In his book, “A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers,” D.A. Carson makes this observation about Paul’s prayers: “Paul’s prayer is the product of his passion for people. His unaffected fervency in prayer is not whipped-up emotionalism but the overflow of his love for brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.”

As a family of churches, may our fervent prayers for one another be the overflow of our love for one another, and may our prayers for one another strengthen our unity. To that end, attached are the Sovereign Grace Churches Second Quarter 2022 Prayer Requests. Please consider praying for our family of churches in a future Sunday service, or corporate prayer meeting in your church.

Thanks for praying,

Mark

The debate at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 was theological in nature. Good theology defined and shaped their unanimous decision as a Council. 

Last year, this Council unanimously approved our new Statement of Faith that contains the orthodox theology that defines and shapes our family of churches. This Statement of Faith clearly addresses many of the issues we see in our culture: Same sex marriage, gender ideology, sexual orientation, complementarianism, ethnic harmony, etc., etc. 

The Statement of Faith provides a theological foundation on which we stand to protect our churches from cultural influences that can cause theological drift.

Now here is the risk: 

When we stand for our theological convictions, which we will need to do, the culture and even some in evangelicalism will push back.

When we stand for our theological convictions, there is the possibility that people will pull out past accusations against SGC to discredit us. In that moment we must not distance ourselves from our family of churches and from the partnership we share. Rather, we must stand together knowing our feet are held firmly by his grace..

There will be risk in standing for our theological convictions, but it is the right risk to take. I’m asking our Council of Elders to equip the members of their churches to stand for our theological convictions by encouraging them to read the SoF, and the SG Journal to strengthen the doctrinal commitments and the gospel values that we share.

To continue to stand for our theological convictions highlights the vital need for theological training, whether that’s for new pastors or existing pastors. Therefore, I want to encourage the Council to send men to our Pastors College even when it seems risky. The PC model that started here in the States is being replicated throughout the world to equip men theologically, which is important as we expand globally.

Let us take the right risk to stand for our theological convictions.

---

Mark Prater May 7, 2022

In 1927, Roland Allen wrote a book entitled, “The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church.” 

He starts the book by describing what you see in the NT - the gospel is shared, people are born again, and churches are planted as the gospel reaches more and more people. Allen goes on to argue that that kind of spontaneous expansion is not limited to the apostolic age but continues today.

“By spontaneous expansion I mean something which we cannot control. And if we cannot control it, we ought, as I think, to rejoice that we cannot control it. For if we cannot control it, it is because it is too great, not because it is too small for us. The great things of God are beyond our control.”[1]

 That would describe what I see in SGC right now - opportunities to partner with churches throughout the world that is beyond our control because it is God’s doing.

Currently, we have at least 75 churches outside of the U.S. pursuing partnership with SG and we will potentially adopt 62 of those churches in the next 2-3 years.

Let us take the greatest risks of all for the greatest cause of all-the preaching of Christ to every tribe, tongue, and nation.

[1] Roland Allen, The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church, Wipf & Stock Publishers 1997, pg.13

Mark PraterApril 29, 2022

We are very excited that after much planning and preparation our inaugural SGC Australia Pastors & Planters Academy has kicked off! 

The Academy is a program designed to train future Sovereign Grace Pastors and Planters to serve in and plant Sovereign Grace Churches, the Sovereign Grace way. It was birthed out of a desire to help codify what we’ve been doing informally and over a long period of time into a consistent leadership development program for people within our churches and to give a pathway for new guys coming in so that we can plant more enduring churches across Australia. 

Dave Taylor is Director of Emerging Nations for Sovereign Grace Churches and serves as the lead pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney, Australia.

The full post Australian Planters & Pastors Academy Begins originally appeared on the Emerging Nations blog on March 2, 2022. Emerging Nations exists to serve the pioneering work of Sovereign Grace Churches around the world.

Among the most significant responsibilities we have as pastors in Sovereign Grace is to entrust the gospel to the next generation of pastors.

In his last letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul commands him and us: “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). 

Entrust what you have heard to faithful men. 

There are many different ways we entrust what we have heard—the gospel and sound doctrine—to the next generation of pastors. One vital way we can do so is by continuing to uphold the high calling and biblical standards of eldership. 

THE ORDINATION PROCESS IN SOVEREIGN GRACE

Since ratifying the Book of Church Order in 2013, we have joined together to uphold the high calling and biblical standards of eldership through our ordination process, which has included extensive reading, theological papers, and written and oral exams administered by our Regional Ordination Committees.

THE NEW ORDINATION STANDARDS

On November 10, 2020, we concluded a seven year process of writing and deliberating and adopted our new Statement of Faith. Since then, the Theology Committee has rewritten our ordination standards to follow the Statement of Faith. These new ordination standards were approved in November of 2021 and are now ready to be used by our Regional Ordination Committees and our elder candidates. The full text of the ordination standards can be found in the Ordination Guide HERE.

---

The full post New Ordination Standards by Walt Alexander, Senior Pastor of Trinity Grace Church, originally appeared on March 30, 2022 on the SGC Pastors website.

July 27-30, Louisville, KY

Since 2004, Sovereign Grace Music has been seeking to serve churches through the WorshipGod conference, held every other year and hosted by Bob Kauflin. This year, it will take place July 27-30 in Louisville, KY. What makes this worship conference worth attending? Who is it for? What's the origin of the name? And why should you consider coming? Find out in this episode of Sound Plus Doctrine.