As a family of churches we exist to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ by planting and strengthening churches throughout the world for the glory of God. Together, we help local churches plant other local churches to reach the lost with the gospel as one means to fulfill our mission. That’s one of the reasons that I thank God for Sovereign Grace Church in Sydney, Australia who in September 2019 planted a church about 30 minutes away in the city of Parramatta. Sending some of their best, including Lead Pastor, Riley Spring and his family, our Sydney church was motivated by the glorious mission to share the gospel with their neighbors. What no one expected was the global pandemic that would provide opportunities for creative thinking and a different dependence on the wisdom of God on how to plant a church during a pandemic. This mission video gives you a snapshot of Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta's story of grace as they seek to share the gospel of Christ with their community.

As you watch and listen, join me in thanking God for these saints. For many of us, they are thousands of miles away. And even if they are close, our stories are intertwined in a shared mission with the goal to make much of Christ and see the lost find salvation in Christ. Our shared mission knits us together.

And, of course, none of this would be possible without your consistent and faithful financial giving to Sovereign Grace Churches. Thank you for your generous support of our shared mission. If you would like to learn more about how to give, please visit us here.

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever" (Eph. 3:20-21, ESV).

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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.

Yesterday we sent our 2020 Mission Fund brochure to our pastors and staff. I love circulating this each year because it gives a glimpse behind the scenes into some of what God is doing among us. Here is an excerpt of my letter from the booklet:

The theme of this booklet is “Soli Deo Gloria” (To God Alone be the Glory). Even though this theme was chosen well before the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems even more appropriate now because we believe that God is going to use this pandemic for His good purposes and His glory alone. Could it be that God is using this unique global event to awaken the need people have for a Savior? Could it be where doors have been closed to the gospel, God is throwing them open in the hearts of people to hear the gospel? Could it be that God is going to use this unprecedented pandemic for an unprecedented advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ? May it be so, for the glory of God alone!

Our booklet this year includes updates from our recent church plants, just a few stories about our international friends, an update from Sovereign Grace Music, two articles about thinking through mission while in a pandemic and other stories. Please take time to read through them, thanking God for our partnership in the gospel and asking God how you can participate in our mission.

You can find the booklet here.

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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.

We say this often in Sovereign Grace: “church planting is in our DNA.” From our start nearly 40 years ago we have planted churches because we want people to hear the good news of the gospel. Currently, we are planting churches in:

• Santa Ana, California

• Zapresic, Croatia

• Rogers, Arkansas

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Frankford section)

Each of these locations is picked with one goal in mind: to see people worshipping Jesus everywhere. This is the vision that my friend, Stephen Bowne shares for his church plant in the Frankford section of Northeast Philadelphia in our first mission video for 2018. With the theme, “Throughout the World”, we wanted you to hear how God is using our small family of churches to do kingdom work. He’s using the members of our local churches to plant new churches, reach unbelievers, and disciple new Christians. As I say in this video, this isn’t really about what Sovereign Grace is doing. This video is simply an update of what God is doing through you, the members of our local churches in Sovereign Grace.

In the next two years, we also intend to plant churches in:

• Wilmington, North Carolina

• Salem, Massachusetts

• Des Moines, Iowa

• Kingston, Jamaica

• Sao Paulo, Brazil

• Newark, Delaware

• Sydney, Australia

You will hear more about these church plants in the coming months. But, in the meantime, please pray. Pray that God would establish these churches. Pray that he would provide strong launch teams. Pray that the gospel would be a light through these churches in the neighborhoods where they are established.

And take time to watch the mission video below. Without you, without your participation, without your prayers, without your financial support of Sovereign Grace, ventures like this would not be possible. We have more gospel opportunities than we can fund. So if you are not currently giving to Sovereign Grace, please consider a financial donation via our give page. You can choose how your donation is applied so please take time to consider those options.

We, the Leadership Team of Sovereign Grace, “give thanks to God always for all of you” (1 Thess 1:2). Thank you for being church members who love Jesus and his gospel. Thank you for loving unbelievers and sharing the hope of the gospel in dark places. Thank you for making it financially possible to plant churches. We thank God for you.

If you are interested in further information on the mission of Sovereign Grace, we have an electronic copy of our mission fund booklet posted here.

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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.