I have some great news. The 2021 Sovereign Grace Churches Pastors Conference is a go! Because we couldn’t gather together last year, I can’t wait for us to gather together again on November 9-11 in Orlando. After needing to cancel our 2020 conference, I have been even more eager to give you the details of our 2021 Pastors Conference.

Given the events in our world over the last couple of years, there isn’t a more fitting theme than “Christ Preeminent” for our 2021 Sovereign Grace Churches Pastors Conference. We look forward to being together to focus on Jesus because “he is before all things” (Colossians 1:17), and “he is the head” of the church’s that we have the privilege to pastor and lead (Colossians 1:18). Every session we have planned will equip you to continue to build your church upon the gospel and in a way that celebrates the preeminence of Jesus Christ.

How will we celebrate the preeminence of Jesus Christ? By hearing Christ-exalting preaching from our main session speakers C.J. Mahaney, Jared Mellinger, Jon Payne, and Jeff Purswell. Additionally, we have one main session dedicated to giving you a faith-building Sovereign Grace Missions update that I will lead along with Dave Taylor and Eric Turbedsky.

We also have five breakout sessions planned. Each one is designed to equip you for the challenges you face in leading and pastoring your church. As a Leadership Team, we want to do all we can to make sure we don’t lose our gospel-centrality, including how we help the members of our church apply the gospel at home. Therefore, we have a breakout session dedicated to parenting and one dedicated to marriage. Jeff Purswell will use his breakout session to help us grow in preaching and in particular our delivery of God’s Word from the pulpit. Josh Blount will address the current cultural pressures churches are facing and how to equip your members to remain faithful to the teaching of Scripture. I have the privilege of leading a breakout session that will help you develop future pastors and leaders.

Registration for our conference is now open. You can register here and find more details on our website here. Look to register early so that you can take advantage of the reduced early registration fee.

Can I ask you to begin to pray now for our time together in November? Here are a few ways you can pray:

• Pray that all that happens at the conference would celebrate the preeminence of Jesus Christ in a way that He alone would receive all the glory.

• Pray that God would use the preaching to equip us to live our lives and pastor our churches in a way that we make much of Christ as we faithfully serve His people.

• Pray for the work of the Holy Spirit as we spend time together.

• Pray that God would give us opportunities to care for one another and strengthen our relationships.

• Pray that God would use our time to strengthen and unite us in the gospel mission we share.

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Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church. Mark and his wife, Jill, have three adult daughters and ten grandchildren.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”

When Christians think about persecution, we tend to think of being beaten, jailed, or even killed for our faith.  And rightly so.  These are the ways that the church historically has most often experienced persecution.  However, when considering any persecution SG churches in America and throughout the world will face in 2021 and following, I don’t think it’s going to be persecution as we classically think of it – though someday that may come.  I think the persecution we will face is being shamed and slandered because of historic Christian beliefs and values. The hostility created in these ways then leads to material harm – being silenced, marginalized, “canceled,” and perhaps even punished in some way.

In both the Psalms and the NT, a lot of the persecution against God’s people is verbal. In the Psalms, we see that the wicked lie, deceive and stir up strife.  They slander and accuse.  They mock, taunt, revile, deride and scorn.  The harmful effect of their words is likened to swords, razors, howling dogs, and a serpent’s venom.  The NT speaks of believers being reviled, insulted, slandered, spoken of as evildoers, and hated for Jesus’ name. 

We are increasingly seeing these sorts of verbal assaults and subsequent material harm happening. The cultural influencers -  universities, the media, the government, and social media platforms - are increasingly taking stands antithetical to Biblical values and truth.  

None of this should surprise us. So what are we to do? Thankfully scripture gives us answers.

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This post originally appeared on the SGC Church Development blog as Persecution?, on February 8, 2021.

Mickey Connolly is the Director of Church Development on the Leadership Team of Sovereign Grace Churches, the Mid-South Regional Leader, and serves as an elder at Crossway Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.