I love the local church. I've been impacted by the teaching and preaching of a Sovereign Grace Church for 25 years. It has transformed my life. And I’ve seen how God works through the local church. It's been something that has marked us as a family of churches, our love for the local church.

A local church is the focal point where God works to mature his people and to save sinners. And we just can't forget that in our day, that the local church is the place for the Christian to be, and to live life together, and to reach the lost and to do good works.

And so my heart is full of not just love for my church, but for all the churches in Sovereign Grace, and a desire for us to not lose that.

As Spurgeon says:

"Give yourself to the church. You that are members of the church have not found it perfect and I hope that you feel almost glad that you have not. If I had never joined a church until I had found one that was perfect, I would never have joined one at all. And the moment I did join one, I should have spoiled it. For it would not have been a perfect church after I became a member of it. Still, imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth."

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Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT of The Mark Prater Podcast: Pastoring Post Election

Benjamin Kreps:

Hey everyone. And welcome to the Mark Prater podcast, where our aim is to connect our global family of churches with our Executive Director. Mark, as of recording today, this is a podcast, it's Thursday, November 5th. We are in the middle of an election here in the United States. That is as yet undecided, the podcast won't drop until next week. But it could be that it won't be decided even by then. And so there's a lot of anxiety and concern, frustration, and anger connected to this election and our people are not immune from that. What are some suggestions or some thoughts for how we care for people in our churches as we navigate through this season?

Mark Prater:

It's a great year to be a pastor because we've needed to shepherd our folks and care for them through a pandemic and through much of the civil unrest over the summer. And that even continues a bit today. And now with an election that remains undetermined here in the States. And by the way, for those listening outside of the States, thank you for listening. I know that those in other countries do watch the election in the States. So I think these truths we're about to talk about—how to care for people—apply in your nation, as well. But it really is, I think, a great time to be a pastor. And I think our primary responsibility is to point them to truth and pastor them with truth and help them soak their soul in the Word of God, because that will make just a dramatic difference in their life.