Some time ago, in a prayer email, Mark Prater wrote the following:

        ‘A survey of the Pauline epistles reveals how consistently Paul prayed for the churches he carried on his heart, and how consistently Paul asked them to pray for him. Prayer marks New Testament gospel partnership that churches share, and based on that biblical pattern, it’s our desire that prayer mark our partnership in Sovereign Grace. Additionally, as we pray for one another, the relationships we have among our pastors and churches are strengthened. Praying for one another fosters relationships in a way that makes us a genuine “family of churches.”’

How well said that is. We’re so much better “together” and so here are some ways we can be praying for one another over the next month…

1. Please pray for Bert Turner (Pastor of Covenant of Grace Church, Copley, Ohio) and his wife Karen as they continue their time in Brazil. Having now ordained Emerson Soares on March 2nd, an absolute highlight Bert tells me, they now head to spend time with Pastor Tarik Rodrigues and the Igreja Viela in Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul, for the weekend of March 8-9th. Before heading on to spend time with Pastor Fabio Leal and Igreja Cidade Cinco in Sao Paulo, the weekend of March 15-16th. Both Churches are interested in partnership with Sovereign Grace Churches.

2. Please pray for Rob Flood (Pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, PA) as he heads to Sydney, Australia 25th-31st March. For the first few days he’ll be running the JRC Training for all of the elders in Sovereign Grace Churches, Australia, then on the weekend he’ll be speaking at a Marriage Retreat for over 60 couples from Sovereign Grace Church, Wahroonga and Sovereign Grace Church, Parramatta. Please pray that it’s a wonderful time for everyone involved.

3. Please pray for Trinity Fellowship as they ordain two very dear brothers on March 9th; Abenezer Dejene and Amanuel Yehualashet. Both of these brothers have graduated from the Ethiopian Pastors College and completed a residency at Trinity Fellowship. In addition, please pray for the ordinations of Juango Solano, Andres Blanco and Daniel Alvarado in Iglesia La Gracia, San Jose, Costa Rica, and Chespi Sandoval in Iglesia Biblical Playa Azul, Jaco, Costa Rica. God willing, they’ll all be ordained at a joint service for these two Churches on March 26th, and what a celebration that will be.

4. Please pray for Mario Figueroa as he prepares to plant and launch Vine Church in Tampa, FL, USA, with their first service planned for Easter Sunday. Please pray that God would quickly establish the work of this teams hands and that many in Tampa would hear about Christ and Him crucified as a result.

5. Please continue to pray for our new church plant in a province of Isaan, Thailand that launched mid-November.  We thank God for those he has brought to hear the good news and pray that they and many others would come, see and believe in Jesus. So far, it’s been going amazingly well!

… Thank you for praying for our family of churches. May His grace abound to us all!

An update from Pastor Greg & Pastor Dave (names concealed for security reasons), on an incredible work and partnership forming in South Asia…

From December 5-12, 2024, Pastor Dave and I had the privilege and pleasure of visiting our Sovereign Grace ministry partners in a country in South Asia. Our purpose was to observe and evaluate first-hand (and for the first time) the status of the churches in that country that have requested an official relationship with Sovereign Grace Churches.

We were able to visit eight different churches over the course of seven days. We enjoyed a special gathering of all 21 pastors and wives (along with their children). Both Dave and I had the opportunity to preach, teach, exhort and speak at least 7 times. We conducted a baptism for 15 professing believers. We experienced the hospitality of four of our six candidates for ordination, while enjoying meals with their families in their homes.

The 21 men provide pastoral leadership to approximately 200 churches. They are well organized, and have formed a cohort that gathers monthly for prayer, planning, and mutual care.

These pastors are diligent with a remarkable work ethic. They each go two by two, from meeting to meeting, preaching in two churches (at least) every night of the week, except Saturday. They’ve been carrying on this pace for years.

The social, religious and economic context for their ministry is stark and dangerous. Brickmaking dominates the economic fabric of the three districts where our ministry partners live and serve. The brickmaking industry is a systemically corrupt, enslaving, and evil institution. There are impossible quotas to reach. Though housing is provided for those employed, there is no electricity, plumbing, heating, or secure enclosures. Nearly everyone is sick from the toxic smoke produced by brick kilns. Women are abused. Infant mortality is high. People are trapped and impoverished for life. Since the days of Moses and Pharoah, little has changed. Nevertheless, this is the primary context where our men have planted dozens and dozens of churches.

The region of the country where our men serve is also an enclave of Muslim extremism. The Imams teach regularly that the way to a better eternal paradise is to “do away with the infidel.” Many of our partner pastors have had people in their churches killed simply for following Jesus. One of them had his church (built adjacent to his home) burned to the ground just this past October. His wife and children, at home at the time, had to flee. And while the local police dispersed those who destroyed his church building, our pastor was threatened that if he put back “one stick” to the church structure, the Muslims would come back and burn it down again, along with his home, with him and his family in it. He HAS, however, resumed meeting with his church in his home.

With remarkable courage, joy, humility, and enduring grace, our ministry partners in this Islamic nation in South Asia are a profound and compelling witness to the truth that the “light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

An update from Doug Hayes, Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania and Key Leader for our work in Zambia…

When the Lord unexpectedly took Wilbroad Chanda home in January 2021, it was a devastating loss on many levels. As the founding pastor of Christ Community Church in Ndola, Zambia, Wilbroad had labored diligently to identify and equip leaders to share in the work of ministry, but CCC still relied on him to preach most Sundays and set the overall direction for the church. Wilbroad was not the church’s lone pastor/elder, but he alone had been ordained through Sovereign Grace, and only he and his wife Zicky had fully experienced the blessings of Sovereign Grace partnership. For others, Sovereign Grace was more a set of doctrinal convictions than a church family.

At the time of Wilbroad’s death, Ector Makaliki was locally recognized as an elder. Two other young men, McDonald Chanda (no relation to Wilbroad) and Stephen Lubakila, were in the process of being equipped and evaluated for eldership as well. All three of these men stepped forward heroically in the wake of Wilbroad’s passing, each shouldering a portion of the burden as the church regrouped and sought the Lord for its future. Ector was recognized by all as the acting lead pastor, and all three men affirmed their desire to pursue ordination in Sovereign Grace.

In the years since then, each of these men have studied diligently for their exams and persevered through the ordination process, all while serving the church faithfully and providing for their families through other jobs outside the church. They have cared well for Christ Community Church through a difficult season, and grown as pastors and preachers in ways that are evident to all. Meanwhile, the Ordination Committee of the U.S. Northeast Region has graciously welcomed the opportunity to oversee their ordination efforts; grading written exams, giving helpful feedback, and impaneling evaluators for oral exams.

Last November in Orlando, Ector Makaliki passed his oral exams and received the Northeast ROC’s wholehearted commendation for eldership in Sovereign Grace. With that milestone behind us, I had the pleasure of surprising Ector and the church with a presentation of his framed ordination certificate when I was with them in Ndola one Sunday last month.

All in attendance were delighted as we marked this important moment in the life of Christ Community Church, and this significant achievement for Ector. Please continue praying for this dear church. From their lead pastor down to their newest member, these brothers and sisters are a beautiful example of perseverant faith. May they refuse to grow weary of doing good, knowing that in due season they will reap, if they do not give up.

Grace Family Church in Jamaica was planted in January 2019 by a team led by Joel Bain, Sean Taylor and Sheldon Campell who are ordained pastors in Sovereign Grace Churches. Joel Bain (Lead Pastor of Grace Family Church) shares this update…

On Sunday, January 26, Grace Family Church celebrated our 6th anniversary with a service and picnic under a tent on an immaculately manicured lawn at the Caymanas Golf Club in St Catherine, Jamaica. It was a beautiful day. But perhaps because this is the way we’ve celebrated each year, I almost missed the miracle. Thankfully at a point after the service I felt God arresting my perpetual motion, nudging me to stop and look around at the evidence of his kindness in the collage of people and stories joyfully mingled and mingling together. 

There was Sonia, a member of our church, a retiree, widow and grandmother who is always joined by her sons and grandkids for our celebration. It’s wonderful to be able to welcome them each time. She shared with me recently that one of her teenage granddaughters asked her if she could become a member of our church. There was Chris, who is not yet a believer but has been among us for several months listening to the gospel and leaning in, who asked if he could buy GFC t-shirts in every colour we have available. We treasure his presence and pray for his salvation.

There was Telika, a young believer who started attending our church regularly at the beginning of 2025 but was eager to be in our membership photo because she signed up on our website the previous night! She is eager to grow in her faith, reads ravenously, and now tells her friends that she won’t be there if they plan activities on a Sunday morning because she loves being at church. There was Russell, who has gathered with us almost every Sunday for close to a year and shared that he has never been baptized but would like to be. And there were, of course, our members - an increasingly close-knit, gospel-shaped family that has grown to 70, many of them serving joyfully in different roles that day, welcoming our guests and celebrating God’s grace. God has been tremendously good to us.

That morning I envisioned the church for deepening discipleship. Rather than having the shallow impact that is common in our nation, we want to spend the next 5 years pursuing Jesus and community in such a way that the gospel will pervade our lives. We just began preaching through Genesis. We’re looking forward to baptizing a few precious folks and beginning a new membership cohort in March. We’re also about to begin training deacons and have started exploratory conversations about pastoral ministry with a few men and their wives.

There’s much to look forward to with patience and in faith - because nothing has happened quickly for us. But it would be wrong to long for that in a way that fails to turn aside to see and appreciate the treasure we already have - our church - this magnificent, messy testimony to the love of God in Christ!

An update from Marty Machowski, Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania…

After a one-day flight delay caused by a rare (and immobilizing) inch of snow in Dallas, my trip to Lord’s Grace Church in Suwon, South Korea, went smoothly. Following my Sunday sermon, Songhwan gathered the pastoral team and deacons for an extended question-and-answer session. The leadership at Lord’s Grace Church expressed deep gratitude for my visit and the connection it represented with Sovereign Grace Churches. It was a true joy to partner with these devoted servants in spreading the gospel in Asia!

During my visit, Songhwan hosted a seminar for a group of gospel-centered pastors and their wives from the surrounding area, whom he has affectionately named “Together for the Gospel Korea.” I delivered five messages on our Shared Values, and Songhwan followed up with a session on how to apply these values within the Korean context. His church serves as an exemplary model for these area pastors, and several expressed a desire to explore a partnership with Sovereign Grace.

We wrapped up the week with a family seminar titled “The Holy Spirit and the Family,” where I taught parents about the Holy Spirit’s role in the family. The session focused on the Spirit’s work in areas such as conviction of sin, the regeneration of our children, assurance of salvation, and the operation of spiritual gifts within family life. The participants were deeply encouraged, with many commenting on how helpful it was to understand the Holy Spirit’s vital role in the family.

A group photo taken after the Sunday service captured a growing and joyful congregation, one that is living out the shared values and virtues of Sovereign Grace!

An update from Jonathan Logan, a Pastor-in-Training at Cross of Grace, El Paso, Texas…

Relay 2025 was a time of encouragement, challenge, fun, and most importantly, gospel truth. What a joy it was to see so many hundreds of young adults from across Sovereign Grace (and beyond) gather around the beauty of the Gospel.

From the first moments entering the building, the conference was marked by gospel shaped life! Here are a few highlights.

There are a few sounds on earth as edifying as God’s people singing together, and the singing at Relay was thunderous! Seeing hundreds of young adults, hands lifted high, shouting at the top of their lungs praises to our God, to see the next generation carrying on a rich history of joy-filled, gospel-centered singing, was so encouraging.

Who doesn’t love T-shirts and stress balls being shot out of a canon that occasionally worked up to specifications? With incredible cover songs, trivia, humor, and lighthearted fun, “Joseph and the Fun Squad” did a great job drawing us all together relationally as we laughed and had a good time.

Our crew from El Paso loved experiencing both snow and late-night Wa-Wa runs, as well as getting some dedicated time with the churches from the (affectionately nicknamed) Wild West region. Josh Payne did a great job coming up with general Sovereign Grace historical trivia, as well as some trivia related to our region in particular. It was hilarious and informative!

My personal favorite surprise was rolling up to a Starbucks, seeing it was closed, lifting my eyes up and seeing God’s good gift to grocery stores, Wegman’s! It was a taste of home for this kid who grew up in Buffalo.

The breakouts were timely, helpful, informative, and compelling and it was an absolute joy to hear from the founding and next generation of pastors of Sovereign Grace Churches. They helped us dig in to the values and virtues we’ve held so dear for so many years as a family of churches. 

CJ, Jon, Jeff, Jared, Dave, and Bob did such a great job of helping us see the beauty of the doctrines of grace, seeing Jesus lifted high in song, reminding us of the freedom found in pursuing holiness, among so many other things.

Thanks to all the volunteers who spent countless hours preparing, serving, and cleaning up at Covenant Fellowship, so that we all could have a rich time of fellowship and growing in the good of the gospel! Can’t wait for the next Relay Conference!

I also want you to hear from one of our young adults, Abby:

“The theme of this year’s RELAY conference was teaching on the doctrines of grace. As a young adult who is relatively new to studying theology, hearing our pastors explain the importance and application of these doctrines was invaluable to me. Positioned right at the start of the new year, RELAY gave me a chance to set my eyes on what is true and beautiful as I begin a new year, which many see as a new start or clean slate. 

It was so edifying to be reminded of the grace of God; how indescribable, wonderful, and beautiful it is and how it fills every part of a Christian’s life. 

I learned that the doctrines of grace will never get old. I will always need to hear them and remember them. I will hopefully always be profoundly affected by them and rearrange my life to live by them. Seeing our founding pastors still tear up when they recount their testimony is so impactful, reminding me that I will never fully understand the depth of love God has for His people. 

One of the highlights for me was getting to reaffirm what the pastors were preaching with singing. I loved that the songs we sang reinforced the gospel of grace that we were learning about. It is one of the tangible ways I saw how God’s grace affects people in real time. 

I am so thankful for our family of churches that presses into these doctrines, even when they can sometimes be difficult to understand, and for the dedication of our pastors and leaders to teach the next generation!”

- Abby

The team in El Paso also put together some daily video recaps that we wanted to share - Enjoy!

• Day 1

• Day 2

• Day 3

All available resources from Relay 2025 are now available here. Watch or download main session messages, view photos, listen to breakout sessions, and more.

Psalm 121.1-2 says, ‘I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.'

As we pray, that’s who's listening and who we get to come to! The LORD, the maker of heaven and earth. The One who will not let our foot be moved, who is our shade at our right hand, and who neither slumbers nor sleeps. The LORD is the One who will help us and so as we pray, what a privilege and opportunity this really is!!

So with that in mind, here are some ways that you can be praying for our Global Mission in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for Bert Turner (Pastor of Covenant of Grace Church, Copley, Ohio) and his wife Karen as they travel to Brazil on February 9. Over five weeks they hope to visit nine cities and relate to twelve pastors from eight different churches. Please pray for safe travels, good health and effective spirit-empowered ministry. Please pray for Bert’s time with Emerson Soares (pastor of Graça Soberana Rio Grande), who will be ordained in the coming month. Please also pray for his time with Pastors Emerson, Fabiano, Guilherme, Rafael, Andre, Jader and Tarik as he leads a pastors and wives retreat. Please pray, as well, for wisdom and good communication as Bert meets with two other pastors who are developing deeper relationships with Sovereign Grace Churches.

2. Please pray for Ricky Alcantar (Lead Pastor at Cross of Grace Church, El Paso, Texas) as he leads the Antioch Retreat at the end of this month. Antioch is a program aimed to help churches faithfully pursue the marks of mission as seen in Antioch and the New Testament. Please pray for the whole US Southeast Region as well as other who will be attending, that as they spend three days together they would be freshly stirred and equipped for the mission.

3. Please pray for Brian Kiama (Church Planter into Nairobi, Kenya) and Jonathan Leslie (Co-Planter in Kenya), as they continue the soft-launch of Sovereign Grace Church, Nairobi. Please pray that God would continue to bring the people that He wants to be a part of this new endeavor and that His Word would speed ahead and be glorified in Nairobi and beyond.

4. Please pray for Jeffrey Jo (National Leader of SGC Philippines), as he works through a possible SG Church Plant in Trece Martirez City. For the past ten months, through the work of Dasmiranas City Church, there’s been a group of around 20 adults meeting for a weekly bible study in Trece, representing around 15 families, alongside a busy bible study of about 30 kids aged 5-13. The people there are eager for a church to be planted there and are hungry for God’s Word. Please pray for wisdom and discernment for everyone involved in this door that seems to be opening.

5. Please pray for our two Sovereign Grace Churches in Australia, that will be begin running ‘The Bridge Course’ this month. After a big build-up of prayer and inviting, Sovereign Grace Church, Wahroonga’s launches on Tuesday 11th February, and Sovereign Grace Church, Parramatta’s on Tuesday 18th February. Please pray that many people attend and that lives are completely changed as a result. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!

6. Finally, please pray for Pat & Dana Tedeschi, who having been commissioned and sent out to work in London, England, have now landed at Oasis Church and begun to settle in. Please pray that the Lord would establish the work of their hands, and that Pat would experience much grace and favour as he begins Pastoring in the Church. May the days ahead, and the fruit, be wonderfully sweet. Jesus is worth it.

   … Our help comes from such an amazing King. Thank you so much for joining us in praying to Him.

An update from Steve Teter, Senior Pastor of Living Faith Church in Franklin, West Virginia…

Pastor and Bible teacher Mike Bullmore was once asked, “Why should someone be a pastor in a small town? Why not locate to a larger, more urban or suburban area with more people, more money, more amenities and greater opportunities? Why should anyone stay and pastor a church in a rural area? It only took a moment for Mike to consider this question and respond, “Why pastor in a small town? Because God has His people there!”

That is why among the churches that make up Sovereign Grace in the United States there are number of churches located in small, more rural areas. While most Sovereign Grace churches are appropriately situated in more urban locations where more than 80% of the U.S. population lives, we have a number of rural churches in various regions throughout the U.S., not to mention rural churches in countries around the world. The Small Town Initiative exists as an informal resource to serve pastors in small towns; both those ministering currently as well as those considering rural church plants in the future.

Rural America, encompasses 97% of the land area of the United States. Sixty million people live in those “wide-open spaces”. Life there has its own, often unique, set of challenges. Declining industry along with young people leaving family farms for better jobs “in the city” often result in aging, stagnant or declining populations. Fentanyl deaths and drug addiction are rampant in many places and few families are left unaffected. Spiritually, main-line protestant churches that were once the soul and backbone of rural life, have become shells of what they once were due to many denominations abandoning the biblical faith “once for all delivered to the saints.”

At the same time in every small town throughout the country there are life-long residents who love the Lord, love His church and who are committed to the Lord’s mission to spread the gospel! Also, and particularly since COVID, there has been a mini-resurgence of people relocating from cities into these towns including young families or retirees who long for a life that is more affordable and less hectic. Some newer residents are Christians looking for a church home while others come needing to hear the gospel. So, while God indeed has His people in every small town, the good news of Jesus Christ, proclaimed and lived out through strong, theologically sound, gospel-centered churches, is rural America’s greatest need.

This coming year, to serve pastors who minister in rural areas, Trinity Grace Church of Athens, TN in conjunction with the Small Town Initiative, will host our first Small Town Summit to be held on April 3, 2025. Walt Alexander and Taylor Hollingsworth, pastors of Trinity Grace, will lead this one-day summit designed to provide fellowship, encouragement, worship and training to small town pastors both within and outside of Sovereign Grace. Our hope for this first Summit is that pastors will be strengthened and freshly envisioned for the vital ministry God has given them in their various towns.

To learn more about this summit or to register, please click here. May God help us in this important endeavor.

An update from Carlos Contreras, lead pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and national leader for SGC Mexico…

Last November I had the great privilege of being invited again to speak at "Por Su Causa 2024” in the city of Monterrey, Mexico. This is one of the most important Christian Conferences in Latin America led by the ministry of Dr Miguel Nuñez, who has been a long time friend of Sovereign Grace and participant in our own “Fieles” conference in Juarez, Mexico.

Through the history of the “Por Su Causa Conference” in the Dominican Republic, CJ Mahaney, Jeff Purswell, Bob Kauflin, and Joselo Mercado have also participated as main speakers. And, on two of those occasions, the worship team of the Conference from the hosting church (La IBI) have joined to record two worship albums of mostly Sovereign Grace Music in Spanish. However, this occasion was historic as it was the first time the conference was held outside of the Dominican Republic and in our beloved country of Mexico. It was a major investment of time and resources. I was blown away to find out that about 150 volunteers from La IBI in the DR paid their way to be able to serve at the conference together with local volunteers. What an amazing and generous investment from a church from a small Caribbean country in order to serve the cause of the gospel in our very large country!

The theme of the Conference was “A Life Worthy of His Calling” based on Ephesians 4:1. The main speakers included Dr. Miguel Nuñez, Pastor Sugel Michelen, Otto Sanchez and Pastor Pepe Mendoza. All of these Dominican men have been part of the conference every year. This year guest pastors included David Platt, Hanibal Rodriguez from the USA and myself. Many other pastors and leaders participated in workshops and discussion panels happening throughout the Monterrey Convention Center with an attendance of about 6000 from all over Mexico and other countries.

The conference started with a Pre-Conference for Pastors and church leaders attended by about 2000 people. I had the opportunity to participate in a discussion panel on the theme of “Called to Pastor the Sheep of the Lord” and then I was asked to preach on the theme “Called to Compassion” from the story of Jesus and the widow from Luke 7:11-17.

This was one of the most significant events I have ever participated in. Being there felt like a joyous celebration of what God has been doing in Latin America in the last decade. God has brought an awakening to the true gospel and it was obvious there was much joy in celebrating the wonderful truths of the amazing grace of God in the Spanish speaking world. I was able to meet with many leaders and friends, some I hadn’t seen in many years. And their testimony was the same: “God has been good to us and the gospel is advancing strongly”. 

Please pray that the "Por Su Causa” Conference will be able to return to Mexico as well as to other possible locations in Latin America. The Gospel is growing and His kingdom is expanding in Latin America and this event was wonderful evidence of this!

An update from Jim Donohue, pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, USA and the founder of the Bridge Course…

Sharing the gospel is one of the highest joys in a Christian’s life, but obeying God in this area is not always easy. Both pastors and church members know this. Our culture is growing more apathetic toward the gospel and is sometimes even hostile. This has contributed to the great de-churching of our country and others. Almost 40 million adults in America used to go to church but no longer do. Now church attendees are in the minority, so how will we fulfill our call to reach the lost? How will people hear the truth of the gospel? 

By God’s grace, the gospel cannot be stopped, but our job as pastors is to stay nimble as we reach our communities. One tool our church has found surprisingly effective is the Bridge Course. Bridge is a 10-week course designed for non-Christians. It provides a context where guests can come and hear the gospel in a non-threatening way. Each meeting includes a meal or dessert, a video talk, and a discussion time. During the 10 weeks we tackle questions like: How good are you? Why does God allow suffering? Can we trust the Bible? and Why do we matter?

We have seen God use Bridge to reach thousands in our area and beyond with over 50 courses currently running.

Because Bridge is flexible, it works in a variety of settings including homes, colleges, retirement communities, halfway houses, prisons, high schools, workplaces, coffee shops, and more. Cross of Grace Church in Santa Anna recently celebrated 5 baptisms and all of them participated in Bridge.

The Bridge Course is easy to use. You can start small in a home, serving coffee and dessert, and using the videos. We’ve created a training video that provides key instruction and guidance, and it’s all free and available on the website, bridgecourse.org. 

It also works well for one-on-one outreach. A woman named Joy in our church was a caretaker for an elderly man, Mr. Wagner. As Joy cooked, cleaned, and cared, she talked with him about Jesus and asked if he wanted to go through Bridge. So each day when Joy clocked out, they watched the video and discussed it. Through the course, God saved Mr. Wagner at 94 years old. Just a few months later, Mr. Wagner met his savior face to face. In that short time, his newfound joy led him to donate a significant sum to the Bridge Course in his will, which was a happy surprise for us. 

One interesting development is the number of video views the talks are getting. We have over 100,000 video views from 156 different countries. We aren’t focused on numbers, but the thought of unbelievers hearing the gospel through any means is glorious!  

As culture changes, fewer people are likely to come to church when asked. Although inviting someone to Bridge has a better chance of success, asking someone to simply watch a video has a very high success rate, especially if you send them the link. More and more, people access information on devices, so our pastors encourage church members to send individual Bridge messages to neighbors, co-workers, and relatives and ask what they think about it. As a result, many gospel conversations have begun, and people are coming to the course having gotten a taste for it from a video. We even have a special card (NFC technology) that can bring the Bridge website up on someone’s phone. 

As the Bridge Course expands internationally, it’s been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Turkish, Vietnamese, and Amharic. This summer Redeemer church in Delaware ran the first course in Chinese with 15 guests in attendance.

Recently, we finished filming the course in Spanish with our own Abelardo Muñzo preaching the messages with great effectiveness. We are excited to see how God uses this in the Latin world. 

Let’s encourage our church members that evangelism is no drudgery, but the immense privilege of each Christian. We pray that this ready-made course can help you mobilize your church to bring the gospel to the lost. The Lord is with us and he will do it!

Interested in finding out more about the Bridge Course? Click here.

For some time I’ve wanted to highlight a really good update that Mark Prater gave on his podcast, entitled ‘The Power of Christ and Evangelism’. It’s a wonderful conversation between Mark and Ben, in which he shares not only some wonderful truth on evangelism, but also some wonderful examples.

It’s such an encouraging conversation. You can watch or listen to it here.

One of my hopes is to get good books on Global Missions into your hands and so in addition to ‘Mission’, by Andy Johnson, here’s another good one for you: ‘Cross’, edited by John Piper and David Mathis. Here’s what Leo Parris, our US Global Missions Coordinator, has to say about it…

The Cross Conference has been a wonderful means of grace in helping to raise up young missionaries for many years. It’s one of the many legacies that testify to the impact of John Piper in this generation. Cross: Unrivaled Christ, Unstoppable Gospel, Unreached Peoples, Unending Joy springs from the many sermons that have sounded from that pulpit. It aims to inspire young people to embrace a calling “to cross cultures to bring the gospel to a people group that otherwise has no access”, or to become “an engaged sender.”[1] To be this kind of Christian: “even as you give yourself to making disciples on the tract of land to which you’ve been sent, you connect your efforts with the Global Cause, among people reached and unreached, and you pray and dream and give toward completing the task.”[2] If you are looking for a collection of teachings that may inspire a young person to missionary work, this is an excellent resource.

The chapters flow from a God-exalting, gospel-centered foundation all the way to helping individuals process through their calling. Each chapter is written by a different contributor from a diversity of places ranging from Korea, Zambia, Canada, to Australia. Authors include John Piper and D.A. Carson, Matt Chandler, Conrad Mbewe, and Kevin DeYoung, a treasury of wisdom and gifting

In a more limited scope, John Piper begins the book by covering much of the same ground covered in Let the Nations be Glad. God’s glory in the joy of all peoples is the main goal of missions. Later in chapter 3, Kevin DeYoung shows how a Calvinistic Reformed Theology actually necessarily leads to a passion for missions. Chapters like these embed a heart for global work in proper theological motivations.

A personal highlight of the book is Mack Stiles’ chapter on The Call of God (chapter 6). Stiles helpfully pushes back against overly mystical approaches to missionary calling and argues that missionaries are ordinary people who are inspired by the Bible, informed by the gospel, and confirmed by their local church. In a world where many missionaries sadly speak of calling in a flippant and mystical way, this chapter is precious wisdom.

Matt Chandler (chapter 7) and Michael Oh (chapter 8) thunder forth stirring challenges to embrace the cost of following Jesus into missions. They don’t minimize suffering in missions, but they challenge the reader to consider Jesus as worthy of these efforts. These chapters have greatly influenced people that I’ve read the book with to pursue mission work despite its heavy personal cost.

In his typicall careful and theological style, D.A. Carson (chapter 9) clarifies the connection between ecclesiology and missiology, the local church and missions. Missionaries are raised up by the local church, supported by the local church, and aim to plant new local churches. This chapter is vital for aspiring missionaries because far too many “missionaries” today are disconnected from the work of the local church. The preponderance of NGOs and solo acts needs this corrective call to keep our ecclesiology wedded to our missiology. David Platt concludes this book with a call to the reader to clarify how God wants them to join in his Great Commission.

I’ve encountered no other book that covers so much ground in such a brief and engaging way. This book is an excellent resource to give away or to read with an aspiring missionary. It can be read all the way through, or each chapter can be taken by itself. This book will teach theology, push back against contemporary mistakes in missions, and make real and relevant application. I highly encourage you to use this book in discipleship in your church. May it aid you in raising up a next generation of Christians willing to send and be sent to the nations for the glory of their God.

One of the truly wonderful things of being a global family of churches, is that we get to enjoy the great diversity that comes with that. For example, whilst so many Christians around the world celebrated their Christmas on the 25th December, the Ethiopian Christmas comes up some two weeks later on January 7th.

So here’s to a Happy Christmas from Trinity Fellowship, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia… Enjoy!!

Hebrews 12.1-2, ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great cloud a witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.'

We are all in a race, the great race, indeed the greatest race of our lives! And so looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, the One we all need so much, here’s how you can be praying for us in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for Marty Machowski (Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, PA), as he heads to South Korea from January 10th-20th. He’ll be jumping into teaching the day after he arrives, serving at a seminar designed to teach couples about the work of the Spirit in the family home. Please pray for clear weather and no flight delays, as well as strength and stamina amidst a full schedule. Please pray that the Spirit of God touches the lives of the folk that attend. Please also pray for his time with our very own Songhwan Kang, Pastor of Lord’s Grace Church, as he seeks to encourage and bless him and his wife, Miran. Songhwan has been reaching out to a group of pastors in his area who have shown interest in learning about our Sovereign Grace values, and so please pray for Marty as he teaches them.

2. Please pray for Ed O’Mara (Lead Pastor of Chiesa Grazia Sovrana di Torino, Italy and SGC Area Leader for Europe), as well as Rocco Dalia (Co-planter in Italy) as they travel to Catania, Italy for 4 days at the end of January to meet with the leaders and congregation of Chiesa Grazia di Verità. The church is pastored by Giuseppe Fortuna and they are exploring adoption into Sovereign Grace Churches. The goal of this time is to help them take the next steps and continue to build toward interdependence in the broader European area. Please pray for clarity and wisdom for all involved such that Christ would be glorified, local churches would be well served, and the gospel would advance across Italy. 

3. Please pray for the US Church Planting Assessment taking place in Costa Mesa, CA on January 16th-18th. Please pray for the four prospective church planting couples who are being assessed. The hope of the assessment is to encourage these couples, identify their distinct gifts and strengths, and evaluate any potential risks for church planting. Please pray for the assessment team, that they might experience Spirit-empowered discernment, care, and encouragement. Please pray that the evaluation might serve not only the prospective church planting couples, but also the respective sending elderships and church planting committees. Please pray that the weekend might result in the deployment of called and qualified church planters who will plant healthy Sovereign Grace Churches.

4. Please pray for Brian Kiama (Church Planter into Nairobi, Kenya) and Jonathan Leslie (Co-Planter in Kenya), as they seek to soft-launch their Church Plant on Sunday 5th January. Please pray that God would bring the people that He wants to be a part of this new endevour, and that His Word would speed ahead and be glorified in Nairobi and beyond.

5. Please pray for the Sovereign Grace Churches RELAY Conference, January 2nd-4th in Glen Mills, PA. Over 650 young adults from Sovereign Grace Churches in a few different nations will be attending this conference. Please pray that God meets with the next generation of Sovereign Grace in wonderful ways as we gather in this way.

One of the ways we experienced God’s goodness at our recent 2024 Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference, was through the hearing of stories from Sovereign Grace pastors and wives during our time together. These stories highlighted the partnership we share among our churches, and the joy we have of fulfilling our gospel mission together.

So rather than giving you several different posts this month, I’ve decided to give you just the one, but it’s an absolute treasure trove of testimony.

So, grab a cup of coffee, take your seat and give these a listen. I trust they encourage and inspire you like they do me...

Jeffrey Jo – Philippines (Watch)

Michael Granger – Ethiopia (Watch)

Joel Shorey - Director of Church Planting & Jonathan Leslie – Kenya (Watch)

Pat & Dana Tedeschi – London, England (Watch)

Ken & Beth Mellinger – Austin, USA (Watch)

There is so much to give thanks for... Soli Deo Gloria!

John Piper, in his book ‘Brothers, We Are Not Professionals’, writes,

     “Prayer is the splicing of our limp wire to the lightning bolt of heaven.”

I love that quote. In and of ourselves, we are at best, holding a “limp wire”. But it is through our prayers that we can splice together our feeble efforts, "to the lightning bolt of heaven”, through which great things can be done!!

With that great reality in mind, here are some ways you can pray for us in the month ahead...

1. Please pray that God would draw unbelievers to Sovereign Grace churches, and save them, as we hold our Christmas-related events and services this month.

2. Please pray that God would use the Sovereign Grace Music “Prepare Him Room” concerts in various cities in December to celebrate the birth of Christ and to declare the good news of the gospel.

3. Please pray that God would give the members of Sovereign Grace churches opportunities to share the gospel, a powerful reality, with unbelieving family members, friends, neighbours, and coworkers over this holiday season.

4. Please pray for Pastor Greg and Pastor Dave (full names concealed) as they head to Pakistan (December 2nd-12th), to serve our friends and partners over there. Please pray for traveling mercies, spirit-empowered discernment, spirit-empowered speech and safety, as they put boots on the ground and seek to come alongside this growing work, as well as discern ‘next steps’ for this treasured gospel partnership.

5. Please pray for Josh Montague, SGC Pastoral Candidate at Cross of Grace Church, Chaska, and Director of Expository Training at TLI, as well as Nate Treguboff and Jordan Strand, as they head to the Philippines (December 5th – 12th) to teach ‘Knowing the Bibles Story’ to 30+ Filipino pastors and pastors in training. May this be a rich time of learning and fellowship for everyone involved.

6. Please pray for our new church plant in a province of Isaan, Thailand that launched mid-November.  We thank God for those he has brought to hear the good news and pray they and many others would come, see and believe in Jesus.  That the lost in this province both in the remote areas and city would hear and find hope in Christ through the church, and the many Christmas outreaches in December.

… Thank you for praying for our family of churches. May His grace abound to us all!

This year’s Pastors Conference was such a blessing! We had over 800 people from 21 different nations in attendance. Heard the Word of God read in 6 different languages. Enjoyed excellent preaching from Jared Mellinger, Jon Payne, Jeff Purswell, C.J.Mahaney, and Mark Prater, as well as in all the breakout sessions, and we sang, fellowshipped, prayed and ate together for three wonderful days. 

For those traveling in for the conference, it was worth every mile of the trip. Here is a sampling of how it impacted some of our internationals...

Josh Kruger Jr. (Namibia)

After nearly a year of being on the ground and working towards a church plant, being able to attend the Pastors Conference was not only refreshing…as in “Yes, this is what we are all about”. But it was refreshing as a young church planting pastor to be surrounded again by like-minded men and their wives. Men who think, process, consider, enjoy, and prioritize their lives and ministries around, firstly Scripture and secondarily around our own Statement of Faith. It was a blessing to look men that represent churches in the eye and thank them for their partnership, support, and prayers.

Songhwan Kang (South Korea)

I would like to thank SG again for allowing me and my wife to attend the pastors conference. This conference always gives my wife and I a new strength and grace to serve the church. What I realize every time I attend is that SG's friendship and passion for the gospel are outstanding. Also, at this conference, I was deeply moved to discover SG's desire to build God's kingdom with the next generation.

Austin Loke (Australia)

I really appreciated the specifity and applicability of all the messages, which gave to us specific things to head home with and run hard towards. I was equipped to rail against fruitless remembering, stirred to a more fervent pursuit of godliness, provoked to yearn for eyes to see God's grace in the lives of others, envisioned with a transmissional view of ministry, and emboldened with an enduring faith to not shrink back but press on!

Jeffrey Jo (Philippines)

Through Jarred’s preaching, I was reminded to have a spirit of Barnabas, to always see the beauty of God’s grace at work in the lives of others and to choose to encourage others and avoid hyper-evaluation in someone’s life. I can exercise this by continually reflecting the heart of God towards my life and others.

Richie Song (Australia)

It was beautiful to see and hear about the incredible work God is doing in Sovereign Grace churches all around the world - transforming lives, growing communities of faith, healing the broken, and bring hope to places we may never see firsthand. It was inspiring and encouraging to hear stories of how God is moving powerfully though His people and spurs me on for the mission here in my local area!

Norman Pedd (Spain)

I was really encouraged with the main sessions, the way to look at the past with a healing vision, to walk in the present with a Godly grace, and an encouraging grace, and with a challenge for the future in preparing others for the ministry. A special gift was the time we passed as SGC Europe, in time of sharing, communion and prayer, so thankful to the Lord for all.

V & I (Belarus)

We thank God for the opportunity and privilege to attend the conference in Orlando. My wife and I were attending the Sovereign Grace Conference for the first time. It was an answer to my prayers as this has not been an easy year for our family. All of the sermons were just right to my heart. Our young church is four years old, and I have often thought about what could be done differently. I have regretted some decisions, and C.J. Mahaney's sermon was just what I needed. I felt spiritually renewed and encouraged. The friendliness, openness and family atmosphere at the conference was a great encouragement to us. We lived together with the European group and the evenings were an unforgettable time. We thank all the organizers and those who helped to make this conference possible for us.

Matt Chapman (England)

Gathering as a European group was for me one of the true highlights of this year’s Pastor's conference. The deepening friendships, along with the growing sense of partnership we experienced, left me full of fresh faith and expectation for what the Lord is doing through Sovereign Grace in Europe.

Andrew Leung (Australia)

The Pastor's Conference is always one of my highlights of the year! This year is no different. Faithful and passionate teaching of God's Words that stirs the heart and soul, as well as the joy and privilege of singing next to hundreds of pastors and wives that we get to serve alongside in the trenches. This year, real life testimonies of 'not-so-young' pastors being involved with church plants, notwithstanding the cost, has been faith stirring. Blessed to hear these stories firsthand and spurred on to continue laying down our lives for the glory of God, in service to His people and His mission!

If you missed the conference but would like to hear the talks then good news, all of the audio and video of the main sessions is now available on the events page. In addition, all of the audio from each of the breakout sessions is now available on the same page. 

God accomplished so much through our short time together in Orlando. Our partnership was strengthened, vision for our shared mission was expanded, and our relationships were deepened. How blessed we are!

Recently on the Mark Prater podcast, Mark gave an update on Sovereign Grace Music and the influence and impact, in God’s great kindness, that it’s having around the world. Here’s a short excerpt from the conversation:

“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…”

It’s such an encouraging conversation. You can watch or listen to it here… (Mark Prater Podcast)

An update from Dave York, Senior Pastor of Covenant Life Fellowship in Roseburg, Oregon, USA, and Emerging Nations Representative to the Philippines…

From October 10 to 21, my wife, Jill, and I were privileged to visit our beloved brothers and sisters in the Philippines. Our trip was to conduct two leadership summits with leaders within Sovereign Grace and those interested in Sovereign Grace. We also wanted to encourage our friends in the gospel’s work.

We started our time in Cebu City, Philippines, at His Dwelling Christian Church (HDCC), pastored by Nilo Ebo and Ian Naman. On Saturday, October 12, they hosted a Leadership Summit for 120 people entitled “The Beauty of Gospel Partnership”. I preached on Gospel partnership extra-locally, locally, and in marriage. The attendees leaned in as God’s word was declared and asked some remarkably challenging questions. I thank God that Nilo was my faithful and hilarious interpreter. I often had no idea what he was saying, but the entire congregation was laughing, so it must have been good. Or he was making fun of the Americans who didn’t speak Cebuano. 

On Sunday, we enjoyed celebrating the Risen Christ with HDCC. After church, we enjoyed a great potluck and a Ministry Leader meeting. The people at HDCC were such a joy to serve. Like all Filipinos, they are joyful, but our dear brothers and sisters love Jesus and want to serve Him in their nation. 

On Monday, we had the joy of hanging out with some of the younger SGC pastors and wives in Negros and Cebu (Gilbert Tolentino, Ian and Robe Naman, and Saitam and Jorgie Matias). We enjoyed a great view, food, and even better fellowship. These dear friends asked deep questions and long to serve Jesus faithfully.

On Wednesday, we left Cebu to go to Manila to meet Jeffrey and Jeannie Jo. Jeff is genuinely “my brother from another mother,” as he and I were born on the same day and year (I look younger).

We had the privilege of spending extra time with Jeff, Jeannie, Francis, and Tina Mariano in Tagaytay. One highlight was having lunch with the Volcano Taal, spewing smoke in the background.  

On Saturday, we had a similar Leadership Summit on the same topics as Cebu, but this time, it was only for Sovereign Grace Churches. Seeing dear brothers like Caloy San Jose (pastor of Jesus the River of Life Church), Jom Aquino (pastor of Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries in Dasmarinas), and Eman and Apple Iluzada was a great joy. These friends in Manila are growing gospel-centered churches and represent Jesus all over their area. Their churches are growing and multiplying.

We topped off ministry week at Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries in Kawit, where Jeffrey Jo pastors. You don’t need to worry about decibel meters when you worship there. The level of joyful worship was incredible. It was a joy to share God’s word with them and see how receptive and eager they were to apply what they heard. By God’s grace, Jeff has built a wonderful church in Kawit.  

As we move into 2025 with SGC Philippines, our goals are simple. Seven brothers are working through the ordination materials with hopes of doing their oral exams. Lord willing, we will begin work earnestly on a Book of Church Order for SGC Philippines, hoping to have it ratified in 2026. All the while, the Lord is growing His church, and the gospel is at work. What a joy to be a part of God’s work in the Philippines.        

An update from Zach Varnell, Pastor at Cornerstone Church of Knoxville, Tennessee…

I’m sure many of you saw the devastation in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina in late September after Hurricane Helene hit the mountains.  

In our area, hurricanes are not generally considered cause for concern or something to prepare for, but after 11 inches of rain in the weeks leading up to Helene’s landfall and an additional 10 inches of rain once the hurricane hit, some rivers rose as much as 30 feet above their banks. To make matters worse, the terrain of these mountains and watersheds exacerbated the speed and volume of water flow, wreaking terrible destruction. For the people living in these communities, there was simply no way to have been prepared. 

As we began to comprehend the extent of the damage in the immediate aftermath of the storm, we, like so many others in the area, were eager to play a part and serve in whatever way we could.

As a church, we have funds set aside for situations such as this, to care for our community. Hurricane Helene, however, was an unprecedented undertaking. When we emailed the church and communicated our desire to serve, thousands of dollars poured in. Dozens of people volunteered to go shopping for supplies, filling our church office with water, canned goods, diapers, formula, medication, fuel, clothing, and so much more.

Our first trip was to Unicoi County High School in Erwin, Tennessee. This is the same town where many of you may have seen the images of helicopters evacuating people from the roof of their flooded hospital. When we arrived at the high school, we were overwhelmed to see hundreds of volunteers gathered, working nonstop to organize and distribute vital supplies to surrounding areas. There was even an Army helicopter who would land at the high school for supplies and then air lift them to harder to reach areas.

Initially, we thought that this would be our only trip because we had exhausted our funds. But in God’s kindness, more money came in, including funds from Sovereign Grace Churches, and we were able to resupply and go back the very next day, this time to Bakersville, North Carolina.

We had heard through connections that Bakersville was an area in need and hadn’t received much help. Part of the difficulty early on was learning where to go, who could handle the supplies that were coming in, and what exactly they needed. Despite the confusion, God provided local contacts in this hard-hit area through members of our church.

Along with other things, we delivered 11 generators that day. We didn’t even have time to unload at the local church, which had been set up as an emergency aid station. The people were so excited to receive these supplies that they were unloaded directly from our truck, into the vehicles of the people waiting, and went straight to their homes.

Since that day, even more supplies have come in and more trips have been made. We were able to help a neighborhood near Asheville that had mostly been cut off due to road conditions. A local Knoxville farmer gave us three trailer loads of hay to take to a man who had lost his farm but not his cattle. We also learned of a pastor who lost everything, including his home and vehicles, and were able to give him and his wife a check to help them rebuild. All of this has been the grace and providence of God. I believe we’ve been able to help in a small way, and it has encouraged our local church.

The need in these areas is hard to grasp, and relief efforts remain a massive task. But what has so clearly stood out in all of this is the Church – God’s people transformed by God’s grace and eager to demonstrate God’s love. One person told us explicitly that all the help they had received had been from churches. There have been many individuals and volunteers for sure, but the body of Christ has been impossible to miss. People are going to churches for help, and churches are leading the way in bringing hope and the gospel to those in need. What a joy to be a part! All glory to Christ.