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.

We plant churches to serve our communities and to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ.

This video highlights just one example of what the Lord has done and is doing through our church planting efforts - which is why we have made church planting such a large part of our mission as a denomination.

What is most evident (and what we hope you are most encouraged by) in this video is the saving grace of God. He continues to move on the hearts of those in need of him. This video is an inspiring reminder of how God pursues us, provides grace, and, in his kindness, does it through the local church.

We are grateful to God for Stephen and his faithful service to the men and women in his community... May God continue to add to Grace City Church of Frankford!

Let us continue to plant churches to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ, all for His glory alone! Enjoy the video!

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

We are so thankful to God for the amazing time we had recently at our first ever SG Australia Men’s Conference with our dear friend Eric Turbedsky serving us. It was a special time as the men of our churches gathered together united in our devotion to Christ.

Earlier in the year we had an awesome Women’s Conference which was really well attended, but we have more women than men and so we assumed our men’s conference would have far less men attend. Instead, we had more men come! So much so that we were only just able to fit into our ministry centre. But that added to the fun as we squished in and made it work. I think there was a collective sense of brotherhood and joy to be gathering as men of God.

We ate together, played dumb fun games together, sang hearty, manly songs together and sat under God’s word together. Our theme was “Christ Our Captain”, where we wanted to have our men see that Christ is not just our saviour but also our captain and Lord who gives us our marching orders for life.

Eric preached three powerful messages from this theme, three marching orders from Christ our Captain: Love, Fight, Rest! These messages resonated with the guys and helped clarify their life, particularly around Christ’s call to love his people, the church.

On this idea Spurgeon remarked in his last ever sermon:

Depend upon it, you will either serve Satan or Christ, either self or the Saviour. You will find sin, self, Satan, and the world to be hard masters; but if you wear the livery of Christ, you will find him so meek and lowly of heart that you will find rest unto your souls. He is the most magnanimous of captains. There never was his like among the choicest of princes. He is always to be found in the thickest part of the battle. When the wind blows cold he always takes the bleak side of the hill. The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on his shoulders. If he bids us carry a burden, he carries it also. If there is anything that is gracious, generous, kind, and tender, yea lavish and superabundant in love, you always find it in him. These forty years and more have I served him, blessed be his name! and I have had nothing but love from him. I would be glad to continue yet another forty years in the same dear service here below if so it pleased him. His service is life, peace, joy. Oh, that you would enter on it at once! God help you to enlist under the banner of Jesus even this day! Amen

As Pastors, we were so pleased to see the level of enthusiasm and devotion of the men of our churches. If you want to see a video slideshow of the event, please click here!!

A big thank you to all those who helped make this happen, especially Sovereign Grace Church of Orange for releasing Eric to come and serve us so well.

We hope that God will use events like this to help us stand on His Word, resist the cultural downgrade of masculinity, and build Godly men for the future. Our plan is to do this again every two years. I am already excited for 2026!

‘Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

1 Corinthians 16:13

In a recent ‘Sovereign Grace Churches Fourth Quarter 2024 Prayer Requests’ email from Mark Prater, the Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches, he writes the following:

‘In his commentary on the book of Judges, Dale Ralph Davis writes this about prayer, “Yahweh’s hearing is the most crucial matter for all prayer…When God listens to our voice, we must never respond with a yawn. We will trivialize prayer whenever we forget the repeated miracle it involves, the gracious condescension of the King of glory, who stoops down to listen to our verbs and nouns, our adverbs and questions, our groans and tears.”

What an amazing, humbling truth that we must never take for granted. God listens! In gracious condescension, He stoops down and listens to our prayers. May that “repeated miracle” fuel our desire to pray for our shared mission, and for one another in Sovereign Grace.’

With that in mind, here are some ways you can be praying for us in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for the Sovereign Grace Churches Pastors Conference, November 5-7th, 2004, in Orlando, USA 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.

2. Please pray for the annual Sovereign Grace Churches Council of Elders meeting, on November 4th, in Orlando, asking God to give our pastors wisdom to make decisions that strengthen our mission, foster our unity, and that best serve our churches. Please also pray for the various interest meetings at the Pastors Conference: Evangelism Interest Meeting, Small Towns Initiative Info Meeting, Pastors College & Pastoral Ministry Interest Meeting, and Church Planting Interest Meeting. That faith would be stirred and further plans for partnering together in these ways can be fostered.

3. Please pray for Pat Tedeschi, currently a pastor at Greentree Church in Egg Harbor Township, NJ, USA who will be moving to London in early 2025 to lead Oasis International Church into partnership with Sovereign Grace. Pray that God would provide visas, housing, etc. for Pat and Dana, and ask God to give Pat wisdom and help to lead Oasis Church to continue their gospel mission in London.

4. Please pray for the Philippines Pastors Institute, which started another academic year in September, looking to theologically equip 14 students. It’s the hope that through this PPI, Sovereign Grace Churches Philippines, and the Mindanao Region specifically, will continue to be faithful in gospel ministry for generations to come.

5. Please pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the many gospel opportunities that He is giving us around the world.

… As we pray, let us continue to be amazed that God listens! Thanks for joining us in this.

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

On September 15th, we had the immense joy of celebrating our 5th Anniversary since planting Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta. It was a day full of gratitude and joy, and in true SG Parra fashion, we packed the morning with baby dedications, new member inductions, and the baptism of a new believer! It was a special moment in the life of our church family. 

SG Parramatta on pre-launch Sunday, five years ago.

When the 28 of us first left Sovereign Grace Church, Wahroonga, we were excited, hopeful, "ready"—and blissfully naïve! Five years and a global pandemic later, we are still excited and hopeful, eager to serve, but perhaps a bit more seasoned.

Through it all, we have sought to be an ordinary church proclaiming an extraordinary gospel. It’s been a joy to witness God’s Word taking root in hearts and transforming lives from the inside out.

One such story is the testimony of Leng, the cousin of Daven, one of our Deacons. Daven invited Leng to church when she first immigrated here. She came sporadically, but in that time, she completed an evangelistic course and later joined a one-on-one Bible reading program with CJ, one of our deacons and a faithful disciple-maker. CJ walked alongside Leng for months, reading Scripture with her and offering godly counsel. After some time, due to personal challenges with immigration and family, Leng drifted away. We weren’t sure what the Lord was doing, but then she returned! And it was clear God had been working in her heart, assuring her of His love and bringing her to salvation.

Here’s an excerpt from her testimony: 

“I was raised Catholic in the Philippines, where I learned about the Trinity: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believed that if I knew some Bible stories and lived kindly, I would earn my place in heaven. I thought salvation was a simple equation: God plus good works equals salvation.

Yet, I often felt a profound emptiness. Even as I pursued education, built a career, and started a family, there was a void I couldn’t fill. I sensed a calling to know God more deeply, but my understanding was shallow. I attended church and read the Bible, but its deeper meaning escaped me.

Everything began to change when I moved here two years ago, and my cousin Daven invited me to SG Parra. Through the Alpha course and a study with CJ, I encountered a life-changing truth: Jesus is the living God who takes away the sins of the world, including mine. For the first time, I understood that salvation isn’t earned by my works but rests entirely on the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

Before Christ, I trusted in my own wisdom and strength, unaware of the depth of my sin. But when I placed my faith in Jesus, it was as if a sleeping giant inside me woke up. I saw my sin for what it was and realized my need for a Savior. Through Jesus alone, I found salvation.”

Stories like Leng’s remind us why we planted this church: to proclaim the gospel and see lives transformed by the grace of Christ.

We are also committed to raising up future pastors. Currently, we have Richard Song as a Pastoral Candidate and the Seric family studying at the Pastor’s College in Louisville. From the beginning, our dream was to be a church-planting church—and by God’s grace, we still have high hopes to plant a new church in the years to come.

We are deeply grateful to SG Wahroonga and Pastors Dave Taylor and Brendan Willis for their partnership and support. Our fellowship with them has been a rich blessing, and we look forward to building a strong family of Sovereign Grace churches across Australia together.

There are countless other ways God has been at work among us—through our Life Groups, marriages, singles, parents, retirees, and ministries like 14:1, men’s and women’s discipleship, and the Deacon team. I’m so thankful to witness His hand at work in every area of our church family.

I also want to take a moment to honor my wife, Maddie. Her love, support, and care over these five years have been a constant source of strength for me—she is my delight and my best friend. And of course, my kids Evie, Jasper, Judah, and Zoe are just the best! It melts my heart when they beg to come to church early with me every Sunday and they are integrally involved in so much of what we do, and they do it so well!

I am a deeply grateful and blessed church planter.

Here’s to five years—and many more to come!

Here’s a short 5-year anniversary video for you… Enjoy!

An update from Andy Farmer, Pastor at Covenant Fellowship, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, USA…

Our 2024-25 US Church Planting Cohort kicked off with a retreat in Glen Mills in late September. Five men gathered with me and Nick Kidwell for a time of relational connection, instruction and strategic thinking for church plants that are anticipated to launch over the next twelve months.

The cohort this year consists of:

• Mario Figueroa, who is planting a bi-lingual church in Tampa, FL in connection with Grace Church of Orlando.

• Eric Huber, who is planting a church in Galloway, NJ out of Greentree Church in Egg Harbor, NJ.

• Adam Penird, who is planting a church in North Manchester, IN out of Christ Covenant Church in Winona Lake, IN.

• Nathan Smith, who is planting a church in Coatesville, PA out of Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, PA.

• Howard Varnadoe, who is planting a church in Springhill, TN out of Redeeming Grace Church in Franklin, TN.

We began our monthly zoom calls in October talking about how to gather and pastor folks toward a church plant. In the next few months we’ll be talking about things like assessing locations and meeting facilities, developing missions and evangelism strategy and planning for plurality. 

Please pray for these men as they work toward the requirements for approval of their plant proposals in their regions and for their families as they begin to make transitions toward the church planting experience. 

An update from Josh Pannell, Dean of Trinity Fellowship Pastors College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia…

Celebrating the First Ordination and Commissioning of a Graduate

This past September marked a significant milestone for Trinity Fellowship Pastors College as we celebrated the first ordination of a pastors college graduate, Brian Kiama, and commissioned him to plant Sovereign Grace Church of Nairobi. Brian, his wife Julia, and their two children moved to Addis Ababa from Kenya three years ago to join the pastors college, and Brian embodied the heart of 1 Timothy 4:16, to “keep a close watch on your life and your doctrine.” From day one, Brian pursued his walk with Christ with humility and a readiness to learn, both in academic study and in personal holiness. After graduation, he continued into a two-year pastoral residency with us at Trinity Fellowship Church, where he grew into a shepherd, equipped to guide others toward Christ.

While it was bittersweet to send off Brian and his family, we are filled with gratitude for how God is using them to further His Kingdom in East Africa. This moment came sooner than expected, and it’s a beautiful reminder that the Lord’s plans often exceed our own. “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes!”

The Graduation of Our Second Class

We also celebrated another milestone this September with the graduation of our second class of Pastors College students. Nine men completed their training, eight of whom are Ethiopian, along with one Somali brother—which made us particularly aware of the Lord’s work in our midst, as the Somali people are 99.9% Muslim. He is the third Somali to go through our college, and we are grateful for the small role we’re able to play in reaching unreached people groups with the gospel as we train them for ministry.

About 100 church members gathered to celebrate the graduation, and the ceremony ended as they all joined the graduates in singing “All Glory Be to Christ,” filling the room with voices celebrating the work God has done in the lives of these men over the year.

Welcoming New Pastoral Residents

As we celebrate our graduates, we’re excited to announce that four of them—Abel, Gemechis, Solomon, and Shak—are stepping into year-long pastoral residencies at Trinity Fellowship Church. Each resident will follow a track aligned with their specific gifts and calling: Solomon and Gemechis will focus on preaching and leadership, Shak on counseling and discipleship, and Abel on theology and teaching. We trust that God will use this residency to transform their head knowledge into practical skills for ministry.

Ongoing Leadership Development and Previous Pastors College Graduates

Since our first graduation in 2022, seven graduates have faithfully continued in our pastoral residency at Trinity Fellowship Church. They attend weekly elder meetings, conduct membership interviews, lead counseling meetings, teach at midweek services, lead small groups, lead worship, preach on Sundays, and more! Many also handle the many administrative tasks that help maintain our church and college’s operations.

Three of our graduates have taken on leadership roles within the Pastors College. Mikey now handles logistics and operations, ensuring that the college runs smoothly. Sami has become my academic assistant, helping teach classes, grade papers, and manage the library. Ammanuel leads discipleship and pastoral care for the college, organizing group meetings and meeting individually with students to help them grow.

This year also saw three of our graduates help teach classes at the college, and one graduate teach an entire course. Watching these men transition from students to leaders has been one of the greatest joys of this past year.

We are grateful to witness God raising up men whom we trust will carry the pastors college forward long into the future after our role of equipping men for the work of ministry is done.