An update by Mark Prater, Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches.

Building relationally has always been a value in Sovereign Grace, and by the grace of God, it's our hope that it always will be. One of the ways that we strengthen the relationships we have among our churches is to pray for one another. It is right that we, as a family of churches, pray for one another, but it is also right that we remember who we pray to. Charles Spurgeon in his book, “The Power of Prayer in a Believer’s Life” writes: “The frail, feeble, undeserving creature is permitted to stand in the august presence of the God of the whole earth, and the Lord regards the poor creature as if there were nothing else for Him to observe, bending His ear, and His heart to listen to that creatures cry. It is essential that we know that we are speaking to God, and that God is hearing us.”

Amazing isn't it? The Lord of the whole earth bends His ear and His heart to listen to the prayers we pray for one another. What a faith-building truth, knowing that we are speaking to God in prayer, and that He is hearing us!

Please consider praying for our family of churches. Thank you!

• Pray that God would draw unbelievers to Sovereign Grace churches as we hold our Christmas related events and services in December.

• Pray that God would give the members of Sovereign Grace churches opportunities to share the gospel with unbelieving family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers over the holiday season.

• Pray for the Sovereign Grace Churches Pastors Conference, November 14-16, 2023, in Orlando, FL asking God to work in a way that our relationships among our churches are strengthened, pastors and wives are equipped for what God has called them to do, and that our family of churches is united in our shared gospel mission all for the glory of God alone.

• Pray for our two church plants in Mexico, one in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and one in Huajuapan Oaxaca asking God to provide for their needs, strengthen their church planting teams, and draw unbelievers to both churches.

• Please pray for Dave Taylor (Director of Global Missions) and Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney as they host 17 pastors from the Philippines for the second half of our SG Pastors Immersion Training, October 14 – November 6. This training will help us to continue putting some key foundations into Sovereign Grace Churches Philippines and bring these pastors together as a foundational leadership cohort. We’re very excited about this step as our two big groups of churches in the Philippines start to come together in partnership in this way, all under the one banner of SGC Philippines.

• Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Pakistan who have been affected by the recent rioting. There were about 20-25 churches that were looted and burned as well as many homes of Christian families. One of those looted and destroyed churches is pastored by a man who is with the group that we have the privilege of partnering with, in Pakistan. So please pray, that God would meet them in this time of great affliction and sorrow.

• Pray that God would bring peace and end the wars in Ukraine and in Israel. Pray that God would turn the tragedies of war into gospel opportunities in both nations. Please continue to pray for the Ark Church, our sister church in Dnipro, Ukraine, asking God to protect them, and to use them to meet practical needs, and to offer gospel hope to people impacted by the conflict in Ukraine.

• 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.

The 7th Issue of the Sovereign Grace Journal has recently been released. The articles, written by pastors from Sovereign Grace Churches around the world, centre around the topic of Church Partnership, which is one of Sovereign Grace Church’s Seven Shared Values.

SG Australia’s National Director, Riley Spring, has contributed to the journal with an article titled: “What Does Partnership Mean for Church Members?”

We encourage you to have a read and pray that this resource is a blessing to you!

Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta has been blessed with another anniversary of God's grace and provision, turning four! A particular highlight of the occasion was the baptism of two new believers, a fitting reminder of His mercy and grace which is so lavishly poured out on all His children. 

An anniversary can provide a timely opportunity to pause and reflect upon the moments that have culminated in reaching a milestone. In the case of Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta, there have been so many gifts of grace. God has so richly provided! He has sustained a church plant through the middle of a pandemic. He has made available for us with at least five different venues for the purpose of corporate worship. He has encouraged a spirit of evangelism, which has borne fruit in the saving of individuals and families through the Spirit. He has grown the children's ministry, with the young hearing about Jesus' love each week. He has matured believers in the faith, spurring them on to delve deeper into understanding and applying the Gospel. He has equipped a music team that leads the congregation in joyful praise for His glory. He has bolstered the preaching of His Word for the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ. He has diffused the aroma of the gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ amongst His sons and daughters. All in all, this is because He will be glorified and He delights to bless that which honours and praises Him.

Bob Kauflin, the Director of Sovereign Grace Music, has written a helpful article at Desiring God on the role the physicality of our worship plays when we gather. Bob helpfully presents to us three reasons why this matters, encouraging us to worship the Lord with all of our being.

“Our bodies are a gift from God that he intends for us to use for his glory, the good of those around us, and our joy. He is worthy of our deepest, strongest, and purest affections — and he intended our bodies to show it.”

To read the full article, click the link below:

The Physicality of Faithful Worship by Bob Kauflin

I'm very excited to share this mission video with you because it highlights just a bit of the good gospel work being done in the Asia-Pacific part of the world. You will hear from Jeffrey Jo (Philippines), JP (India), and Songhwan Kang (South Korea). You will also get a glimpse of our first Sovereign Grace Asia-Pacific Pastors & Wives Conference in Manila Philippines.  Jefferey Jo led this conference so effectively. The video is posted to our website, as well as below.

Please take 10 minutes to watch this video and rejoice with me over the gospel ministry among our brothers and sisters in the Asia-Pacific part of  the world. Please note that due to the sound quality on the video footage, we included subtitles.

Thank you for your continued investment into our mission—first with prayer, but also financially. Your generosity now is an investment into the training of our future pastors, and it allows us to continue to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. You can also view/download the video here.

Mark Prater
Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches

This graphic contains a few of Sovereign Grace Global’s highlights from 2022 (according to numbers). God has been faithful!

An update from Riley Spring, Lead Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta, Sydney and National Director for Australia…

Recently, Sovereign Grace Churches Australia had our 2nd combined churches Retreat, what we call “Together”. It was so great to see our family of churches come together to hear from God’s word, worship and fellowship as one body, united by our love for Christ! The theme for the weekend was: “Zealous for the Name of Christ”, which gave us an opportunity to hear about and think through God’s call on His people: “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in Spirit, serve the Lord.” (Romans 12:11)

I chose this topic, inspired by Jeff Purswell’s excellent message from the Pastor’s Conference last year, because zeal for Jesus was really the thing that drew me to Sovereign Grace in the first place. It’s been a virtue of SG here in Australia and it’s something I don’t want us to lose or grow slothful in. It was clear that this was a topic we needed as the Lord moved in so many people’s lives to be refreshed and recommitted to a whole-hearted devotion to Christ again.

Originally, Jeff and Julie Purswell were coming out for our Retreat but unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances they weren’t able to come. However, in God’s kindness, Mark and Jill Prater made the massive call to come out and be with us all for the week which was such a blessing and a wonderful expression of our partnership.

We had three main preaching sessions over our Retreat:

1.     A Zealous People - Riley Spring (Romans 12:11) - Apple, Spotify, Website

2.     Zealous For Jesus - Mark Prater (Colossians 1:15-20) - Apple, Spotify, Website

3.     Zealous For Home - Brendan Willis (Philippians 3:3 - 4:1) - Apple, Spotify, Website

Aside from the amazing times we had in our sessions there was so many other great things that happened on our time away together. Firstly, most of our two churches were able to come! It was a joy to see everyone interact, get to know each other, eat together and have fun. Secondly, the children were served so well by various volunteers as they studied parables from the ‘Listen Up!’ curriculum. Thirdly, on the Saturday afternoon there were various free time options people could sign up for to have fun and meet each other: basketball, beach walking, craft, scavenger hunt, board games, and more. Additionally, we were served so well by so many volunteers across our churches who did so much work with all the music, creatives, registrations, gift bags, and more.

Finally, it wouldn’t be an SG Australia church retreat without something ridiculous happening! In the introduction to Mark Prater’s message on the Saturday Night he mentioned a world-record breaking event that occurred in Australia recently where over 5000 people gathered to do the Tina Turner ‘Nutbush’ dance (if you don’t know the dance…let me educate you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTiLknvewlM). After Mark’s fantastic and powerful message on the glory of Christ, there was no other more appropriate way for us to celebrate than to do the Nutbush all together as a group. Yep, ridiculous!

After Retreat, we were served so well by Mark Prater meeting with the pastors and pastoral interns from our churches for a day of training, fellowship and prayer. On that day, Jill also met with the wives for lunch and then in the evening we all gathered together for a ‘Night with Mark and Jill’, so that we could glean wisdom from them on marriage, parenting and ministry.

It was a rich time, and we are very grateful to God for our joyful partnership here in Australia and how we are connected with our broader family of Sovereign Grace Churches across the world.

As we look ahead to the future for Sovereign Grace Australia our aim is to keep the main thing the main thing, love Jesus and live fervently for Him. Our focus, first and foremost, will be to continue to strengthen our two growing local churches, and then to raise up more Gospel workers for the future for church planting, perhaps even establishing a ‘Pastors College’ here in Australia. In January we also have the joy of sending over 10 of our young adults to the US for the RELAY Conference, and we’ll also visit with our friends at SGC Orange on our way through.

Please be praying for us!

During our ‘Together 2023’ Retreat, there were many valuable quotes that you may have missed as you were taking notes. I have compiled them below as a reference:

1.     A Zealous People - Riley Spring (Romans 12:11) - Apple, Spotify, Website

• Jeff Purswell: “Mere passion, or strong feelings, or stubborn dogmatism, or loud personalities is not sacred zeal. Sacred zeal is not only about the heat of our emotions, but the focus of our affections.”

• JC Ryle: “A zealous man in religion is preeminently a man of one thing. It's not enough to say that he is earnest, hardy, uncompromising, thorough-going, wholehearted, fervent in spirit. It's not enough. He only sees one thing. He cares for one thing. He lives for one thing. He is swallowed up in one thing, and that one thing is to please God. Whether he lives or whether he dies, whether he is rich or whether he is poor, whether he pleases men or whether he gives offense, whether he is thought wise or whether he is thought foolish, whether he gets honor or whether he gets shame, for all of this, the zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing, and that one thing is to please God and to advance God's glory.”

• Uche Anizor, Overcoming Apathy: “…[Z]eal is not necessarily about becoming a missionary or martyr (at least not literally). Zeal in the day-to-day is about being alive to the important things around us. It is about being awake to God, aware of his presence and calling especially in those hidden moments of our day. Thus, zeal can take many seemingly mundane shapes, such as: going to bed on time, so that we don’t just lapse into our morning; committing to being with God’s people every Sunday; being inclined to say yes when asked to provide meals for church members, be on the clean-up crew after a large event, or give someone a ride to the airport; dedicating ourselves to praying regularly for specific missionaries; or devoting ourselves to understanding cultural issues with care and nuance.

• Jeff Purswell: “Tend to zeal. Like a campfire in a barren cold wilderness, you just can't afford for it to die down. You tend it, you stoke it, you feed it. Your life depends on it…”

• Jeff Purswell: “[Zeal]…It requires constant attention, which is critical for us to be aware of because zeal doesn't suddenly vanish. The flame of zeal is rarely extinguished by a single gust of wind. Zeal erodes. The erosion happens slowly and gradually, usually imperceptibly.”

• Jeff Purswell: “….Zeal is not an accomplishment. Zeal is a miracle.”

2.     Zealous For Jesus - Mark Prater (Colossians 1:15-20) - Apple, Spotify, Website

• Steve Wellum: “As we walk through the storyline of Scripture, we, who are created after the divine pattern, ultimately are created after the image of the Son, who in his deity is the exact image of the invisible God, and who in his humanity takes on our image, becomes the last Adam, the true man, and the head of a new humanity.”

• David Wells: “In Christ, we see all that Adam was intended to be, but never was, all that we are not but which we will become through resurrection.”

• Steve Wellum: “As the firstborn, Christ existed before creation, functioned as the agent of creation, and therefore stands supreme over creation.”

• Tony Reinke: “Apart from Christ there is no art, no science, no technology, no agriculture, no microprocessor, no iPhone, and no medical innovation... Nothing that now exists, visible or invisible, can exist if it first didn’t exist in the mind of the Creator…Apart from Christ there is nothing. The value of all things is relative to him.”

• Tony Reinke: “In any discussion of technology, many Christians get hung up on the most powerful technologists in the world who are inventing the most threating innovations on earth-nuclear power, killing weapons, modified genetics [AI]-and assume that these men and women fall outside God’s governance. They don’t.”

• Tony Reinke: "“Autonomous robots chauffeuring us around cities are likely in the near future. Autobots plotting a coup of mankind is more doubtful, but possible in the distant future. But autobots breaking free from God’s sovereign governance will never appear. No maverick machine, bot, or genetic edit can thwart the governance of God. He can allow them to run amuck and do real damage, but he can stop them too. God has set limits. He can, and does, and will continue to intrude upon our tech aspirations at his own will.”

• Douglas Moo: “As the metaphor of body and head implies, Christ is in an organic relationship with his people in a way that is not true of the creation in general.”

• John Owen: “Only a sight of his glory, and nothing else, will truly satisfy God’s people. The hearts of believers are like a magnetized needle which cannot rest until it is pointing north. So also, a believer, magnetized by the love of Christ, will always be restless until he or she comes to Christ and beholds his glory.”

• Third Day, ‘King of Glory’:

  • Who is this King of glory with strength and majesty
    And wisdom beyond measure, the gracious King of kings
    The Lord of Earth and Heaven, the Creator of all things
    Who is this King of glory, He's everything to me.

    His name is Jesus, precious Jesus
    The Lord Almighty, the King of my heart
    The King of glory.

3.     Zealous For Home - Brendan Willis (Philippians 3:3 - 4:1) - Apple, Spotify, Website

• JI Packer: “When Paul says he counts the things he lost rubbish, or dung (KJV), he means not merely that he does not think of them as having any value, but also that he does not live with them constantly in his mind: what normal person spends his time nostalgically dreaming of manure? Yet this, in effect, is what many of us do. It shows how little we have in the way of true knowledge of God.”

• John Piper, A Hunger for God: “The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world.”

• George Herbert:  “Death used to be an executioner, but the gospel makes him a gardener.”

• CS Lewis: “These small and perishable bodies we now have were given to us as ponies given to schoolboys. We must learn to manage: not that we may some day be free of horses altogether but that someday we may ride bare-back, confident and rejoicing, those greater mounts, those winged, shining and world shaking horses which perhaps even now expect us with impatience, pawing and snorting at the King’s stables.”

• Tim Keller: “Kathy and I realised that the cancer thing had really shaken us. […] I found I was always resting, frankly, in ministry accomplishments, ministry goals. “Hey we've done this, we got this started, we move to that.” And we realised that in many ways that we were resting our hearts in these things. In other words, we were really trying to turn this world into heaven, we were trying to make a heaven out of out of the earth. And as a result of that, we were always unhappy. […] I was never enjoying my day because I was always thinking about tomorrow and all the stuff I have to get done…

  …What's happened with the cancer is suddenly we’ve seen that we can't make this earth heaven because it's going to be taken away from us, and it just jolts you so much. You say, “I've got to make heaven my heaven and God my heaven.” And here's what's really weird, when you actually make heaven, heaven; the joys of the earth are more poignant than they used to be. That's what's so strange, we enjoy our day more than we ever did. We look out on water here - the East River, for example. And there's a whole lot of things that we never really enjoyed that much. The more we make heaven into the real heaven, the more this world becomes something we actually are enjoying for its own sake instead of trying to make it give us more than they really can. So oddly enough […] we've never been happier today, we've never enjoyed our days more, we've never enjoyed hugs more, we've never enjoyed food more. Kathy will always say, “well this would be great to make” we've never enjoyed walks more we've never enjoyed the actual things we see touch taste hear and smell around us more. It's almost like why what was the matter with us and the answer is we got our hearts off of those things so weirdly now we enjoy them more.”

As we are now nearly a month away from a fantastic time away together, it would be particularly disappointing if we moved on from what so clearly spoke to us on our retreat, that we are commanded: “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord” (Romans 12:11). In order to stoke our zeal and slay our sloth, we must keep our focus on Jesus!

Below is an excerpt article from Desiring God by Jon Bloom that will help you to keep zeal for Jesus front and centre. It is entitled, “Lord, Deliver Me from Indifference” .

“…The Bible doesn’t see what we call passion as something rooted in our temperaments. Laid-back personalities are called to lives of fervent, dedicated focus every bit as much as intense, driven personalities. Neither does it see passion as something rooted in our ethnic background. Those of Scandinavian heritage (like me), who might tend toward being emotionally reserved, are called to feel deeply and strive intensely every bit as much as those whose ancestors were “passionate Latins.”

No, the Bible sees zeal as a heart issue. When Paul says, “Do not be slothful in zeal,” we need to remember that Jesus called the slothful servant in his parable “wicked” (Matthew 25:26). Slothfulness is not a personality quirk; it’s a sin. It’s a sin because to not “be fervent in spirit” as we serve the Lord is to be at some level indifferent to what he cares most deeply about. Such indifference is evil.

In God’s mind, fervency, zeal, or passion aren’t descriptions of how emotive we are. They’re gauges that display what our heart treasures, and therefore what fuels our lives. Just like God is far more impressed by sincere prayers in secret than longwinded public prayers (Matthew 6:5–6), he is far more impressed (or not) by what truly enthralls us than by any outward emotional exhibition. For what enthralls us determines how we prioritize our lives.”

He closes with a prayer, recognising that it’s impossible for us to create this zeal. As Jeff Purswell has said, “….zeal is not an accomplishment. Zeal is a miracle.” Perhaps you can pray this prayer now:

“Whatever it takes, Lord, increase my zeal to do your will and my urgency to make the best use of my time during these evil days. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

P.S. I also commend the book ‘Overcoming Apathy’ by Uche Anizor as a great resource on this issue.

P.P.S. Please do read the book we gave out as a gift ‘Truth on Fire’ by Adam Ramsey! Perhaps ask someone to read it with you…that’s what i’ve been doing with a brother from my church, it’s been great!

An update from Leo Parris, Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, USA…

Mountain top experiences are precious in the Christian experience. They’re not our daily experience, but when we encounter God in remarkable ways it fills our sails with energy to continue our journey in times of storms and doldrums. Our church just returned from a short-term missions trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and it’s safe to say our sails are bursting at the seams!

We took 9 youth and 10 adults to this city to run a Youth Camp for high schoolers that are a part of Covenant Mercies (CM) there. CM (as you’ve likely heard) is a ministry that is run by Doug Hayes, one of the pastors at our church, that exists to serve orphans in collaboration with indigenous local churches in the developing world. Many of the students that we spent time with had been sponsored for several years. But prior to this past year, Ethiopian laws had hand-cuffed the program and prevented open preaching of the gospel to those in the program. By God’s grace, last year that law changed and allowed CM to form this camp as the first public exposure to gospel preaching for the kids in this program. This was an incredible opportunity but was not without difficulty.

We had planned to camp outside of Addis Ababa, but leading up to the trip stories of rural kidnappings forced us to change locations only days before our flight departed. The CM team worked around the clock and found us a wonderful location within the city. Still, as the camp kicked off, the kids were clearly afraid of us and reluctant to talk. A massive language barrier and the newness of having the whole program together didn’t help these initial moments. But as we played games, ate together (actually feeding each other as a cultural act of affection - “gusha”), and heard message after message of 100-proof gospel, affection and openness began to grow.

There was a decisive turning point in the trip as Abenezer Djene (AB) began to preach to the camp. AB is a graduate of Trinity Fellowship Pastors College, which Josh Pannell heads as dean. AB led worship skillfully throughout the camp in the local language. As he began to share he pressed home the question, “Do you know what will happen when you die?” Then he spoke from Romans 5:8 directly into the world of the youth. AB grew up in an orthodox family and knows the world that the kids inhabit. He spoke to their fears and offered them the gospel of grace instead of works.

Conversations were radically different from this moment on. Several placed their trust in Christ. Songs and chants boomed from the dining hall. Worship was expressive. The Spirit was moving.

As the youth began to head towards their buses, the moment of departure couldn’t have been more different than their arrival. Many were crying. None wanted to leave. It was a holy moment for us. A few days later Doug shared a list of people that had been engaging with CM staff on spiritual questions. It was so encouraging to see that God had worked mightily in these student’s hearts during camp, but even more so to know that they were going to continue to be discipled in the days ahead. 

We ended our trip by worshipping and enjoying fellowship with our sister church, Trinity Fellowship Church, led by Michael Granger. This was such a delight. Michael is doing a phenomenal job leading his church. They are thriving as they keep Jesus central and seek to reach their city with the gospel of Jesus.

Missions trips like these always come with challenges and a high cost, but may I gently encourage you to do them anyway? When carefully planned, they can be massively beneficial to our partnership in the gospel. These trips also make a radical impact in forming our people into the image of Christ. Our team returned excited about what God was doing among the nations and in our lives, and with our own struggles more fully entrusted to our savior. These trips can also be key in inspiring future long-term missionaries. I hope you’ll think strategically and plan sacrificially to take steps to deepen your global partnership through short-term missions trips.

We are FINALLY only a week away from our church retreat and are so looking forward to spending the weekend together with our two churches!

As you may have heard, Jeff and Julie Purswell who were originally coming for our retreat will no longer be able to make the trip due to unforeseen personal circumstances. Thankfully, Mark Prater (Executive Director of Sovereign Grace) and his wife Jill will now be coming in Jeff and Julie’s place to serve us at Together’23! We are so grateful for our family of churches and the way they generously serve and share their resources - what a gift to be on the receiving end of this for our retreat this year!

Here’s a short bio of Mark and Jill to give you a sense of who they are.

Mark serves as the Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches, ensuring the successful operation of the Leadership Team through leadership, strategic planning, support, evaluation, and communication and leading us in our mission to plant and build churches with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Mark has served as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church since 2002. In 1996, he helped plant a church where he served as senior pastor until 2002.

Mark and his wife, Jill, have three adult daughters and ten grandchildren. They make their home in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

But most of all, Mark is a dear friend to us and we are very blessed to have him come out once again to serve our growing family of Churches here in Australia. He is a passionate follower of Christ, a gifted teacher, a powerful preacher, and we couldn’t be more excited for his visit!

We are praying that Together 2023 is going to be a time of immense teaching from God's Word! Additionally, we are hoping that it would be a time of unrushed fellowship! To help us to be intentional in this time together, please find above an outline of the activities, times and contacts for the retreat.

Have a think through what activities you would like to take part in, have a chat with the family how best to co-ordinate and plan out what additional things you need to pack... whether that is a surfboard, your Air Jordans, your favourite board games (though many will be provided) or bringing a few of your favourite pot noodles to share!

Note that the Saturday afternoon session is structured into two parts such that each parent has an opportunity to spend time in fellowship while their spouse is with the children and vice versa. Note also that phone contacts will be provided during the actual retreat.

Looking forward to this time together!

An update from Ed O'Mara, SG Church Planter in Italy and SG Area Leader for Europe…

Partnership is biblical, and it is a gift! Until 1 year ago, my regular experience was being meaningfully partnered with other Sovereign Grace local churches. Having moved to Europe in July 2023 we came to a continent where interdependency is lacking. In my country, Italy, churches battle for turf rather than serve one another. The gospel witness is so lacking in some countries that the nearest like-minded, theologically-grounded church could be in a country where a different language is spoken. The result is that pastors in Europe often feel alone and are tempted to think their work is futile. Europe needs rich gospel partnership.

That is one reason I am so grateful for Sovereign Grace: the leaders and members of Sovereign Grace across the globe are making an investment in Europe for the glory of God, the good of pastors, and for local churches. A recent expression of this was our first Sovereign Grace Europe retreat. Pastors from Belarus, Poland, Italy, the UK, Turkey, and Czech Republic gathered in Warsaw from 21-23 June to receive refreshment from God’s Word, build relational connections, and begin dreaming about what SGC-Europe could be. We were joined by Mark Prater and Dave Taylor, who invested care and teaching as well as Kyle Huber who has significantly invested in the Belarussian pastors and connected them to SGC.

The Lord’s presence bound us together as we ministered grace to one another. Rather than my words, listen to those who have been serving for a significant time in Europe and yet missing the joys and fruits of gospel partnership:

Italian pastor, Giuseppe Fortuna, commented that he has been searching for a church family that is “home” for so many years and believes he finally found it in Sovereign Grace. An Eastern European pastor said that in over 25 years of ministry combined he had not experienced the love and care he felt in just 3 days together in this retreat. His peer from Belarus recounted the sad reality that pastors in his country feel like orphan pastors without help or mentorship. He looked me in the eye and said “Today, I feel the grace of Jesus” and continued to say that our partnership in Sovereign Grace is by far the healthiest church group he has ever seen.

A younger pastor from Belarus noted how he isn’t used to being loved and cared for but rather being treated like a second-class citizen. He was astounded by the love and grace of Jesus in a new way through our retreat. Peter Bowley, from the SG church in the UK, said “I have experienced many highlights in my life, and being with you men last week ranks as one of the most significant… I pray that this is just the start of a God-glorifying partnership in the spread of the gospel in Europe,” while our Pastor in Turkey noted that the retreat “was an invaluable and precious time… like water to my weary soul and spurs my prayers on for what the Lord might and can do in Turkey.”

Friends, partnership matters! The impact on pastors and local churches cannot be measured! I hope you hear in these comments, not how great Sovereign Grace is; what do we have that we haven’t been given? Rather, hear how great God is and how kind He has been to our family of churches to solidify us in partnership!

This is just the beginning for SGC-Europe! Interest is growing in Sweden, Russia, and Ukraine. We have partners in Germany and Italy (including my co-planter Rocco Dalia) who, though they couldn’t be with us for this retreat, have a big part to play. We are eagerly planning how to connect regularly as pastors and looking forward to our next gathering to sharpen our theological understanding and deepen our partnership.

God is at work in our family of churches! This is not for our glory or renown or to grow the name of Sovereign Grace, but to grow the reputation of the Lord as churches are planted, the lost are converted, and every corner of the earth is filled with the knowledge of our King! Thank you for your contribution to this amazing partnership we have been gifted. It is making a difference in pastors’ lives in Europe and across the globe and it is bringing glory to Jesus. So please keep praying and giving and playing the part God is granted to you to play – all for His renown!

Each week Mark Prater & Ben Kreps put out a podcast, where their aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our executive director, and over the last few months, they’ve been putting out some excellent episodes relating to SGC Missions!

Please find them all below… Enjoy!

1. The Value of Gospel Mission in the States

2. SG Europe Pastors Retreat

3. Churches Serving in our Shared Mission

4. Giving to Gospel Mission

We’re excited for our second annual Sovereign Grace Churches Australia conference: Together 2023, which is now fast approaching! The aim is to gather with all of our churches, and friends of our churches, here in Australia for a weekend of fellowship, worship, and making memories together!

Together 2023 will be running from July 21-23 and will be held at the Collaroy Centre in Narrabeen.

This year our theme is: ‘Zealous for the Name of Christ’ where we’ll be discussing the often forgotten virtue of Godly zeal. We will have the privilege of having a special guest from the U.S. join us, Jeff Purswell. He will explain what Godly zeal is and then apply it to various areas of our lives so that we will live all for the name of Christ.

Registrations will be closing on Sunday, 18th June. This is a friendly reminder to register if you’ve yet to do so.

For more information and to register, click here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Austin and Emma will be arriving in Sydney this Friday in the hopes to explore a calling to ministry in Australia.

Austin Momber is a recent graduate of the Sovereign Grace Pastor’s College and he and his wife Emma will be coming out to Australia to spend some time with our churches, explore the city and see how God would lead them.

During their time here, Austin will be preaching at Sovereign Grace Sydney and Sovereign Grace Parramatta and spending time with the leaders and members from both churches. Please be praying for their trip: for clarity in God’s call over their lives and that their time here would be fruitful and a blessing both to the Mombers and our churches.

Dave Taylor will be heading to the Leadership Team Retreat in the US this week followed by a trip to Europe for the Europe Pastors’ Retreat. Please be praying for him and all the pastors and leaders in attendance as they dream and plan together for the future of Sovereign Grace Churches in the US and Europe.

We are so excited to be attending the RELAY Conference in Jan next year with several young adults from Sovereign Grace Churches Australia!

The RELAY Conference exists to inspire young adults to live for the glory of Christ. This year’s theme is Living for Christ Alone
and will be taking place at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, PA.

Speakers include CJ Mahaney, Jared Mellinger, Jon Payne, Jeff Purswell, and Dave Taylor, with singing led by Bob Kauflin.

There are just under 4 weeks left in the early bird registration discount for the January 4-6 Sovereign Grace young adult RELAY Conference - if you are interested in attending, you can find out more at www.sovereigngrace.com/relay2024

An update from Bob Kauflin, Director of Sovereign Grace Music…

David Zimmer and I recently had the joy of visiting Sovereign Grace Church Sydney and Paramatta, led by Dave Taylor and Riley Spring.

We arrived Friday morning, 28 April, and spent the day in Sydney. On Saturday, we led a workshop for musicians from both churches in the morning, rehearsed in the afternoon, and led a 'Gathering Around the Gospel' event that night for about 300 people. On Sunday we were with Sovereign Grace Church Sydney. 

We spent most of Monday with Colin Buchanan, a humble songwriter/artist who is known in Australia for his kids' music. He also recently co-authored the song “Jesus, Strong and Kind” with CityAlight. On Tuesday we met with pastors from both churches to talk about priorities in our Sunday gatherings, and that night we met with the leaders and wives to talk about marriage, parenting, and ministry.

On Wednesday through to late Saturday we led a Worship Matters Intensive for musicians from our churches as well as churches in Sydney, Perth, Tokyo, and Manila. It was a feast of fellowship and encouragement.

On Sunday, we served at Sovereign Grace Church Paramatta, and after lunch with the church, spent the evening debriefing with Dave and Riley. We left the next day, but not before squeezing in a trip to a wildlife park where we could pet a koala and feed some kangaroos.

Of the many takeaways from our time in Sydney, here are four that deeply impacted us.

Gospel-rooted community marked by servanthood and generosity.

From the moment we arrived until boarding the plane for home we were surrounded by people who made sure we had everything we needed. It began with Dave and Riley, who spent what I’m sure was an excessive amount of time with us. Rebecca Song and other admins were also stellar. But the heart to serve extended beyond those whose job it was to care for us. Dave’s three older children joyfully served the groups that descended upon their home. Church members provided rides, meeting places, and meals. We never felt unattended to or uncared for. And that thoughtful generosity extended to others as well.

A commitment to train leaders.

David and I spent a good bit of time investing in leaders, whether it was the pastoral teams, leadership couples, or leaders from other churches at the Worship Matters Intensive. Dave and Riley aren’t simply interested in meetings that draw crowds but churches that invest in the future. Their example of friendship and mutual support both models what ministry can look like and inspires others to pursue the same kind of Christ-exalting leadership. We observed a number of present and potential leaders like Andrew Leung, Henry Burnett, and others who are joyfully laying down their lives to serve.

Sovereign Grace Music partnering with Sovereign Grace Churches.

I never tire of saying Sovereign Grace Music wouldn’t exist apart from our churches. We saw the fruit of that connection as numerous people mentioned they learned about our churches through singing our songs. It was also exciting to spend an evening planning two 'Worship God' conferences in the Philippines in 2024 that would capitalize on people’s awareness of Sovereign Grace Music as well as strengthen our already established churches.

A passion to proclaim the gospel locally and globally.

We encountered a mission mindset everywhere we went. One Sunday morning a mom with young kids told me how she had met with a new believer that morning for Bible study. Riley reached out to a gentleman passing by the church building during the intensive who showed up that Sunday. Church members surrounded guests, wanting to know more about them. Beyond the local church level, we saw a joyful expectation of planting and partnering with healthy churches in other parts of Sydney, Australia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and more. Jesus’ words in Acts 1:8, “You will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth,” clearly resounded in people’s hearts.

Looking back, I think we received much more than we gave in Australia. We came home strengthened, inspired, and changed by the real fruit of gospel partnership. And we’re more grateful than ever that Christ is building his church and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

Pastor Riley and Pastor Dave will soon be heading to Liberia to serve at the Pastor’s College there. They will be teaching on church planting in partnership as mother-daughter church plants in the hopes that they too would enjoy the fruit of being a part of a family of churches, not just globally, but locally as well.

Please be praying for them; that the Lord would sustain and empower them as they endeavour to serve faithfully and in a way that honours the Lord and builds up His church.