The beginning of 2023 has been an intense one, but very productive for the work of the gospel in Latin America. Here are 5 different ways Sovereign Grace of Gaithersburg (IGSG) was able to serve extra-locally. I will share a few words with you about each opportunity that the Lord allowed us to serve in, to demonstrate the great work of revival that God is doing in the Hispanic world.

Ante Su Palabra Conference, Denton, Texas, USA (January 19-21)

This is an annual leadership development conference that takes place in Denton, Texas. I am part of the team that organizes it and the purpose is to equip pastors with biblical models for the faithful proclamation of the word. ASP has conferences in Argentina and Texas. In addition, they run expository preaching training and monthly calls to encourage pastors. This conference was attended by about 850 people and Carolina Gonzales, who is a member of IGSG, was part of the logistics team. I preached a sermon from Romans 13 about the hope we have in the second coming that leads us to love the community we live in and the body of Christ.

Equipping Pastors in San Jose, Costa Rica (January 25-27)

I was able to go on this short trip to train pastors and leaders of churches interested in being adopted by Sovereign Grace. We taught on how to practice biblical fellowship. This is an area of weakness in the Hispanic world where in the Hispanic culture people are very friendly with many, but develop deep relationships with few. They were presented with the biblical model of living in the light because of the reality that in the gospel we have the forgiveness of sin and the power to be transformed.

Por Su Gracia Conference, Costa Rica (March 2-6)

Rich Richardson, Bob Donohue and I went to Jaco, Costa Rica and participated in the Por Su Gracia conference with the purpose of promoting sound doctrine in this Central American country. At this moment there are 6 churches interested in being adopted into Sovereign Grace, so we were able to share with the pastors and churches of this beautiful country. On Sunday, Rich preached at Casa 2:42 in San Jose, Bob at Iglesia Bíblica de Playa Azul and I at Iglesia La Gracia in San Jose. We were very encouraged by what God is doing in Costa Rica. As the Ticos say, Pura Vida!

Pastoral Couples Retreat, Santa Marta, Colombia (March 20-24)

On March 20th, we were able to travel to Santa Marta to be with 14 couples from 7 churches, several of them in the SG adoption process. Most pastors were from Colombia, but we had two coming from Bolivia. The purpose of this retreat was to equip them with Biblical truths to strengthen their marriages, but more than that, we wanted to encourage them in their ministry and also create relationships among them so that they can serve together in the broad work that the Lord is doing in Colombia. We spent three days sharing, eating and talking. Once again Carolina Gonzales was able to coordinate all the logistics for this retreat and we were able to bless these pastors and their wives with dinners and special times in this beautiful city.

True Woman '23 – Revive our Heart Spanish (March 31 – April 2)

Lastly we went as a family to the Mujer Verdadera (True Woman) '23 conference in Guadalajara, Mexico. 8,100 women from 35 countries gathered in this city to be instructed on how to grow in their biblical femininity. This is the conference for the Hispanic wing of Nancy DeMoss' Revive Our Hearts ministry. God is using this ministry to impact Latin America and women in their families, churches and communities. I was invited to preach a sermon on freedom in Christ based on the entire book of Romans as well as participate in a panel on the freedom that the gospel offers from the false ideologies of this world. It was impressive to see what God is doing in the Hispanic world by observing so many women hungry for the word.

Something that was very special was having my whole family at the conference, and they being used as a model of doing ministry together. In addition, several IGSG members participated in the conference both face-to-face and behind the scenes. This was very edifying. On Sunday we were able to preach at the Gracia Soberana Church in Guadalajara and see the great work that Roberto Estupinian is doing leading this congregation. From there we went on vacation as a family, but we left very excited to see what God is doing.

Finally, in the midst of this, I was able to go to Santo Domingo for a week in February to start a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) with the Southern Baptist Seminary. Please pray that this opportunity will be used to better serve the local church of IGSG and wider Sovereign Grace Churches so that Christ can be made known in the Hispanic world.

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Joselo Mercado is Senior Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, and key leader into Sovereign Grace Latin America. The post Latin America - A Great Way to Start the Year originally appeared on the SGC Missions website on May 3, 2023.

How should we think about singing songs by artists or ministries that we have theological concerns about? Are there any biblical principles to guide us? That's the conversation Bob Kauflin, David Zimmer, and Devon Kauflin engage in on this episode of Sound Plus Doctrine released on May 22, 2023.

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Our Antioch retreat was born out of a desire to see more and more churches in Sovereign Grace follow the pattern of the church in Antioch in Acts 11-13, particularly here in the US.

In many ways the legacy of Antioch is extraordinary: It had such a strong local witness that it was there the believers were first called "Christians." It was the first place to intentionally set apart and send out Paul and Barnabas for missionary church planting work. It was a strong church that became a hub for mission and care in the early church. 

But look closer and you'll see much more "ordinary" ministry than any local church can pursue: ordinary Christians fleeing persecution planted the church when they couldn't help but tell others about Jesus, leaders were raised up, a heart for other churches became part of the church's DNA, and generosity in finances and leaders allowed the gospel work to continue forward.  

Our Antioch program aims to help churches faithfully pursue the marks of mission we see in Antioch and the New Testament, while we ask God to do more than we ask or think. This year 6 elderships came to Louisville and met with members of our Church Planting Group as we looked at the building blocks of a church fully engaged in the mission. 

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Ricky Alcantar, Senior Pastor, Cross of Grace Church of El Paso

Reposted from SGC Missions, May 2023.

Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). For our family of churches to bear much gospel fruit we must continue to abide in Christ because apart from him we can do nothing. Jesus’ words capture our utter dependence upon him. One of the ways that we abide dependently on Christ is through prayer for Jesus says a couple of verses later in John 15:7, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Asking is a practical expression of abiding dependently on Christ.

Together, we can ask Jesus to provide for our needs. And as you ask, my prayer is that you would abide in Christ even more.

Thanks for praying.

Sovereign Grace Churches Second Quarter 2023 Prayer Requests

• Pray that God would give the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace churches a renewed desire, and opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers in our communities, on our campuses, and in our workplaces.

• Pray for the Ark Church in Dnipro, Ukraine asking God to protect them, and to use them to meet practical needs, and to offer gospel hope to people impacted by the war.

• Pray for Ed O’Mara and Rocco Dalia as they plant a Sovereign Grace church in Torino, Italy later this year asking God to provide housing, financial resources, and a Sunday meeting place.

• Pray for the second Sovereign Grace Europe Pastors meeting in Warsaw Poland, June 20- 22, 2023, asking God to strengthen relationships and provide wisdom for how our churches in Europe can partner together to advance the gospel.

• Pray for the Fieles Conference in Juarez, Mexico, August 9-11, 2023, asking God to encourage, equip, and strengthen the pastors and wives attending from Mexico and LatinAmerica. Pray also for Carlos Contreras as he leads this strategic conference.

• Pray that God would provide Mandarin speaking members of Sovereign Grace churches to form a core team to help Perry Wang plant Jishi Church (Cornerstone Church) in Charleston, SC later this year.

• Pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the gospel opportunities He is giving us throughout the world.

The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord,” and yet, in this age between Christ’s two advents, the church is “by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed.”􏰆􏰂 As the Belgic Confession states, since “all sects in the world today claim for themselves the name of ‘the church’,”􏰆􏰆 how can we ensure that a local church is part of the true Church?

The Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith identifies three marks of a true church: “the faithful preaching of the Word, the right administration of the sacraments, and the proper exercise of church discipline.” These three marks are not the only attributes and activities of a true church, but they are the distinguishing marks. Preaching identifies Christ as the head of the church (Eph. 1:22, 4:15, 5:23, Col. 1:18􏰀􏰇), and the sacraments and church discipline identify the church as the body of Christ that is spiritually united to him (Rom. 12􏰀:5, 1 Cor. 􏰀􏰁12:􏰀􏰁12, 27, Eph. 4:12,􏰀 16􏰁, 􏰀􏰃Col. 1:24).

Faithful Preaching of the Word

Jesus is building his church on the foundation of the apostles (Matt. 􏰀􏰃16:18-19, cf. Eph. 􏰁2:20), who “once for all delivered to the saints” “the faith” of the gospel (Jude 3􏰅; cf. Luke1:2; Acts 􏰁2:42􏰂􏰁). A voluntary association that stands on another foundation might be a synagogue, a mosque, a lodge, or a temple, but it is no church. Even if an apostle or an angel from heaven preaches a dierent gospel, we must reject them and their message, for there is no other gospel (Gal. 1:6-9􏰉).

In 􏰀1 Timothy 3􏰅:15􏰀􏰆, Paul uses two metaphors to describe “the church of the living God.” The first one is familiar, “the household of God,” but the second less so, “a pillar and buttress of the truth.” The church exists to prop up “the truth,” namely the mystery that “[Christ] was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory” (􏰀 1 Tim. 􏰅3:􏰀􏰃16). The church stewards “the knowledge of the truth” by which “people [are] saved,”—that “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (􏰀1 Tim. 5􏰁:􏰆6􏰃). “The word of truth, the gospel of ... salvation” (Eph. 1􏰀:13􏰀􏰅) is the keystone of the church, and a congregation that does not uphold it cannot properly be called a church.

􏰆More broadly, a true church upholds the written, God-breathed Word, the Scriptures—all thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and twenty-seven books of the New Testament. The Bible itself does not save us, but only the Bible leads us to Jesus who alone saves, for it is "able to make [us] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (􏰁2 Tim. 3􏰅:15􏰀􏰆).

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Shawn Woo, Lead Pastor, Trinity Cambridge Church (Cambridge, MA)

Reposted from the Sovereign Grace Journal, March 2023.

The biblical metaphors used to describe the church teach us that long-term membership in a local congregation ought to be the norm. Yet many strands of contemporary life work against that norm—against putting down roots in one church for decades. The independent, consumer-driven culture we inhabit pulls us away from the kind of “staying” which in turn makes for healthy Christians and healthy churches.

Restless for something new, we leave one church to attend another down the road. Or, drawn by a range of programs better suited to meet our needs, we leave a good church and dear friends, to go where the perceived benefits are greater. Or, experiencing relational diculties, we uproot ourselves from a faithful church to start over again in a place where we are relatively unknown, where little is expected of us, and where church life is, frankly, easier.

Christians and churches are worse-off whenever a casual, impermanent, transitory approach to local church life prevails. Believers benefit from maintaining a long-term church identity and local churches benefit from having long-term members. The fact is, “There’s always a core group of faithful people at the heart of every healthy congregation. Our lives and our churches are better because of them.”􏰇􏰈

The metaphors the Bible uses to describe the church and illustrate church life make the case that we should aspire to be among that core of faithful saints who remain in one church for a long time. For example, the “body” metaphor (􏰀1 Cor. 12􏰀􏰁:27􏰁􏰈) assumes continuity of local church membership—hands and feet don’t jump from one body to another.

The “living stones” metaphor likewise suggests immovability. Once built-together by God (􏰀1 Pet. 2􏰁:5􏰆), the living stones stay put. The “family” metaphor implies continuity of both relationship and identity. In healthy families, one’s family members don’t change even as the family grows.

􏰇􏰈The “planting of the Lord” metaphor (Isa.61􏰃:3􏰅) suggests that putting down roots in God’s house leads to a lifetime of flourishing and fruitfulness. A plant must stay rooted to thrive. Constant transplanting stifles growth.

[The righteous] are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green to declare that the LORD is upright. (Ps. 92:13􏰉􏰁-14).

Those metaphors leave us not with legalistic rules about remaining in one church under all circumstances but with consciences sensitized to the normative ideal–that of a deep-rooted staying.

What are the benefits of spending years, even decades, in one local church?

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Bill Patton, Pastor, Covenant Fellowship Church (Glen Mills, PA)

Reposted from the Sovereign Grace Journal, March 2023.