State of the Union 2021: Risk for the Cause of Christ

“May Sovereign Grace be known for taking the greatest risks of all for the greatest cause of all” ~Mark Prater

Each year, at SGC’s annual Pastors Conference, I meet with our Council of Elders and present what we call a “State of the Union” address. This is just a name for an overview of the last year and a vision of what I hope to help lead us through in the coming year.

Below is a summary of this vision that I hope will challenge and encourage all who read – though, keep in mind, that I am speaking primarily to our pastors, and church leaders.

Overview

In what some might call the first Council of Elders meeting, the Council in Jerusalem was convened because as the gospel advanced, as churches were planted, and as the mission expanded, issues arose. 

In this case, as the church grew at Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, issues arose about the status of Gentile converts and their relationship with Jewish Christians. More specifically, we know from Acts 15:3 that there were Jews who were teaching that the Gentiles needed to be circumcised in order to be saved. The council in Jerusalem decided that circumcision wasn’t necessary, so they wrote a letter to the church in Antioch ` their decision. 

As I review the last few years and look forward to the year to come, it’s important to me to draw the attention of our elders to the following verses:

“25 it has seemed good to us, having come bto one accord, to choose men and 

send them to you with our cbeloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 dmen who have 

erisked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 15:25-26

The Risk

In these verses, Barnabas and Paul are described as men who “risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” They were known as those who took faith-filled risks for the cause of Christ – many of which are detailed in the book of Acts. 

This is what I’m calling us to as brothers in Christ – to be men to take the right, prayer-saturated, faith-filled risks for the cause of Christ and to lead the members of our churches to do the same. I believe that we are at a pivotal moment in Sovereign Grace and I believe this call is critical to our mission as a denomination of churches. 

The Why

I understand that after enduring a global pandemic and persevering through several years of trials, we can be prone to wrap ourselves in self-protection and settle for the status quo. 

But, here is the question we must answer: 

“Will Sovereign Grace be known as a family of churches who reached its peak in the mid-2000’s, navigated through some troubles, and then simply coasted into being a relic?”

I say no. 

Rather, I believe that Sovereign Grace Churches will be known as a family of churches who responded to our trials - not wrapping ourselves in self-protection - but by taking the right faith-filled, forward-looking risks to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ in ways that bore much fruit for Christ throughout the world.

Now, I want to be clear. I’m not talking about reckless risks that are thoughtless and prayerless in nature. I’m talking about taking right risks.

My concern is that we avoid taking any risks at all at a pivotal time in our story. May this never be said about the pastors and churches of Sovereign Grace and may it never be true.

One quote that stuck out to me recently was the following: 

“The biggest risk of all is that we stop taking risks at all.”[1]

May it be said that we took the greatest risks of all for the greatest cause of all-the cause of Jesus Christ! 

The Challenge

For that to be said of us, we must recognize the temptations to avoid risk. There are a few temptations that I think can be especially prevalent amongst us.

1.    One of the lingering effects of the pandemic is that we, and the people in our churches, just want to play it safe and not put ourselves at risk. In addition, the challenges we have faced in SG over the last 10 years can make us vulnerable to be risk averse and avoid future trials by not taking the right risks for the cause of Christ.

2.    While I love our polity and I truly believe that it has strengthened us, I’m concerned that we can be prone to think we can solve all our problems and find all of our safety in our polity. Rather, I believe it’s important to see our polity as a means that brings clarity and structure to the global opportunities God is giving us to take risks in advancing the gospel around the world.

3.    As some of us get older, lady comfort’s voice grows louder calling us to ease, drowning out the clear call of Scripture to be men who risk our lives for the cause of Christ until we finish this race for Christ.

These temptations (and others) to avoid risk must be met with faith to take the right risks.

The Call

The word “risk” means the possibility of loss or injury, so - in taking the right risks as churches, we may (probably will) make mistakes. 

We may see our reputation take a hit, put ourselves in harm’s way whether that is critique, and marginalization, or more serious persecution. But, risk means that we take them by faith, not knowing what the future holds, but believing that our risks are a part of God’s good, sovereign plan for SG.

Alongside this, we must remember that taking right risks is not a modern phenomenon because it is seen throughout biblical history. The redemptive storyline in our bibles is filled with people who took risks not knowing what would happen to them.

-       Esther takes a risk to help save the Jews by approaching the king not knowing if she will lose her life in doing so, saying to her friend “if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)

-       Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego took the right risk to not bow down to the state ordered idolatry, and before being thrown into the fiery furnace said to Nebuchadnezzar, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace…But if not, be it known to you…that we will not serve your gods…” Daniel 3:16-18 

-       Later in the book of Acts, Paul says to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 that he is going to Jerusalem, “not knowing” what will happen to him there except that the Spirit testifies that imprisonment and affliction await him, and so he takes a risk and goes anyway.

Why?

Because he did not account his life of any value or precious to himself, if only he could finish the course of his ministry to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24)

May we be those kind of men, who lead those kind of churches, where we don’t account our lives of any value or as precious to ourselves, if only we could finish the course of our ministry to testify to the gospel of the grace of God throughout the world.

Let us be men and let us build churches whose doctrine of the sovereignty of God functions in a way that we take prayer-saturated, faith-filled risks trusting the One who knows and ordains our future.

And let us take these risks so that SG will not be a relic, but a faith-filled, forward-looking family of churches who finds great joy in advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ together throughout the world. 

May Sovereign Grace be known for taking the greatest risks of all for the greatest cause of all.


The post Sovereign Grace Churches State of the Union 2021: Risk for the Cause of Christ originally appeared on the SGC Pastors blog on April 21, 2022.

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

Pray for Caleb Chase

On December 28, we posted the following blog (video posted at end):

God's Grace Through Salvation: A Testimony from Caleb Chase

Our mission at Sovereign Grace is to plant and strengthen churches for the glory of God. And one of our favorite parts of our mission is hearing how the grace of God is at work in the lives of those in our churches. Recently, one of our pastors shared a video of his sons testimony as they prepped for his baptism. Ryan Chase is on staff at Emmaus Road Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (USA). Ryan and his wife, Barbara, have four children. One of their children, Caleb, suffers from a condition that results in his muscles and joints not working properly. You’ll hear in his words the gratitude he has to God for all He has provided. You’ll hear God’s saving power at work. His story is inspiring. This video (shared with permission) is Caleb’s conversion story. We rejoice in God’s powerful grace to save sinners.

We recently received word that Caleb could use some focused prayers. His father, pastor at Emmaus Road Church, sent the following:

April 18 was Caleb’s 10th birthday, and that is a huge milestone for us. His twin brother passed away at age 3, and we originally expected them both to live less than a year. Our short-term goal, and the focus of our prayers, has been getting Caleb to Florida next week. Since we can’t get him on a plane, we are planning to make the road trip April 23–30. It’s been Caleb’s dream to see the ocean and visit Disney World. We’re praying for his overall physical comfort; for relief from high fevers, high heart rates, and breathing difficulties; and for his physical strength to tolerate all that driving and sight-seeing.

Would you join us in praying for Caleb’s health and his family? Please pray for their short-term goal as well as physical healing for Caleb. Thank you for joining us in prayer!

Staff
Sovereign Grace Music: New Release

Unchanging God: Released March 2022

For centuries, the church has gathered to sing God’s Word back to him, especially the Psalms. That’s because the Psalms teach us that neither dark despair nor jubilant celebration is out of place when God’s people approach him. Through the Psalms we learn to tremble before God’s majestic holiness even as his steadfast love invites us to draw nearer. In every situation he is our refuge, shield, comfort, deliverer, and king. He is our unchanging God. And now, Jesus Christ has enabled us to sing the Psalms with a faith and joy that only the fully forgiven can experience.

We pray these songs we’ve written from the Psalms would lead you to gladly say with the Psalmist, “Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word” (Psalm 119:74).

Staff
Short-Term Missions Trips Go Online

An update from Todd Peterson, Pastor of Cross of Grace Church, El Paso, TX, and Key Leader for our Short Term Missions Projects:

If you’ve ever been on a short-term missions (STM) trip, then you understand what a life changing experience it can be. Experiencing first-hand the challenges and struggles of life that many people experience living in third world countries and being able to, if only for a short period of time, show them the love of Jesus by meeting some of those significant needs is an experience that can reshape your perspective for the rest of your life.  

Understanding that organizing and executing one of these types of trips is very challenging, we wanted to find a way to open up the opportunity for this life changing experience to as many people as possible in Sovereign Grace.  Therefore, with that in mind and as a starting place, we’d like to ask any SG Churches who already organize their own STM trips, to consider if they might be opening up a few spots for people in other Sovereign Grace Churches to join them.  

To facilitate this, we’ve created a webpage on the SG Missions website, that will enable churches to post a detailed summary of the trip they are hosting (click here). The website walks you through the process of posting the most relevant details of the trip so people outside the church can understand elements like the location, mission, costs, and even any skillsets needed for the trip.  It also allows you to attach a more detailed “FAQ” type document if you have one, and if not, walks you through how you might be able to develop one. 

Our hope is that once the details are entered into the website a trip profile is created and posted, we can spread the word, and people from other churches can then go view the trips and their details, find a trip that might fit them, and send an application to the trip leader.  The trip leader can then work with the applicants to decide if they would be a good fit for the team and the mission of the trip. 

Our vision would be to eventually have a map of the world dotted with locations where missions trips are taking place and churches that are being connected through the opportunity to go and serve the nations together in the name of Jesus. 

As an initial step, would you please consider joining us in this effort by submitting your trip on our website?

The full post Short-Term Missions Trips Go Online originally appeared on February 28, 2022 on the Emerging Nations Blog.

Emerging Nations exists to serve the pioneering work of Sovereign Grace Churches around the world.

Ukraine & Belarus Update

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.

Assessment for Church Planters

Greg Dirnberger recently gave this recap:

On January 21-22, the National Church Planting Group offered a Church Planter Assessment Weekender in Irvine, CA.  The purpose of the “weekender” was to come alongside potential church planting couples, to serve them and care for them, by offering discernment regarding their next steps in ministry.  

 The Church Planter Assessment Weekender rose from the burden of the National Church Planting Group to serve local elderships and regional church planting committees that might not have the same "in house" resources for evaluating potential church planting couples that some other Sovereign Grace churches have.  

 To this end, the National Church Planting Group assembled an “assessment team” of experienced church planting couples, each of whom also serve in extra-local capacities for Sovereign Grace Churches.

The post Assessment for Church Planters originally appeared on the SGC Missions blog on March 2, 2022.

Greg Dirnberger serves on the National Church Planting Group, leading Assessment events . Our next event is scheduled for January 20 -21 in Irvine, CA. He is the church planter and senior pastor of Emmaus Road Church in Sioux Falls, SD.