“We worshipped; we feasted and fellowshipped with friends; we rejoiced in Christ.” -Benjamin Kreps, Senior Pastor, Living Hope Church, Harrisburg, PA.

The annual Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference was held November 9-11 in Orlando after a 2-year delay due to the pandemic. Almost 600 attendees traveled from all over the world, including Bolivia, Canada, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Germany, Ethiopia, Italy, Mexico, Zimbabwe and the US. Those who couldn’t attend due to pandemic-related travel restrictions and immigration issues from 10 different nations, many from the Asia Pacific part of the world, watched a live-stream which was also translated in Spanish.

The theme was “Christ Preeminent” with the focus on Jesus because “he is before all things” (Colossians 1:17), and “he is the head” of the church’s that we have the privilege to pastor and lead (Colossians 1:18). Each session was planned to build churches upon the gospel and in a way that celebrates the preeminence of Jesus Christ. I highly recommend the excellent preaching we enjoyed, not only in the main sessions, but in the breakouts, as well.

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Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church. A weekly podcast with Sovereign Grace updates, hosted by Benjamin Kreps, is posted on his blog.

An update from Sergei Lukyanov, our friend and main contact in Belarus…

First of all, we are very grateful to you for the fact that you constantly support us in prayer.

The situation in Belarus continues to remain unstable, therefore the existence and life of the church in these conditions is difficult. We continue to adjust to the new reality that has changed due to the COVID virus and the political crisis. 

The Protestant Evangelical Church has again fallen out of favor in the eyes of the current regime. Thousands of people continue to go to jail, including many Christians just because they once took to the streets or wrote a comment on social media against the brutal actions of our police. Our church members constantly write letters to them, in which they try to comfort and encourage them with hope in Christ. In addition, church members regularly collect financial aid to support the relatives and friends of those who are in prison. 

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Dave Taylor is Director of Emerging Nations for Sovereign Grace Churches and serves as the lead pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney, Australia.

The full post Planting & Partnering in Belarus originally appeared on the Emerging Nations blog on November 2, 2021. Emerging Nations exists to serve the pioneering work of Sovereign Grace Churches around the world.

Highlights of Celebration California 2021 from Tami Boomsma:

Why would 200 people from 3 different California Sovereign Grace Churches pack their bags, load up their cars, and travel 2 hours into the mountains of the San Bernardino National Forest to spend the weekend together?

To attend our California Celebration! The purpose of this gathering was to worship and seek the Lord together, to build unity, and to be renewed in our vision, purpose, and calling as churches living in Southern California.

Sovereign Grace Church of Orange (Eric Turbedsky), Cross of Grace Santa Ana (Kyle Houlton), and Sovereign Grace Church of Pasadena (Ron Boomsma) held a weekend church retreat in October at the Tahquitz Pines Conference Center in Idyllwild, CA. Our churches are located in three disparate cities in Southern California. We have many differences between us in terms of age, style, demographics, and church culture, but we have this in common: we each possess a commitment to God’s Word, to Sovereign Grace Churches’ shared values, a desire to see the gospel preached and more churches planted in California!

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Tami Boomsma is the wife of Ron Boomsma, Senior Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Pasadena, where they have served together for more than 30 years.

The full post California Celebration 2021: Three Churches. Two Days. One Mission originally appeared on Nov. 6, 2021 on the Sovereign Grace Church Development blog.

I love the local church. I've been impacted by the teaching and preaching of a Sovereign Grace Church for 25 years. It has transformed my life. And I’ve seen how God works through the local church. It's been something that has marked us as a family of churches, our love for the local church.

A local church is the focal point where God works to mature his people and to save sinners. And we just can't forget that in our day, that the local church is the place for the Christian to be, and to live life together, and to reach the lost and to do good works.

And so my heart is full of not just love for my church, but for all the churches in Sovereign Grace, and a desire for us to not lose that.

As Spurgeon says:

"Give yourself to the church. You that are members of the church have not found it perfect and I hope that you feel almost glad that you have not. If I had never joined a church until I had found one that was perfect, I would never have joined one at all. And the moment I did join one, I should have spoiled it. For it would not have been a perfect church after I became a member of it. Still, imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth."

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Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church.

Songhwan and Miran Kang of Lord’s Grace Church in Korea.

I recently asked my friend, Pastor Songhwan Kang, Lead Pastor of Lord’s Grace Church in Korea, if he’d be willing to write us an update on his church and his writings.

Here is an excerpt from his wonderful reply:

This September is Lord’s Grace Church’s 11th year anniversary. 11 years of God’s grace and kindness, and one of the fruits that we are thankful to God from this time, has been the publishing of two books: “The Steadfast Christian in the Gospel” and "The Steadfast Parenting in the Gospel”. 

The first book I wrote by myself, and the second book with my wife, Miran. These books are all about what my wife and I learned through our 15 years of experience with Sovereign Grace. These books are a summary of what a gospel-centered church is, what gospel-centered parenting is, and what our church members have learned together and applied in our lives. I would like to express my gratitude to my precious friends at SG who have been a role model for me in living the life in the gospel. I thank pastors Dave Taylor, Larry Malament, and Marty Machowski for encouraging me to write this book.

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Dave Taylor is Director of Emerging Nations for Sovereign Grace Churches and serves as the lead pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney, Australia.

The full post Centering on the Gospel in South Korea originally appeared on the Emerging Nations blog on September 3, 2021. Emerging Nations exists to serve the pioneering work of Sovereign Grace Churches around the world.

Recently on his podcast, Mark Prater reminded everyone about the Sovereign Grace Journal:

“We have our second edition published which is subtitled, A Christ-Centered People. And that is available in print on Amazon. It's also available online. A couple of articles there that I wanted to draw your attention to. Andy Farmer has written a helpful article titled Trauma and the Treasure of Christ. And when he speaks about trauma, he's not only speaking about trauma that is the result of abuse, but he's using it more broadly; trauma that could come from military service, or if you're a frontline worker experiencing trauma. That was a helpful article. And for anyone that is currently walking through suffering, it would be really good for you to read an article by Todd Peterson entitled To Live as Christ: Lessons Learned in the Valley of Darkness. So a plug for the Sovereign Grace Journal, and I think some very helpful articles that are in this particular edition.”

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Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church.