr.ee/sgaus
Happy listening!
Sovereign Grace is a global family of interdependent churches, please see below prayer requests for churches outside of the U.S from Dave Taylor, Director of Emerging Nations.
Charles Spurgeon, in his book “The Power of Prayer in a Believers Life," writes the following,
“Do not bring before God stinted petitions and narrow desires, but remember, as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are His ways above your ways and His thoughts above your thoughts. Ask, therefore, after a Godlike fashion, for great things, for you are before a great throne.”
Friends, in prayer, we go before a “great throne” and get to ask the maker of heaven and earth for “great things”... What a glorious reality that is don’t you think?
Here then are some ways that you can be praying for us in the month ahead…
Please pray for the Pastors of Sovereign Grace Churches around the world, asking God to give them wisdom as they continue to lead their local churches through COVID-19 related decisions, particularly in places like Australia, Nepal, Pakistan & Brazil.
Please pray for Carlos Contreras as he leads the Fieles Pastors Conference in Juarez, Mexico, 7th-9th July. Please pray for all the Pastors & wives that will be attending from all over Latin America. Would this be a wonderful time of envisioning, refreshment and encouragement for everyone involved.
Please pray for Emmanuel Iluzada, Elder at CCSGM, Manila, as he puts together a Sovereign Grace Churches Philippines, Worship Conference, 24th July, for around 100 worship team members from across the Philippines. Please also pray for me (Dave Taylor), as I speak at that event over zoom.
Please pray for Riley Spring (Sovereign Grace Church, Parramatta, Australia) and Myself, as we head to Canberra 21st-22nd July, to meet with a small group of folk who are expressing an interest in Sovereign Grace planting a Church in their city. Please pray for wisdom and faith as we explore this opportunity together.
Please pray for Pastor Jeffrey Jo in Manila, Philippines, and Pastor Cornelio Ebo in Cebu City, Philippines as they take their final Ordination exam this month. May His grace abound.
… May we go to the “great throne” together, for great things He hath done!
From Dave Taylor, Director of Emerging Nations
As a Sovereign Grace Leadership Team, we’ve been working on the ‘Global Partnership Plan’ for about six months. We presently have about 75 Churches outside of the US pursuing adoption into Sovereign Grace Churches. By continent, there are 11 churches in Latin America, 4 in Europe/Belarus, 17 in Africa and 43 in Asia pursuing adoption. Planning for global expansion has been a significant focus of our time.
Mark Prater, our Executive Director, explains the exciting developments on his blog:
Sovereign Grace Churches has Pastor’s College based in Louisville Kentucky which enables churches to send men (young and old) with their families to receive a 10-month training program to help prepare and sharpen them in Pastoral Ministry. You do not need to go to the PC to be a Pastor in Sovereign Grace but it is an amazing program that is incredibly beneficial if possible!
Below is a report from Jeff Purswell, the dean of the Pastor’s College and the Director of Theology from Sovereign Grace.
Earlier this month, the Pastors College held its 22nd annual graduation exercises. It was a great joy to celebrate with these students and their families, who had left the routine and familiar to invest their lives in a rigorous course of study, training, and personal growth—all in order to glorify Christ and serve his church. This year’s class comprised 10 students from six different churches in three states, including one international student. These couples brought with them 14 children—two of which were born just prior to arriving in Louisville. One student—Josh Varnedoe (who arrived with his new bride Melanie three days after their wedding!)—was a 2nd generation PC student; his father Howard, an elder in our Franklin, TN church, graduated from the Pastors College in 2000.
Once again, we marveled in observing the grace of God in the lives of these students and their families. And once again, it was sad to say goodbye to yet another group of folks who had become dearly loved friends. But we do so with great faith, eager to observe all the ways the Lord will use them to proclaim the gospel, to strengthen local churches, and to care for countless others in this nation and beyond.
Congratulations to the 2021 Pastors College graduates!
Please pray for them as they relocate and serve in local Sovereign Grace churches:
Kevin and Beth Busch: serving at Living Hope Church, Middletown, PA
Jake and Ellen Cronin: serving at Cornerstone Church of Knoxville, TN
Edgar and Abby Flores: serving at Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Juarez, MX
Taylor and Elisabeth Hollingsworth: serving at Trinity Grace Church in Athens, TN
Austin and Bekah Jones: serving at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, KY
Nick and Happy Kidwell: serving at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, PA
Andrew and Lauren Maples: serving in a Sovereign Grace Church – location TBA
Ethan and Meagan Montesinos: serving at Redeeming Grace Church, Franklin, TN
Josh and Melanie Varnedoe: serving at Cornerstone Church of Knoxville, TN
Reid Williamson: serving at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, KY
In just over a week Dave and I are heading down to Canberra for an exploratory visit. We are meeting up with some friends of Sovereign Grace Churches who are keen to see a SG church planted in our Nation’s capital.
We will be having dinner with a group of people as well as seeking to meet up with other contacts we have down there.
Please pray for our trip that it would be a joyful and fruitful time, and that we would be able to wisely navigate the next steps.
If you're interested in seeing a Sovereign Grace Church planted in your city, suburb, or rural town, please pray and then contact us and we will see how the Lord leads!
We are very excited to launch a new podcast, ‘Grace and the Adventure of Leadership’! This podcast is designed to help cultivate church leaders who are fueled and formed by the realities of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is so easy to look primarily to the world and not the word for our models, plans, and strategies for leadership. Instead, we believe that the Bible is the best book for understanding how to lead a church and more than that, that at the center of all good leadership is knowing and understanding the gospel!
The title of the podcast comes from a famous sermon by our founder, C.J. Mahaney, which he preached over two decades ago. His sermon can be found here. In it, he looks at how a proper understanding of the grace of God fundamentally changes how you lead your church, taken from 1 Corinthians 1. And we thought it would be a great title to reflect what we are hoping to do.
We want GRACE to be at the centre of the adventure of our leadership.
We want to see new and old leaders refreshed in the gospel and how it ought to impact all of their ministry and life.
We want these episodes to help raise up future church planters, encourage lonely pastors, and train lay leaders.
Our hope is that this is a small way we can help the church in Australia to lead more faithfully and joyfully!
Have a listen to our trailer below!
We are a highly relational denomination with a passion to see planters trained, pastors cared for, and enduring churches built all across Australasia.
We believe that every local church must pursue relationships of interdependence with other local churches and pastors. As we cooperate together, not only do we enjoy the benefits of shared doctrine, standards, and mission. We express our unity and solidarity with the universal church.
Our history as a denomination is marked by God sending us individuals and congregations that have proven to be strategic partners in the gospel. We are eager to explore how you might be an answer to our prayers.
There are three key ways to get connected:
Pastor with us: We are committed to helping men discern their calling by providing assessment, coaching, training, and generous support.
Plant with us: Church planting isn’t for everyone. We are committed to helping men discern their calling by providing assessment, coaching, training, and generous support.
Join with us: Pastoring alone? Our history is full of stories of existing churches joining us in partnership through an experience we call church adoption.
If you are interested at all you will be contacted by Riley Spring, our Director for Church Development, who will help you to make a connection.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16 ESV
Have you heard about the Sound Plus Doctrine podcast yet?
Sound Plus Doctrine, hosted by Bob Kauflin and David Zimmer, is the podcast of Sovereign Grace Music, designed for those who plan, lead, or participate in their church’s Sunday gatherings. Bob has been a pastor for over three decades and leads Sovereign Grace Music. He’s well-known as a worship leader, songwriter, speaker, and author. David, his good friend, is an experienced drummer, vocalist, teacher, and songwriter. Both are now both part of Sovereign Grace Church in Louisville, KY, and they’d love for you to join them each week for an engaging, Christ-centered conversation about music and the church. Click here to listen to Sound Plus Doctrine on your favorite podcast app: https://linktr.ee/soundplusdoctrine
Recently, Mark Prater, Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches, encouraged SG pastors to listen to a two-part episode entitled, “The Pastor-Worship Leader Relationship” to grow in serving their churches more effectively in worship. Mark also gave an update on Sovereign Grace Music in his weekly podcast on April 5, 2021, highlighting an upcoming Spanish album, a Psalms album and two regional conferences that will emphasize the prominence of the Word of God in worship.
“Let me just first of all say, though, Bob is a very unique gift to us. He's very unique in the evangelical world to have the theological mind that he does, the gospel-centeredness that he brings to all of his life including how he leads Sovereign Grace Music, how he has learned and led worship for decades now. And then just his musical ability. That mix is very unique, and God gave Bob Kauflin to us which we thank God for. So, we want to continue to benefit from his training and from his experience.” Mark Prater, Executive Director, Sovereign Grace Churches.
The inaugural episode of the Sound + Doctrine podcast, The History of Sovereign Grace Music, was released on October 6, 2020: