How many times have you heard the phrase, “Well, of course, it’s 2020!” to describe another unusual event seeming to characterize this year? Let’s face it, 2020 was a challenging year filled with cancellations, restrictions, mandates, angst, disappointments, and frustration. As we near the end of 2020, we just want it to be over.

But I want to propose something that may seem counterintuitive, and yet very biblical. I believe that given the unique challenges we have all faced in 2020, this is a great year for us, as Christians, to be exuberant in expressing thanks to God. In fact, Scripture tells us that it is God’s will that we give Him thanks in all circumstances: “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thess. 5:18, ESV) It’s that phrase, “in all circumstances” that tells us there is no aspect of our lives, or of this unique year, that is excluded from us giving thanks.

To say it another way, we should be able to thank God for the cancellations and disappointments we have experienced this year because our gratitude is an expression that He rules and reigns! In his book, Thanksgiving: An Investigation of a Pauline Theme, David Pao writes, “For Paul, to give thanks ‘in all circumstances’…is a call to lead a God-centered life. To ‘give thanks in all circumstances’ is to live under the Lordship of Christ in all that we do.”[1]

Why should we be exuberant in giving thanks to Christ in a year we just want to end? Because our thanksgiving is an acknowledgment that as our Lord, He rules and reigns over all the circumstances we have faced this year. Therefore, in light of this God-centered biblical truth, I want to tell share with you just some of the things I thank God for in Sovereign Grace this year that reveal His good rule and reign in our lives.

I thank God for how the members of Sovereign Grace Churches have grown in Christ this year.

As I’ve talked to members of our churches in Sovereign Grace this year, a consistent refrain that I hear is how God has used a global pandemic to cause them to reflect upon what’s most important, including their relationship with Jesus Christ. Members of our churches have not only reordered their priorities, as I’ve listened to them, I hear a greater satisfaction in, and love for Jesus Christ.

I thank God for how He has tested the unity in our churches this year.

God has been good to use the challenges of 2020 to test the unity we have in Christ in our churches this year. Differences regarding masks, political affiliation, and whether ethnic prejudices exist or not, have uniquely highlighted the need for us to be people who are “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). I thank God for how He has used 2020 to show us that true, genuine, lasting unity can only be experienced in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I thank God that He has tested our unity in Christ, and we have been found to be a people who “are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27b).

I thank God for how He has used 2020 to reveal the power of the gospel

In a year of cancellations and shutdowns because of COVID-19, God has shown us that the power of the gospel can’t be shut down by a virus. Even when our churches couldn’t gather together in the Spring, the gospel was still being proclaimed and the lost saved, like a 49-year-old man in Fayetteville, AR who heard the gospel from the members of Living Hope Church and was born again. By God’s grace, we also planted churches in Sydney, Australia; Santa Cruz, Bolivia; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Prattville, AL during a global pandemic. These are just some of the ways I see that God has used 2020 to show us yet again, the power of the gospel, which I thank God for!

I thank God for how He used 2020 to show us that we are sojourners who are headed home.

I thank God for how He has used the daily COVID numbers, unique frustrations, and growing divisions in our fallen world to remind us as Christians that we are sojourners who are headed to our eternal home. Hasn’t 2020 has heightened your appreciation for the promise of eternal life that we have in the finished work of Jesus Christ? In a year marked by trouble, Jesus says to us, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3). I thank God for how He has used the challenges of 2020 to remind us that we are sojourners headed to our promised eternal home.

These are just some of the things I thank God for in Sovereign Grace this year. Now, let me ask you, what do you give God thanks for, even in 2020?

[1] Pao, David W., Thanksgiving: An Investigation of a Pauline Theme (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 104.

On behalf of the Leadership Team, with the support of the Executive Committee, I wanted to let you know that we made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference because of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For us this decision was not only very hard to make, but also a sad one to make. We love being with our pastors and wives annually at our Pastors Conference. To make a decision, that we consider an exception during an unprecedented time, is heart-wrenching for us. There is no one else we would rather be with in November than the pastors of Sovereign Grace Churches and your wives. 

As we sorted through, and prayed about this decision, here are some of the factors that led us to make this difficult decision:

• Most of our global pastors and friends will not be able to travel to the States for our conference in November.

• Because some of our pastors and wives are high risk, and because some will understandably be uncomfortable traveling when there is so much uncertainty, we anticipate that our attendance will be lower, especially when you factor in that our global pastors most likely can’t attend.

• Some states in the U.S. are requiring or recommending that people self-quarantine for 14 days if they travel from current hot spot states like Florida. We have no way of knowing if that requirement will be in place in the fall, but if it is, that could negatively impact our conference attendance.

• If we proceeded with holding the conference anticipating a lower attendance, we estimate that we would lose a significant amount of money. That loss didn’t seem like a wise one to absorb in a year that we project that our income will be down because of the economic impact of COVID-19.

• We also know that some of our churches are experiencing a drop in income because of the pandemic making it more difficult for them to incur the expense of traveling and participating in our conference.

• Given the size of our meeting room, and the much smaller hallway outside of the meeting room, we think social distancing would be possible, but would also be a challenge.

• We needed to make a decision now, not only in negotiating with the hotel, but also to serve everyone to give you clarity as you make plans for the fall. Given the current rise in positive COVID-19 cases in some states, including Florida, we think there remains enough uncertainty about the future that we didn’t think it was wise to proceed with the conference.

As mentioned above, we view our decision as an exception to the norm even if the impact of COVID-19 continues into next year. Having another year gives all of us more time to gather additional information regarding the virus, and more time to potentially adjust to a “new normal” meaning that we all understand better the need for acceptable risk related to travel and gathering together at a conference.

It’s hard for me to write this post because it communicates our difficult decision to cancel the Pastors Conference. I, along with all of the guys on the Leadership Team, will miss seeing you in November. However, may that only build our anticipation to gather for our conference November 9-11, 2021 in Orlando.

---

Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church. He and his wife, Jill, have three married daughters and a growing number of grandchildren.

A man whose work demanded constant reading began to have difficulty with his eyes. So he consulted a physician, and after an examination, the doctor said, “Your eyes are just tired; you need to rest them.” “But,” he replied, “that’s impossible in my type of work.” After a few moments, the doctor asked, “Do you have windows at your workplace?” “Oh, yes,” he answered. “From the front windows, I can see the noble peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and from the rear windows, I can look out at the glorious Allegheny foothills.” The physician replied, “That is exactly what you need. When your eyes feel tired, go look at your mountains for 10 minutes—20 would be better, and the far look will rest your eyes!”

I don’t know what 2020 holds for you, your church, or our family of churches. Regardless of what sovereignty brings our way, it is the “far look” that we will all need to pierce through the mundane, the challenges, the sorrows, the tiredness we will feel and even the joys to see the one thing that will bring rest to our souls and help sustain us in the coming year. What do we need to see? The beauty of the glory of Christ.

To see His glory, we must remember that the only reason we have the eyes of faith to see the glory of Christ is because God has chosen to share His glory with us through the person and work of Jesus Christ in the gospel, who imparts His righteousness to us. It’s why Jesus prays to the Father, “The glory that you have given me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one.”  (John 17:22)

As you step into 2020, remember the most important things are not what others say about you, or the challenges you face, or temporal joys you experience, or trials you walk through. The essential truth of 2020 is that nothing will remove the robe of righteousness Christ has adorned you with through his death on the cross. And it’s at the cross that we see the beauty of the glory of Christ most clearly. Michael Reeves, in his book Delighting in the Trinity, says it so well, “Astonishingly, the moment when Jesus finally reaches the deepest point of his humiliation, at the cross, is the moment when he is glorified and most clearly seen for who he is. On the cross we see the glorification of the glory of God, the deepest revelation of the very heart of God-and it is all about laying down his own life to give life, to bear fruit. The reformer John Calvin wrote that ‘in the cross of Christ, as in a magnificent theatre, the inestimable goodness of God is displayed before the whole world. In all the creatures, indeed, both high and low, the glory of God shines, but nowhere has it shone more brightly than in the cross.’” [1]

May the coming year be filled with many “far looks” at Calvary, where we see the glory of God shine most brightly. When you find yourself discouraged, when your soul is weary, take time to make the “far look” and gaze upon the beauty of the glory of Christ seen most vividly at the cross. Let us continue to be a people, and a family of churches who treasure, preach, and share Christ. Let us marvel at the glory of Christ, not only to strengthen our souls, but to invite others to take the “far look” with us, and with eyes of faith, see that which only satisfies; the glory of Christ.

[1] Michael Reeves, Delighting in the Trinity, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 127.

---

Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church. He and his wife, Jill, have three married daughters and a growing number of grandchildren.