An update from Jeremy Hetrick, Lead Pastor of Redeeming Grace Church, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania:

On Sunday, August 27, 2023, Ben Kreps and Living Hope Church in Middletown, Pennsylvania (PA), commissioned and sent out my family and I, along with approximately 100 other adults and children to launch Redeeming Grace Church in Mechanicsburg, PA. It was a joyous yet teary occasion as members and friends who, for years have done life together at Living Hope, said their good-byes for the sake of Jesus Christ and the gospel mission in the Mechanicsburg region. While we still live within about a half hour, we all recognized the cost of going on this church plant and being on mission for Jesus.

We (Redeeming Grace Church) held our inaugural meeting the following week at Elmwood Academy in Mechanicsburg on Sunday, September 3rd, with 190 in attendance. Now, after two months of meetings, we have seen many new guests from various cultural backgrounds and walks of life, and our attendance has hovered around 140.

Churches in Partnership

The seventh edition of the Sovereign Grace Journal is here: Churches in Partnership. It’s written by Sovereign Grace pastors for the pastors and members of Sovereign Grace Churches.

“One of the Seven Shared Values of Sovereign Grace Churches is that we are united in fellowship, mission, and governance. In John 17:20-21, Jesus prayed that his people would be one, so that the world would embrace the good news of Christ. We believe this unity should find expression through churches partnering together for the gospel. This partnership we see throughout the New Testament, and is God’s design for the church today. It is through the interdependence of local churches that Christian unity is beautifully displayed, relationships are enjoyed, congregations are protected, and the message of the gospel advances in power. This issue of the Sovereign Grace Journal is devoted to the happy theme of partnership among churches. Be sure to read Mark Prater’s article which tells the story of why he is part of Sovereign Grace. Ben Kreps draws lessons on partnership from Philippians and Steve Whitacre does the same from the book of Acts. Riley Spring has provided a valuable explanation of what partnership means for church members. The articles in this issue explain each aspect of our unity: united in fellowship, united in mission, and united in governance. It is our hope that pastors and church members celebrate each of these aspects of partnership. One of my favorite parts of this issue are the partnership stories. These stories could be greatly multiplied, and they illustrate the central theme of this issue: churches are stronger together.” ~Jared Mellinger, Senior Pastor, Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, PA.

We hope you will enjoy reading it. All articles are linked on the website, or you can purchase a hard copy on Amazon or download the PDF.

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.

Mission team members from both Greentree Church (New Jersey) and Covenant Fellowship Church (Pennsylvania) in the US.

A recap of a short term missions trip to London, England:

From September 8th-18th our church sent out a short-term mission team to do Muslim evangelism with a church plant in central London, England. You can find people from much of the world in London, where over 300 languages are spoken. This church is located in a neighborhood where there are dozens of unreached people groups, and so we had an amazing opportunity to proclaim the gospel in a place where it is really not understood, where secularism and many false religions like Islam abound. 

Our team members were very effective in engaging with Muslims as well as other internationals. A main goal for this trip was to come alongside this church’s members (most of whom are converts to Christianity from an unreached Muslim people group), and to help equip them in evangelism so that they would be encouraged to continue reaching out to friends, family and even strangers after our team had gone. 

While there we also had the opportunity to help lead in Sunday worship services. One of the highlights was seeing seven former Muslims be baptized in the name of Jesus! Many of these new believers had to escape their home country because of having converted to Christianity. They have faced much loss and persecution in embracing Jesus and remaining faithful to Him, and yet they are filled with joy because of God’s rich mercy to them in the Gospel! 

We are hopeful to see this church become more involved with Sovereign Grace in the future. We desire to see others within our denomination consider participating in this strategic ministry in order to strengthen that church, and to see other Sovereign Grace churches planted throughout London and even other parts of Europe. Please continue to pray for this ministry. 

~Pat Tedeschi, Pastor, Greentree Church, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey

Building relationally has always been a value in Sovereign Grace, and by the grace of God, it's our hope that it always will be. One of the ways that we strengthen the relationships we have among our churches is to pray for one another. It is right that we, as a family of churches, pray for one another, but it is also right that we remember who we pray to. Charles Spurgeon in his book, “The Power of Prayer in a Believer’s Life” writes: “The frail, feeble, undeserving creature is permitted to stand in the august presence of the God of the whole earth, and the Lord regards the poor creature as if there were nothing else for Him to observe, bending His ear, and His heart to listen to that creatures cry. It is essential that we know that we are speaking to God, and that God is hearing us.”

Amazing isn't it? The Lord of the whole earth bends His ear and His heart to listen to the prayers we pray for one another. What a faith-building truth, knowing that we are speaking to God in prayer, and that He is hearing us!

Please consider praying for our family of churches. Thank you!

§ Pray that God would draw unbelievers to Sovereign Grace churches as we hold our Christmas related events and services in December.

§ Pray that God would give the members of Sovereign Grace churches opportunities to share the gospel with unbelieving family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers over the holiday season.

§ Pray for the Sovereign Grace Churches Pastors Conference, November 14-16, 2023, in Orlando, FL asking God to work in a way that our relationships among our churches are strengthened, pastors and wives are equipped for what God has called them to do, and that our family of churches is united in our shared gospel mission all for the glory of God alone.

§ Pray for our two church plants in Mexico, one in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and one in Huajuapan Oaxaca asking God to provide for their needs, strengthen their church planting teams, and draw unbelievers to both churches.

§ Please pray for Dave Taylor (Director of Global Missions) and Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney as they host 17 pastors from the Philippines for the second half of our SG Pastors Immersion Training, October 14 – November 6. This training will help us to continue putting some key foundations into Sovereign Grace Churches Philippines and bring these pastors together as a foundational leadership cohort. We’re very excited about this step as our two big groups of churches in the Philippines start to come together in partnership in this way, all under the one banner of SGC Philippines.

§ Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Pakistan who have been affected by the recent rioting. There were about 20-25 churches that were looted and burned as well as many homes of Christian families. One of those looted and destroyed churches is pastored by a man who is with the group that we have the privilege of partnering with, in Pakistan. So please pray, that God would meet them in this time of great affliction and sorrow.

§ Pray that God would bring peace and end the wars in Ukraine and in Israel. Pray that God would turn the tragedies of war into gospel opportunities in both nations. Please continue to pray for the Ark Church, our sister 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 conflict in Ukraine.

§ 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.

We often find it easy to trust God when things are going well and difficult to trust him when our world is falling apart. But Scripture assures us we can “trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:4, ESV). In this very personal episode David Zimmer and Bob Kauflin interview Bob's son, Devon, about the way God has sustained him during some significant trials he and his church have encountered this past year.