Recently on the podcast I shared five hopes I have for Sovereign Grace Churches in 2024. Here is a summary of the hopes with the linked podcast episode below if you’d like to watch or listen or read the full transcript, with additional explanation and resources for deeper understanding.

1. The first hope is that we would be a family of churches that have a pronounced zeal for Christ. From Romans 12:11. "Do not be slothful in zeal but fervent in spirit." May our churches be filled with zealous people; that we love nothing more than Jesus Christ.

2. The second hope is that we would have joy in Christ; that Sovereign Grace churches would be happy churches, full of joy, because we are stunned and amazed in an ongoing way for what Christ has done for us in the gospel through the finished work of Christ. And so may that continue by the grace of God in our churches.

3. The third hope is growth in Christlikeness. That our churches would work out our salvation with fear and trembling as God works in every one of us, from Philippians 2:12-13, that ongoing Christ-like transformation by the grace of God. And may we be intentional to pursue it. And I'm praying that by the transforming grace of God that happens in each of our churches.

4. A fourth hope is to continue to have theological clarity and strength. This is very important right now because of the culture that we live in, which is not only moving away from God's word, but also very confused. So, we want to be very clear about what we believe and how we live and to share it with love.

5. That we would be churches that are marked by the love of Christ. From Corinthians 13, the distinguishing mark of the Christian and of the Christian Church is that of love as biblically defined; that is other-centered, patient and its kind. It keeps no record of wrongs; it does not boast. It believes all things, hopes all things, and loves at all times.

If we live out these five hopes by the grace of God, I think we will be a light in darkness and will continue to have opportunities to tell people about the good news of Jesus Christ.

And lastly, I thank God for the pastors of Sovereign Grace Churches and for their wives, and for the members of Sovereign Grace Churches. We are just ordinary pastors and ordinary church members that are trying to live out the good of the gospel in our lives and I'm so glad I get to do it with our family of churches.

Wissinoming Park, Northeast Philadelphia,

Recently on the Mark Prater Podcast, Ben Kreps & Mark interviewed Dan Birkholz, Senior Pastor of Mercy Gate Church in the Wissinoming section of lower Northeast Philadelphia, known for its’ challenges and brokenness. Watch or listen below to learn how the Gospel is reaching the diverse population and hearts are being cared for through Grief Share, a Jesus Club and more.

Hamburg, Germany, host of the Eckstein Conference

On a recent podcast, Mark Prater recapped his visit to Germany for the Eckstein Conference, and the first Sovereign Grace Europe Pastors Meeting. Watch, read or listen for the full update:

Recently on the weekly podcast, Ben and I talked about the theology and joy of giving because Sovereign Grace is in the process of writing a biblical, theological approach to giving paper, meant to equip, inspire and stir giving for mission and ministry with the emphasis on experiencing joy.

And it's a joy to serve the church and to labor for the church. It's a joy to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to people. It's a joy to pastor people, whatever they're walking through. And so it's a vocation of joy that we're involved in, but it's not only our joy, it's for those that we serve that we are to cultivate joy. Paul said as much in one of his letters, he said, "I work, I labor for your joy". And so joy is to mark the Christian Church, not only what pastors do, but what members enjoy.

And I think there are a number of ways that we labor for the joy of our people in our churches. I don't know that we would put generosity in giving near the top of that list. And so I think we've gotta have a fresh perspective when it comes to the call to give, to sacrificial giving, because when you give sacrificially people experience a joy, right? That actually can be very contagious and they want to be even more generous as a result. And we don't want to deprive our people of that joy is maybe the way to say it. And so that's really the motivation of writing a theology of giving paper. ~Mark Prater

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Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church. A weekly podcast with Sovereign Grace updates, hosted by Benjamin Kreps, is posted on his blog.

Monument in Ukraine - Motherland. https://unsplash.com/@rostikarts

On March 7, 2022, Mark Prater gave an update on his blog on the involvement of Arche Church, a Sovereign Grace church in Germany, and their relationship with a pastor in the Ukraine:

Arche Church is an important part of what's happening because they are collecting supplies, food, water, first aid supplies, those kinds of things. And they're trying to get them to the Ukrainian border so they can be then transferred somehow safely to this pastor that is leading a church in the Ukraine. So, pray for our brothers and sisters in Hamburg, Germany, and their efforts to really serve our brother there in the Ukraine. Those supplies are especially needed right now.

And one other thing we decided on just this week. Jeff, Dave Taylor, and I worked to find a way to get some money to the brother in Ukraine who's leading and pastoring a church. And we were able to find one way to get money in. We hope that it's arrived to him by now.

And so, we'd want our listeners to know to the podcast that Sovereign Grace wanted to find a way to help at least financially support his work, his important work in the Ukraine right now.

Mark also highlighted the work of Kyle Huber in Belarus, Senior Pastor of Greentree Church in Egg Harbor, NJ:

I'm so grateful for Kyle and the number of trips that he has made to Belarus. He’s been going for over probably 20 years now, developing long standing relationships with pastors there. Three or four of these pastors have desire to pursue partnership with Sovereign Grace. And so, we've been talking with them—Kyle's been talking with them—about that. But they are also facing difficulty because they border Ukraine. They're also facing new pastoral issues because of this war. And those pastors, even though not directly in harm's way at this point, are still working very hard around the clock in sort of pastoral crisis type situations to care for their people and try to find ways to care for brothers and sisters in Ukraine.

I know Kyle told me sometime in the last few days that there has been some talk of potential Marshall Law in Belarus. So please pray against that. If you would pray that God would really work to avert more war at this point, not only for Ukrainian people, obviously and primarily, but also the impact that it has upon our brothers in Belarus and their churches.

Dave Taylor, Director of Emerging Nations also posted specific ways to pray for Ukraine & Belarus in his post Things to Pray For in March.

Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church. A weekly podcast with Sovereign Grace updates, hosted by Benjamin Kreps, is posted on his blog.

Last month we posted about the new SGC Missions website and Mark Prater highlighted more details in his most recent podcast:

We hope to really serve pastors and we hope to serve the members of our churches and maybe even those outside of Sovereign Grace in this way: we want to stir all of us for the mission of the gospel and reaching the lost with the gospel.

There are three banners on the sgcmissions.org homepage: Church Planting, Emerging Nations and Missionaries. Each has a theology behind it and a philosophy of mission and ministry captured in a brief description. Church Planting is described as “The work of establishing new congregations" and we want to establish new congregations in areas to reach the lost with the gospel. Emerging Nations is described as “The work of partnering in new places” as we have opportunities to partner with churches in the states and throughout the world. The Missionaries banner is described as “The work of reaching new cultures”. We’ve defined missionaries as being sent from local churches to areas or unreached areas where they are either going to establish a church or are connected to a church and continue to receive care and support from the sending church, and care for the church as well.

For those interested in church planting, there's a Church Planting Pathway to express interest by submitting a form. There are also two initiatives: The Antioch Project, which helps elderships who haven't planted churches before to plant churches, and Small Towns Initiative, to help plant churches in small towns in the states and throughout the world.

Under the Emerging Nations banner, you'll find a Partnership Pathway with clear steps for pastors of global churches interested in Sovereign Grace. There's also a link for short-term mission trips to connect Sovereign Grace churches who are planning trips with members throughout Sovereign Grace who are looking to serve. I’m really excited about that!

For someone who wants to give their life to being a missionary, there’s a form under the Missionaries banner to engage with the Emerging Nations team.

I think this website will really serve the pastors and members of Sovereign Grace churches, as well as anyone outside of Sovereign Grace, because it gives clear steps to be involved in gospel mission.